eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis

eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "Between 1999 and 2003, the percentage of UK adults taking three or more holidays per year rose from around 11% to over 13%. In a new report released today by leading market intelligence provider Key Note, it is revealed that word of mouth prompts nearly half of all holidays taken in the UK, above television advertising and brochures.
However, it is hard for travel companies operating in the industry to stimulate this type of promotion other than using a 'recommend a friend' type scheme".

The findings show that holiday brochures are a much more powerful prompt for holiday decisions than television programmes. 19% of respondents agreed that their last holiday decision was prompted by holiday brochures compared with only 4% prompted by television programmes. Although these numbers look relatively small, brochures influenced around 27million holidays, and television 6 million, out of the 141.6 million holidays taken during 2002. Holiday programmes are extremely popular and Key Note suggests this is less related to inducing people to take holidays and more related to general public interest in different holiday locations.

The Internet is also having a major impact on the travel industry and the survey indicates that more people obtain information on travel from the Internet than they do through travel agents. Some products such as low cost air services offer incentives to book over the Internet, which result in nearly all bookings coming through this channel.

Over 60% of adults took one holiday in the last year and the average number of holidays taken per person in the UK is well over two per year. The UK holiday market is mature with consumers seeking a greater variety of holiday experiences as lifestyles, employment and attitudes change. Increasingly consumers require more choice and greater value for money. This desire for change and variety means that many people are not content with one similar holiday every year, but would prefer to take holidays more frequently."