Holiday booking websites dominate UK travel expenditure: survey
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New research from TNS and commissioned by Webloyalty shows that almost half of Brits now use Tripadvisor and other online travel sites to plan their holiday break.
The ‘Digital Destinations’ research showed that the rise of sites like TripAdvisor has had a massive impact on the High Street, particularly in the research and inspiration phase of booking a holiday. Less than a quarter of respondents said they (22%) look at travel brochures, with only 15% making the effort to visit a local travel agent for holiday inspiration. However it’s not all bad news for travel agents, as the research found they are still popular with package holidaymakers – 37% of those who booked a package holiday in the last two years booked ‘offline’ with a travel agent, either in person or over the phone.
TripAdvisor is nearly twice as popular as sites such as Expedia (23%) and more than three times as popular as Skyscanner (9%) for holiday research purposes. The Internet has become the most popular route to booking a holiday in the UK as well, with one in five of respondents (21%) booking their entire holiday with a single company online. Interestingly, nearly one in ten (9%) used TripAdvisor as a booking tool for their last holiday, extending the industry presence of the already popular website.
Guy Chiswick, managing director of Webloyalty Northern Europe said: “By becoming a booking tool as well as a review site, TripAdvisor is taking market share away from companies like Expedia. Already, one in ten of us are using this new feature… [TripAdvisor’s] competitors in the travel sector will need to step up the pace if they are to retain their current market share and stay at the forefront of consumers’ minds.”
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