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Travellers User of the Internet Constantly Evolving

Dec 15/07 - Well-known pollster Allan Gregg had some interesting (and well-founded) perspectives for members of the tourism industry who attended the Canada-e-Connect conference in Vancouver this fall. Gregg was talking about some of the finer points of how internet use impacts tourism consumer choice.

Harris/Decima conducted an online survey of 2,000 Canadians aged 18 and over between October 20th and October 26th, 2007. Data was collected using Decima’s proprietary online research panel, consisting of over 145,000+ members across Canada, and Gregg’s presentation at the conference was based on looking at a subset of online travellers, defined as - those who took a vacation trip (at least one night of paid accommodation) of one night or more in the past year involving travel of 150KM or more.

Greggs research shows that the internet is dramatically changing the travel experience (and therefore the travel industry) and that the use of the internet for travel related activities is growing and will only accelerate. And, the internet is significantly enhancing both travel planning and the travel experience by saving travellers time and money, reducing uncertainties in what can be a bewildering and overwhelming maze of choices, and arming travellers with better tools to deal with - and in some instances avoid - the component parts and players in the travel industry.

Research also shows there is a strong correlation between internet use and travel frequency. While the direction of this relationship is uncertain, said Greggs presentation, the fact that it exists underscores the importance of understanding how the internet works and how it is being used. If frequent travel leads to more frequent use of the internet, then understanding this relationship will help you capture the most attractive segment of the marketplace, and if frequent internet use leads to more frequent travel, then the more you can harness the power of the internet, the more you can make the industry grow

There are some caveats, however, as Gregg pointed out: Not everyone wants to use the internet on all occasions for all purposes; some segments are still not comfortable using the internet to book trips or parts of a trip; females, the elderly, less frequent travellers and those in lower socioeconomic strata tend to use the internet less for travel searches and bookings, and for some travellers - especially for more complicated or high end travel - the internet remains more of a research tool than a virtual travel agent.

Agents or middle-men in the travel industry are going to have to either reinvent themselves or specialize, to remain a relevant part of the sector, says Gregg. He says that networking and Web 2.0 activity is indeed taking place, but does not appear to be as evolved as some would have us believe. What is taking place seems to be more individual than institutional and more viral than organized.

Gregg emphasizes that planning tends to begin with search engines, so learning how to work with Google and Yahoo is a precondition to getting on the radar screen of travellers. Also, booking occurs predominantly on travel portals but the space is extremely diverse and no one site seems to dominate.

Organization: Canadian Tourism Commission
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