Ready. Jet set. Go. Summer goes Social, at Home and Abroad.
With the wonderful British Summertime upon us, the majority of the nation’s thoughts
turn to the most dreamed of past-time of all – a holiday. As summer is often a
mythical and tempestuous creature for us Brits, we often settle for more
reliable promises of sun, sea and sand from our European neighbours.
But what do we love more than holidaying itself? It’s sharing it on social media once we’re
there! No holiday is complete without a social post to make our friends and
family green with envy…#sorrynotsorry.
The Travel Industry & Social:
According to Nigel Huddleston, Google’s Head of Travel, “Google research reveals 86% of
smartphone owners share photos while on holiday, while three quarters of people
who use sites such as Facebook and Twitter look at social media every day while
on holiday”.
Equally no holiday decision is made without a social scan of who’s been there, what they
thought of it, and how tanned their hot dogs (or legs) looked like from their
poolside sun lounger.
The internet is increasingly important to the holiday booking process, proved by the fact
that before booking a hotel 70% of people check out their hotel on an online
map before booking, and up to 90% of us visit a review site.
The Opportunity to Connect:
“People share ideas about their holidays and links to videos at the early planning stages of their trip and
continue to share their experiences through smartphones and social media while
away”, revealed Huddleston at the ABTA 2014 Travel Convention.
We used Microsoft Social Engagement to shed some light on the holiday makers’ social sphere. We listened to social
conversations around the top 10 global travel destinations and revealed some
interesting insight such as; what cities were discussed the most, the sentiment
on those cities, where each city was discussed the most and what social
channels people were choosing to chat on.
Click here to view the full infographic.
Evidentially, the travel industry is under pressure to meet the challenges social media and
our social holiday makers present. And these challenges are not a trend or a
fad, but reflect the fundamental shift in the way we all shop, buy and connect
with each other.
If you’d like to hear how Microsoft Social Engagement can help you meet the challenges
of social, click here.
Click here to take a guided tour.
Share your thoughts with me, the author via the comments section below or on Twitter @jlovestowork.