Note: These stats are from 2011. For more up-to-date numbers, check out our most recent blog post, 2012-13 Social Media and Tourism Industry Statistics.
Travel and tourism marketing isn’t the one-sided method it used to be–today’s travelers are relying more than ever on word of mouth. In response, the tourism and hospitality industry is turning to social media to promote its services and to engage customers in a more personal way. Next year, almost two-thirds of travel companies plan to increase their social media marketing budgets. Here’s why:
40% of online travelers visit social networking sites to influence destination selection
- 87% said reviews impacted hotel choice
- 84% said reviews impacted method of travel
- 78% said reviews impacted the choice of dining
70% of consumers trust online recommendations while only 14% trust advertisements
- 50% of blog readers read travel blogs
- 57% of travel-related website visitors read traveler-written reviews
- 97% of readers thought those reviews were accurate
Facebook has the greatest influence over 25-34 year-old’s holiday choices, and the greatest influence over men.
- More than 500 million active users
- About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States (More than 70 translations are available on the site)
- People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
- More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each month
TripAdvisor had the greatest impact on female booking habits
- 34 million unique monthly visitors
- 35 million reviews
- 98% of topics posted in the forum are replied to within 24 hours
- Twitter’s search engine receives around 600 million search queries per day
- 175 million registered users
- 95 million tweets written per day
Future trends
- 50% of European travelers are forecast to use a smart phone to find travel information and/or make reservations by 2015
- The biggest consumer trend of next 5 years will be booking holidays using new technologies
- 40% of the travel and tourism industry views social media as a major opportunity over the next five years.
Sources:
WTM Global Trends Report 2010 : http://www.wtmlondon.com/files/wtm2010_global_trends_report1.pdf
WTM Industry Report 2010 : http://www.wtmlondon.com/files/wtm2010_industry_report.pdf
Nielsen: Global Advertising: Consumers Trust Real Friends and Virtual Strangers the Most
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