Excerpts from an article in Travel Weekly (a publication of the travel industry. August 20, by Juliet Dennis)
Kids tell it how it is: It’s web all the way
Teletext Holidays did the survey and reported that 65% of kids preferred booking because it allowed the family to choose a holiday at the same time, and look at pictures and videos together.
Which supports a recent AOL-AP poll reporting that a huge perentage of travelers were chosing travel destination based on videos and a scant 14 per cent were relying on print articles.
In comparison, 28.8% said the best way to book a holiday was through a travel agent because it was fun looking at brochures. A total of 6% said they would choose a holiday through the TV, because it could be done so as a family.
Online activity
Nearly half (45%) of the kids said they would take their iPod or MP3 player on holiday, 42.5% would take handheld games such as a Nintendo DS, and 41% their mobile phones.
And, more than half would either send a text message (39.5%) or put a message on social networking sites such as Facebook (14%) to contact friends, while less than half would send a postcard (46.4%).
Children wield a significant influence over the family travel planning process.
Would you see a 20-year-old going into an agency to book a holiday? Probably not. They will go online.
One expert in the article said children today are almost beyond the web; they want to do their web transactions through their mobiles. Travel companies are struggling to catch up with moving their online technology to mobiles.
The survey also high-lighted the influence children have on their parents’ decision on where to go on holiday, with 78% saying they were either always, or sometimes, involved in the destination decision.
The best way to book a holiday is on the internet. Fewer than one-third said travel agents were how they would book a trip.
