Travelport global survey: How "digital travelers" utilize technology on vacation

Leading Travel Commerce Platform Travelport published the results of a Global Traveler Survey of 11,000 people worldwide that highlights the use of digital tools when planning, booking and experiencing a journey.

The main findings from the global report are:

When planning a trip:

• 81% use peer to peer reviews when researching a trip
• 47% use voice search, using devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, when researching a trip
• Nearly 25% of over 55 year olds use a smartphone to research a trip

When booking a trip:

• Over 33% of travelers book their trip on a mobile device
• 61% avoid hotels that charge for WiFi

When on the trip:

• 70% of travelers believe that digital boarding passes make traveling so much easier
• 60% of travelers feel that a good digital experience is important when choosing an airline
• 44% of travelers rely on their smartphone at their destination

When at the destination:

• Travelers use an average of 16 different categories of apps when traveling
• 75% of travelers leave reviews on review sites

There is a “love-hate” relationship with digital devices with 60% saying they would be lost without their smartphone whilst 43% also say they want to escape the digital world and switch off when away.

The Digital Traveler Rankings

The report also includes the world’s first Digital Traveler Rankings, with India crowned champions as the country with the most digitally-advanced travelers.  The standings are based on a combination of the main indicators of digital usage for travel-related purposes by travelers in each country. For example, those from India typically use smartphones for booking and boarding a plane, with 82% saying digital boarding passes makes traveling easier, compared to a global average of 70%.

The countries are ranked as follows:

Gordon Wilson, President and CEO of Travelport, commented “These findings demonstrate the significance of digital tools for travelers before and during their journeys. They highlight the need for the $7.6 trillion global travel and hospitality industry to adapt continually to provide responsive, relevant and timely services for customers.  Whether young or old, and in whichever continent, providing relevant and timely digital tools and content is no longer an accessory but an essential means of reaching and satisfying the modern traveler from the moment they search to the moment they return from their trip. Travelport’s platform stands ready to provide the industry with the means to do this. As a technology company and as a world leader in digital and mobile capabilities, we aim to make the experience of selling, buying and managing travel continually better.”

Alongside the Global Report, Travelport is publishing separate detailed country reports as well as four regional reports based on the same data.

Read more here.

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Source: travelport.com