The impact of connected travelers on tourism professionnals

The impact of connected travelers on tourism professionnals

Internet and connected travelers changed the tourism industry

Connected traveler: It all begins with the search for destinations anf the trip booking

The search for vacation destination followed by by the booking has been totally reshaped by internet.

Booking the trip online

Connected traveler has clearly modified the way to organise a trip abroad: In 2013 more than 69% of French people had booked their trip online. 19% only got pieces of information online and then booked directly in a store. And finally, only 4% of them didn’t use internet in their booking process.

The main advantage of internet is a large choice of destination and very competitive prices.

Travel comparators such as Expedia, Booking Trip, Trip Advisor or Trivago have grown so has the tourism market online. They have become references when booking on internet.

Travel comparators have also a huge impact on hotels. Customer's reviews have become very important for internet users. This study shows that, for the same price and quality of service:

  • 25% will trust the opinion of their related,
  • 24% will trust specialized website,
  • 20% other internet user advice.

Hotels have developed a huge interest in online customer satisfaction.

Smartphones are becoming the first way to book online.

According to HRS:

  • mobile phones are used by more than 29% of "connected traveler" when planning their trip abroad,
  • 1 out of 3 users has already booked a room from a smartphone,
  • more than 50% of business travelers book room with a mobile.

This increase in the use of smartphone by travelers has brought tourism professional to change their selling approach. They now develop apps meeting the requirement of The connected traveler to increase their conversion rate online.

Impact of blogs on the connected traveler

According to another study, there are more than 20 millions blogs only in France. 20% of interviewed people have confirmed that they had already bought an item because of a blog’s review.

Connected traveler and Smartphone use when voyaging

While travelling more and more, tourist also tend to use their phone increasingly. For different purpose: to check opening hours (54%), find idea for visits (52%), find tips or use social Medias (36%).

Importance of wifi when choosing hotels

For more than 71% of tourists, a good wifi is one of the first criteria when choosing a hotel. It must be free and very fast.

As we said before, customer’s satisfaction has become one of the first hotels’ concern. Going in this direction, hotels have in mind to really improve the connectivity.

As free wifi is now considered as a standard, the quality of the network is now in the center of internet user’s comparisons and judgments.

New services such as pre-paid SIM card, or rental of hotspots have risen. Provide wifi even when outside the hotel is now the best!

Wifi everywhere

With more than 13 millions of hotspots (free or not), France has seen the number of hotspot rise through the years. It is now one of the most equipped country.

Private initiative have started to take interest in expanding wifi networks, for example the Mairie of Paris has open not less than 100 free hotspots available for tourists.

However, if possibilities to connect to wifi in cities are big, it is still very random and it becomes much harder once you are in the countryside. This is the reason why many new options have been created for tourists to avoid huge data roaming fees when travelling. Renting Pocket wifi in france is one of the best solution to stay connected everywhere you go.

Use of smartphones abroad

More than 86% of travelers have brought abroad their smartphones and 72% of them has surfed online during the trip.

We can explain this increase of smartphone use by the growth of wifi networks but also with the outbreak of better data plan. Wifi abroad has become a big torment for tourists.

Initiative has been developed over the year to make easier the life of connected travelers our Pocket wifi Europe is one of these initiatives helping travelers remain connected everywhere.

Source [FR]:

http://www.01net.com/editorial/592039/69-pour-cent-des-francais-planifient-leurs-vacances-sur-internet/

http://www.tendances-etourisme.fr/non-classe/limpact-des-avis-des-voyageurs-sur-internet/

http://www.tendancehotellerie.fr/articles-breves/communique-de-presse/4240-article/choix-de-l-hotel-les-cinq-criteres-les-plus-importants

http://www.voyagesurlenet.com/smartphones-tablettes-et-reservations-d-hotels/

http://www.igen.fr/telecoms/2015/01/la-france-en-tete-du-classement-sur-les-hotspots-wi-fi-dans-le-monde-89526

http://www.tom.travel/2015/02/tourisme-et-mobile-quels-seront-les-usages-en-2015/

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