CONNECTED TRAVELLERS TWICE AS LIKELY TO MAKE TRAVEL BOOKINGS VIA SMARTPHONES:

CONNECTED TRAVELLERS TWICE AS LIKELY TO MAKE TRAVEL BOOKINGS VIA SMARTPHONES: REVEALS THE ‘TRIPBAROMETER CONNECTED TRAVELLER’ REPORT

The global report by TripAdvisor uncovers booking trends and in-destination smartphone usage for Connected Travellers

* With 47%,India ranks 9^th in the list of countries having the highest proportion of connected travellers leaving behind countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan

*  Overall,mobile booking has increased from 4% in 2014 to 8% in 2015

*  Upon reaching the destination, 72% of connected travellers use their mobile to look for restaurants, 67% to find things to do and 64% to read reviews

  Mobile usage is on the rise throughout the entire traveller journey, according to the TripBarometer Connected Traveller report released today by TripAdvisor. The report defines Connected Travellers 

as those who have used a smartphone to plan or book a trip and provides in-depth insight into their habits and behaviors.

Key amongst the findings: forty five percent of Connected Travellers usually use their smartphones to book activities for a trip, almost three quarters of Connected Travellers (72%) use their smartphones to look for restaurants while on vacation and a third of Connected Travellers (34%) want their accommodation to offer mobile check-in.

The report is part of the largerTripBarometerstudy, conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor by independent research firm Ipsos and reporting on more than 44,000 global responses from travellers and the hotel sector.

Commenting on the findingsNikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor Indiasaid "Mobile is proving to be the ultimate game changer in the travel business. It is increasingly becoming the primary device to not only plan and book trips but also discover places to eat and things to do upon reaching the destination. The fact that a majority (72%) of the connected travellers use their smartphones to look for restaurants and 67% to find attractions just reiterates the significance of the device in the travel journey. While mobile app bookings with respect to accommodations has seen an increase from 4% last year to 8% this year, it is only a matter of time before this proportion becomes the majority."

“The TripBarometer: Connected Traveler report uncovers key emerging trends amongst a growing segment of travelers,” said Adam Medros, SVP of Product, TripAdvisor. “While booking travel via mobile is ultimately on the rise for all travelers, for the Connected Traveler smartphones are the essential travel companion.  Through travel apps, Connected Travelers are finding their way around, looking for places to eat or things to do and reading reviews.  They are also more likely to see their smartphones as a booking device, both before a trip and while in-destination.”

Mobile bookings on the rise:

Mobile apps are becoming more popular as a booking channel – according to the report, the amount of people using mobile apps to book their accommodation has doubled year over year. In 2014, 4% of TripBarometer respondents booked their accommodation using a mobile app channel – that proportion has risen to 8% this year. This increases to 11% for the Connected Traveler segment. Those who book via mobile app channels are habitual users, with one in four (24%) saying they usually book this way. One in five Connected Travellers say they booked via a mobile app because it was easier or faster to access and 29% felt they got a better price.

Looking strictly at the device used to make a booking, Connected Travellers are twice as likely as global travellers to make travel related bookings via a mobile device. Laptops and PCs are still the most commonly used devices for hotel bookings, with 50 percent of Connected Travellers using a laptop and 32% using a PC to book the accommodation for their most recent trip. But what’s interesting is that 12% of Connected Travellers booked their accommodation via a smartphone, compared to 6 percent of global travellers.

The trend toward mobile platforms for bookings is even more apparent when it comes to travel activities,where the smartphone becomes the second most popular booking device after laptops – 45% of Connected Travellers say they use their smartphone to book activitiesfor their trip, while 55% say they use a laptop. This is where Connected Travellers really start to differentiate themselves, as only 28 % of global travellersuse their smartphone to book things to do before a trip.

Smartphones have become the essential trip companion

Connected Travellers are more likely to want their smartphones with them on vacation to organize their trip more efficiently(44%) and book accommodation on the go(37%). They are also more likely than the average traveler to use their smartphone for travel research while in their destination: 72 percent of Connected Travellersuse their mobile to look for restaurants, 67 percent use it to find things to do and 64 percent use it to read reviews.

How mobile is used on holiday	Connected Travellers	Global Travellers
Finding my way around/maps	81%	67%
Looking for restaurants	72%	56%
Looking for things to do	67%	51%
Reading reviews	64%	47%
Looking for hotels	50%	36%
Making restaurant reservations	46%	36%

Connected Travellers: where they’re based and where they’re going

South America has the highest proportion of Connected Travellers with 57 percent of TripBarometer respondents from the region falling into the Connected Traveler segment. The Middle East (55%) and Asia (49%) follow close behind. However, looking at individual countries, Thailand and China lead the trend, with 65 percent of Thai and Chinese TripBarometer respondents identified as Connected Travellers. Just under half of Indian travellers (47%) fall in to the Connected Traveler group, making them the ninth highest proportion of Connected Travellers of all the geographies surveyed. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia trail behind India in this category.

What influences the Connected Traveler?

Connected Travellers crave a more personalized travel planning experience – they are more likely to cite TripAdvisor, word-of-mouth and content posted by friends or family online as highly influential sources of information when planning a trip.

Travel planning resources	% of Connected Travellers who cited source as one that ‘influences a great deal’	% of Global Travellers who cited source as one that ‘influenced a great deal’
TripAdvisor	45%	38%
Word of mouth	32%	27%
Content posted by travellers/holiday goers	32%	25%
Content posted by friends/family	29%	24%
Travel guide websites	19%	16%

Similarly, while price remains the most important factor for all travellers when making a booking decision, user-generated online content has a bigger impact on the decision making for Connected Travellers than it does for the average traveler. Amenities at the accommodation and promotions are also more likely to influence a Connected Traveler’s booking decision.

Booking decision factors	% of Connected Travellers who cited factor as ‘very important’ to their booking decision	% of Global Travellers who cited factor as ‘very important’ to their booking decision
Price	76%	73%
Ratings/Scores on review sites	59%	53%
Online reviews on TripAdvisor	58%	53%
Recommendations from friends and family	49%	45%
Photos/videos posted online	48%	43%
Accommodation amenities	44%	40%
Promotions/Discounts	39%	36%

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¹Methodology: The TripBarometer study, by TripAdvisor, is based upon an online survey conducted from 16 January to 2 February 2015, conducted by Ipsos, a global research firm. A total of 44,277 interviews were completed in 32 markets, spanning 7 regions. The sample is made up of 34,016 consumers who are TripAdvisor website users and Ipsos online panelists who chose to take part in the survey and have researched their travel plans online in the last year; and 10,261 representatives from accommodation properties who use TripAdvisor free marketing services, making it the world’s largest combined accommodation and traveler survey. The consumer survey data is weighted to represent the known profile of the global online population, to keep in line with previous waves of TripBarometer. Equal weighting is also applied at country level for the business survey.

Forty two percent of TripBarometer respondents can be considered Connected Travellers. A subset of global TripBarometer respondents, this includes travellers who have used a smartphone to plan their vacation, book accommodation for their vacation or book an activity before going on vacation. These travellers most commonly fall within the millennial (32%), families (20%) or no children (19%) life-stage and are more commonly male (51%).

For additional information, please visit www.tripadvisor.com/tripbarometer 

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