Travelport’s recent global research into the habits and booking patterns of digital leisure travellers showed that, despite being tech savvy, this new breed of road warriors tend to be confused with information overload on the web and are more likely to use a travel agent for complex trips.
The study, Servicing the Digital Leisure Traveller (download full copy here), detailed the holiday frequency of the “Digital Natives,’ (aged under 35) and “Digital Immigrants” (aged 36-45), as well as how they researched and booked their trip using technology and social media.
Digital Natives have blended their online life with their offline life and are very likely to book via online travel websites, as well as to seek help from travel agents, especially trips with complicated itineraries such as international travel.
The report said this demonstrates the importance of travel agents knowing their customer and understanding the value of delivering the right functionality to the right type of traveller at the right time and to the right device.
The research also looks at how leisure travel agencies are servicing their travellers in terms of contact before and after the trip. While travel agents are often actively involved in the run up to a leisure traveller’s journey, only one in two keep in contact with their clients and keep them informed a they board their flight.
Both Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants also expect to be able to receive relevant information, as well as ahare activities through social media sites on multiple devices during their journey.
Some key findings:
- The majority of travel agents spend between 15 minutes or an hour per traveller answering their queries or sending information post-booking, while 18% spend more than an hour per traveller.
- 87% of Digital Natives and 80% of Digital Immigrants owned or planned to purchase a smartphone in the next six months. This increased access to the internet anytime, anywhere, is changing the expectations, demands and behaviours of leisure travellers.
- 60% of the Digital Natives and 50% of Digital Immigrants consider the smartphone as their “personal travel assistant or companion” Both groups prefer to access pre-travel information via mobile technology, rather than through traditional devices.
- Both groups said they are increasingly confused with the amount of information on the web, and were more likely to engage with a travel agent for complex trips.
- Growing interest from mobile users to receive more promotional offers on hotels, dining offers, airport information and recommendations while they were away.
• The research was conducted with over 2,500 leisure travellers and 1,000 travel agencies in eight countries – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, UAE, UK and US.
