‘Facebook factor’ inspires 52 percent to book a holiday
Thursday 24, February 2011
Sharing holiday snaps through Facebook, the social network with over 500 million users worldwide, is not only helping people stay connected in the virtual world, but also influencing people’s travels in the real world, Skyscanner can reveal.
In the recent poll by the flights comparison website, Skyscanner, found that the ‘power of pictures’ has a very strong influence on Facebookers’ travel plans, with more than half (52%) stating that seeing friends’ holiday pictures had inspired them to book a holiday to the same place.
Despite the well-worn joke surrounding the boredom of being subjected to other people’s holiday snaps, a whopping 88% of respondents loved to nose through their friends’ shots with half of those admitting to doing so because “they could see what they had got up to and with whom!”.
Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner Travel Editor commented:
“They say a picture is worth a thousand words and here is the proof. Facebook is the perfect platform for two very powerful influencers of travel; a personal recommendation combined with alluring images. From Orlando to Australia, seeing our friends’ adventures can certainly plant a seed that later leads to a trip to somewhere you never previously thought about visiting.”
45% of respondents also said that Facebook encourages them to visit their friends abroad more and despite some recent reports that have claimed FB reduces real life contact, only 5% of people said that being on Facebook actually meant they were less likely to see their friends in person.
The Skyscanner survey also revealed that Facebook is playing an increasing part in the organisation of group travel with 46% of people having either organised or been invited on a trip via the site.
(Source: www.skyscanner.net)
Plan your trips with the help of great resources
More and more travellers think that researching and planning a European city break is half the fun and they're not interested in pre-arranged trips or escorted tours. Self-guided tours offer a lot of advantages but require some guidance and good resources.
Top 10 most environmentally pure countries
With the recent wild fires, disrupting flights and increasing air pollution, environmental quality is a growing factor in attracting tourists.
Top 15 most spectacular hotel rooftop views
The hotel price comparison site www.trivago.co.uk has put together a list of the fifteen most spectacular hotel rooftop terraces in the world.
Latest offers, discounts and more...