Detailed results of a global survey asking online travel consumers what from
online travel sites before, during and after booking a holiday are now available
to download at
ecustomeropinions.com/survey/survey.php?sid=619898017.
Top line results from global survey of more than 1,200 people, carried out for
Frommers’s® Unlimited, the business-to-business division of Frommers’s,
a branded imprint of Wiley, by web usage specialists eDigitalResearch, were first released
at the PhocusWright Travolution conference in London this year.
The results show that consumers are still primarily influenced by price when
deciding on a holiday. However, they also have additional information needs that
change at each stage of the booking cycle. At the planning stage, images of
the accommodation and a written description of the destination proved to be the
most important factor in the process, closely followed by a information on
activities and events and maps. At the time of booking, three pieces of
information ranked as almost equally crucial, with airport and transportation
information on a par with pictures of the room and a guide to the city or
resort. Finally post-booking, a map of the destination was ranked as the most
essential item of online content, with travel, weather, events and activities
information and local dining also ranked as important.
Half of all travellers have struggled with poorly constructed, confusing and
inaccurate websites that don’t provide them with sufficient images and
information. The survey also showed that consumers were frustrated by
out-of-date information, hidden fees and misleading descriptions, as well as
technology-related issues such as slow downloads and broken links.
Despite the popular image of British being weather obsessed, when planning a
holiday Americans found information about the weather to be more important that
Europeans.
Joel Brandon Bravo general manager of Frommers’s Unlimited said: “every statistic
we have seen this year shows that people are considering their travel plans for
longer and booking closer to departure than ever before. So we feel this
research will really help travel providers to understand exactly what content
and tools they need to use to influence consumers in a very fast-changing
market.”
Dominic Bean head of business development for eDigitalResearch which is
launching an online travel benchmarking study this summer said: “we were
concerned but not surprised by the dissatisfaction shown by travellers’
experiences online. We regularly research and report on the consumer experience
of using major high street retailers’ websites and have seen online standards in
general retailing transform in the past two years. It appears that travel has a
long way to go to match these levels of online service.”
Media Contact:
Sarah Gorback, Wiley
Email: sgorback@wiley.com
Tel: 201-748-5629
Lucy Pennington, Debbie Hindle at bgb communications
Email: lpennington@bgb.co.uk, dhindle@bgb.co.uk
Tel: 0207 902 2990
About Frommer’s Unlimited
Frommer’s Unlimited is the business-to-business division of Frommer’s Travel. For more than 50 years, Frommer’s®, a branded imprint of Wiley, has been the trusted source of useful and engaging travel information. Frommer’s Unlimited enables businesses to create high-value propositions for their customers by leveraging Frommer’s travel expertise, rich content resources and technical capabilities. Products and services provided by Frommer’s Unlimited include global destination and events content, private label Websites, mobile applications and custom publishing. Frommer’s is a registered trademark of Arthur Frommer. For more information, visit frommers.biz
About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a
valued source of information and understanding for 200 years, helping people
around the world meet their needs and fulfil their aspirations. Wiley and its
acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in
all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics,
Chemistry and Peace. Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical
and scholarly journals, encyclopaedias, books, and online products and services;
professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online
applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and
graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley’s global headquarters are located
in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and
Australia. The Company’s Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on
the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.
About eDigital Research
eDigitalResearch is a leading provider of digital market research, enabling
customers to make critical business decisions with the benefit of comprehensive
consumer insight and informed direction. eDigitalResearch possesses a unique
combination of research expertise, marketing background, web technology and
knowledge of the cross-channel consumer. As well as providing invaluable
research data, the modules of its fully integrated research system – ratings,
surveys, panels and forums – can combine to provide holistic analytics and
essential market-leading insight. This gives clients the power, confidence and
backup to make crucial decisions on key aspects of their business including
product range, marketing, customer service, supply chain, even basic
positioning. For further information visit
http://www.edigitalresearch.com.
The global survey of 1,234 people was carried out for Frommers Unlimited by
eDigitalResearch in April 2009.In the survey sample 45% took holidays once or
twice a year and a quarter took holidays between two to three times a year. Half
the sample respondents were from the UK, a quarter from the USA and the
remainder from Europe, Middle East, Australasia and Asia.
