Tomorrow May Be A Different Story
Social media not much influence in travel planning
The usage of social media has undergone explosive growth in recent months driven by what appears to be an almost insatiable desire to stay connected. But how have these new forms of media influenced consumer choice when it comes to evaluating and purchasing travel services? The results of the most recent travelhorizons survey reveal some intriguing insights.
According to the nationally representative survey of just over 2,200 US adults that was conducted in October 2009, almost 6 out of 10 (59 percent) of active travelers have visited a social networking site. Their most popular activities while on these sites include uploading photos/videos (49 percent) and rating products or services (46 percent). Roughly one-quarter have visited a chat room and/or posted content to a blog. Nearly half (46 percent) check new postings to their site(s) at least once a day.
Facebook enjoys the highest incidence of visitation (almost half of active travelers have visited, and fully one-third have posted a personal page), while roughly one-quarter of active travelers have visited MySpace. Both percentages are up significantly from just one year ago. And when it comes to searching social sites for content, the incidence of visiting YouTube eclipses that of TripAdvisor by a wide margin.
But to what extent does the content found on these sites influence consumer choice when it comes to the evaluation and selection of travel service suppliers? Right now, not much, because site visitation for travel planning purposes remains quite low. By way of illustration, only 1 in 10 Facebook users seeks advice about either destinations or travel service suppliers, and just 1 in 20 has joined a community of users who share common travel interests:
- 11 percent ask advice about a destination
- 8 percent ask advice about a travel supplier
- 6 percent learn about travel deals
- 5 percent get updates on destinations and travel suppliers
- 5 percent have joined a community with like travel interests
That's today, however. How quickly this may change is a matter of considerable speculation given the remarkable rate of penetration these sites have achieved in such a short period of time. Yet, for now, consumers continue to seek and respond to information about travel services and suppliers from more established offline and online media sources.
Source: www.pax.travel
Comments
TripAdvisor contributors file stories under the cover of annonymity, and although most can be beneficial, top line suppliers can suffer incalculable damage from negative and sometimes hostile postings for which the facility of response is limited and almost impossible to penentrate.
As having been recognized as one of South Africas top award winning operations I have sleepless nights when I learn that we have not met client expectations at any time. Although we all try, sometimes things do not go as planned, but on the very odd occasion this has happened in our organization we have always been able to have the oportunity to identify the complainant and redress the matter far in excess of their expectaions.
I therefore question the credibility of TripAdvisor, especially when deliberatelly misleading locations and pictures are also posted.
When TripAdisor treats suppliers in an ethically fair and even handed way then I shall be happy to sing their praises. Until then I suggest that they get the transparrency of their their act together.
Pour on the fire and brimstone!
But also look at the many hundreds of genuine guest comments on our web site.
I am not afraid to show my face.
Bill Harrop
http://balloon.co.za/
Post new comment