Staff Report | DFW Newsflash | November 2017
LANGLEY, U.K – Travelport (NYSE: TVPT), the leading Travel Commerce Platform, 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:
o 81 percent use peer to peer reviews when researching a trip
o 47 percent use voice search, using devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, when researching a trip
o Nearly 25 percent of over 55 year olds use a smartphone to research a trip
- When booking a trip:
o Over 33 percent of travelers book their trip on a mobile device
o 61 percent avoid hotels that charge for WiFi
- When on the trip:
o 70 percent of travelers believe that digital boarding passes make traveling so much easier
o 60 percent of travelers feel that a good digital experience is important when choosing an airline
o 44 percent of travelers rely on their smartphone at their destination
- When at the destination:
o Travelers use an average of 16 different categories of apps when traveling
o 75 percent of travelers leave reviews on review sites
There is a “love-hate” relationship with digital devices with 60 percent saying they would be lost without their smartphone whilst 43 percent 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 percent saying digital boarding passes makes traveling easier, compared to a global average of 70 percent.
The countries are ranked as follows:
| The Digital Traveler Rankings 2017 | |
| Rank | Country |
| 1 | India |
| 2 | China |
| 3 | Indonesia |
| 4 | Brazil |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia |
| 6 | Mexico |
| 7 | South Africa |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates |
| 9 | Colombia |
| 10 | Italy |
| 11 | United States |
| 12 | Spain |
| 13 | France |
| 14 | Russia |
| 15 | Canada |
| 16 | Australia |
| 17 | United Kingdom |
| 18 | Japan |
| 19 | Germany |
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.”
SOURCE: Travelport
