TRAVELPORT conducted a Global
Traveller Survey of 11 000
travellers in 19 countries who
took at least one return flight last
year, including 500 travellers in South
Africa. The survey highlights the
use of digital tools when planning,
booking and experiencing a journey.
Local highlights
75% use videos and photos
posted by friends as part of
their travel research.
86% use travel booking sites
to help them discover new and
exciting destinations.
82% use review sites for
researching their trips.
When booking a trip:
69% believe a good digital
experience is important when
choosing an airline.
54% of leisure travellers worry
that the reviews might not be
genuine.
79% choose hotels that do not
charge for WiFi.
When on the trip:
79% of travellers
believe digital boarding
passes make travelling
so much easier.
86% say the most
important thing to
them when travelling is
being able to stay
in touch.
When at the destination:
Travellers use an average of 17 different categories of apps when travelling.
want to share travel experiences on social media.
Review sites
South African travellers are
enthusiastic researchers, with
86% using travel booking sites
to help them discover new and
exciting destinations; 82% also
consult review sites for further
information about things to see
and do while travelling. While
review sites have the greatest
influence on their choices, 54%
of leisure leisure travellers worry
that the reviews might not be
genuine.
Given the importance of review
sites for the South African
traveller, it is not surprising that
74% of leisure travellers and
77% of business travellers leave
hotel and restaurant reviews.
Those over 55 years old are great
contributors and leave reviews
while they are traveling (70%).
In line with global trends, the
South African traveller mostly
books using a computer (85%),
however, a large group book using
a smartphone (35%) or tablet
(38%). Whilst online bookings
are widely used, 41% of leisure
travellers dislike not being able
to talk to a person when booking
a trip.
Staying in touch
The majority of South Africans
say the most important aspect
of technology when travelling is
being able to stay in touch, which
is probably why 79% choose
hotels that don’t charge for WiFi.
However, not everyone wants to
be online and available all the
time. 45% of travellers say they
want to escape the digital world
and switch off all devices. This
contrasts with their desire to want
to share travel experiences on
social media (43%).
Hotel choice
Once the key factors such as
location and cost are decided on,
South African travellers look to
review sites to help guide their
choice of hotel. 79% feel free
WiFi is an important factor, which
is no surprise given how much
they enjoy using technology.
The frequent traveller is even
more demanding when it comes
to in-room technology, such
as a smart TV or digital music
player, with 62% (versus 41% for
infrequent travellers) claiming
it is important when choosing
a hotel.
Bleisure
The South African business
traveller is keen to see as much of
the local area as possible (69%)
so it is no surprise that 54% try to
add on a few extra days to make
the most of the opportunity.
Travelling for business also offers
a chance to switch off from
home responsibilities and 46%
appreciate the time on their own
away from their families. They want
to know what local attractions
are available (69%), but tend to
buy tickets for these once they
are in destination (28%).
When asked, South African
business travellers felt that one
of the biggest pain points
was having to book everything
separately, such as flights,
accommodation and ground
transportation (56%).
Global highlights
On average, travellers use 16
different categories of apps for
a trip.
79% of 18- to 24-year-olds
check out videos and photos
posted by friends on social
media as part of their research.
44% of 18- to 24-year-olds were
concerned they didn’t know if
reviews were genuine.
Indian travellers use
smartphones from booking
a trip to boarding a flight
with 82% agreeing that using
boarding passes makes
travelling easier.
61% avoid hotels that charge
for WiFi.
60% said they would be lost
without their smartphone on a
trip.
75% leave reviews of their
travels on review websites.
China topped the charts
for being the biggest app
users with an average of 20
categories of apps used during
each trip.
