Travel organisations need to improve image and destination content online, optimise their websites for growing numbers of mobile users and be aware that social media such as Facebook and Twitter is emerging as source in influencing people’s holiday decisions, as well as a vehicle for sharing experiences.

These are some of the key trends identified in a global survey of more than 1,600 people carried out for Frommer’s® Unlimited the business-to-business division of Frommer’s®, a branded imprint of Wiley, by web usage specialists eDigitalResearch. A full copy of the report is available from www.frommers.biz/research.

Giles Longhurst, Frommer’s® Unlimited director Europe, Middle East and Africa unveiled the survey results at the Travolution Summit in London today and said: “increasingly sophisticated online consumers are being let down by travel organisations which aren’t anticipating the information they need to provide at different points in the traveller’s online journey. Half the people we surveyed said they’d encountered sites with insufficient pictures and destination information as well as finding confusing sites that were hard to navigate. Our survey highlights these problems but also identifies what information people value, when they need it and provides clear signals of the growing importance of mobile and social media on travel decisions.“

The importance of online content at every stage of a traveller’s journey was illustrated by the fact that 91% of people said they look online when researching where to go on holiday - 70% find websites influential in their decision while 7% now rank online networking sites as influential. For the 18 - 34 age group social networking sites are more important, considered influential in their travel decisions by 13% surveyed. The most important items that travel companies need to provide potential travellers researching their holiday are images (78%), written descriptions of the destination (77%), information about activities and events (72%) and maps (71%).

When booking their flights and accommodation and before they leave for their trip 44% of respondents also look for destination information online. At this stage in their online journey two-thirds of the travellers surveyed ranked airport and transportation information as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ followed by pictures of the room (73%), and a guide to the city or resort (71%).

After they’ve booked, travellers say a map of the destination was the most important item of content (75%). Travel, weather, local events and activities information as well as local dining information all proved important to over 60% of respondents.

13% also look online for destination information while travelling, while 27% said they were actually likely to access travel information on their mobile when travelling - a figure which Frommer’s® Unlimited says will provide a great competitive advantage for travel websites which are optimised for mobile.

On their return around half are likely to share their experiences on a hotel review website, a third will share photos online, a quarter will comment on Facebook and around a fifth will now engage with blogs.

Across the board, the younger consumers polled aged between 18 - 34 were much more likely to access and share travel data online including mobile content (48%), Facebook (58%), photo galleries (52%), blogs (27%), and Twitter (14%).

The Frommer’s Unlimited survey also highlighted emerging consumer confidence, but price sensitivity and decreasing brand loyalty. For 2010 the majority of travellers say they will take one or two trips a year, but numbers saying they take four holidays is up from 8% to 22%. Travellers said their 2010 holiday decisions will primarily be based on price, with 89% indicating it was ‘influential’ or ‘very influential’. Things to do closely followed as a key indicator (83%), followed by length of trip (69%) and weather (65%). However this year the Frommer’s research tracked a year-on-year decrease in brand loyalty, with 15% moving from ‘loyal’ to ‘sometimes loyal’, perhaps as a result of increased priced sensitivity.

Lloyd Viney, associate director who heads up the eDigitalResearch travel division, 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 few years. We launched a similar benchmarking report for the travel sector in 2009 and Frommer’s Unlimited survey’ backs up our findings that travel has a long way to go to match high street retailers’ levels of online service.”

Media Contact:
Lucy Pennington, Debbie Hindle at bgb communications
Email: lpennington@bgb.co.uk, dhindle@bgb.co.uk
Tel: 0207 902 2990

Sarah Gorback, Wiley
Email: sgorback@wiley.com
Tel: 201-748-5629

Lisa Bonczyk at eDigitalResearch
Email lisa.b@edigitalresearch.com
Tel: 01489 772920

About Frommer’s® Unlimited

For over 50 years, Frommer's travel guides have been the trusted choice to help travellers explore destinations the way the locals do. 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. Whether your customers are venturing close to home or across the globe, whether your budget is limited or limitless, Frommer’s Unlimited delivers the most candid and reliable travel and event information, anywhere and anytime. Frommer’s is a registered trademark of Arthur Frommer. Frommer’s is a branded imprint of Wiley.

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. Since 1901, 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, encyclopedias, 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 edigitalresearch.com. The global survey of 1,635 people was carried out for Frommer’s Unlimited by eDigitalResearch in March 2010