Tuesday, August 26, 2008：The NEXTgen Traveler survey has revealed that the “next generation” travellers are embracing technology with 71 percent using the Internet to search for travel information.
The survey was conducted this year in March by PhoCusWright and Ypartnership with 2,559 adults participating. They were "active users" of the latest computer, entertainment or consumer technology, and in the previous 12 months took at least one overnight trip requiring the use of commercial accommodations.
Results showed that “next generation” travellers are highly educated with 30 percent having completed a 4-year college degree, and that tech-savvy travellers span from ages 18-61.
75 percent said they travel more if they had more money whilst 62% would travel more if they had more time. And more significantly, those that use technology on average spend over 50 percent more than less technology driven travellers.
“It is clear that tech-savvy travelers display a significantly different market profile than travelers who are less wired" said Philip C. Wolf, President and CEO of PhoCusWright.
The internet was found to be the most heavily relied source for “next generation” travellers, with 41 percent saying they had have taken a virtual tour of a destination whilst 37% said they were influenced by personal comments read on social networking or travel advisory Web sites.
58 percent cited the internet to be important to check the best fares and rates, and 33 percent have authored and posted a travel review online.
Media outlets mostly accessed were found to be not traditional with 56 percent reading their newspapers online and most “next generation” travellers often ignoring advertising messages.
"They not only suggest the need for a fresh approach to media strategies that will reach this growing audience, but raise provocative questions about the influence of the user-generated content that is now flourishing online" said Peter C. Yesawich, Chairman and CEO of Ypartnership, and co-author of the survey.
