Social Media & Mobile in Travel Industry [VIDEO]

21 March 2012 by 7 Comments

The folks at Eye for Travel together with Digital Visitor recently produced this great video highlighting the present state of social media and mobile in the travel industry. Great up-to-date statistics and a nice, dynamic presentation. Check it out! (If you scroll below, I have summarized some of the key nuggets of information from the video)

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Social Media stats

- Facebook accounts for 75% of worldwide time spent on social networks, or 3 out of every 4 minutes;

- 100% of travel brands surveyed globally have a Facebook brand profile vs. 82% in 2011;

- 75% of travel brands surveyed globally have a Twitter profile vs. 62% in 2011;

- 50% of travel brands surveyed agreed that direct bookings were generated from social media;

- 1 out of 5 travel brands surveyed cited social media as their most successful marketing format. In Brazil, it’s 1 out of 3 travel brands;

- Travel marketers surveyed found that social media reduces PR costs by up to 24%;

- Airline respondents highlighted company profiles on social media: 85% are on Facebook, 79% are on Twitter, 44% on Youtube, 35% on LinkedIn, and 21% on Flickr;

Mobile stats

- 20% of travel brands use mobile for direct sales;

- 25% of travel brands use mobile to build brand awareness;

- The cruise sector has seen the biggest increase in mobile bookings via mobile devices in the past six months;

- 65% of travel industry respondents revealed the allocate 25% of their marketing budgets to their mobile distribution strategy;

For companies looking to preserve or improve their search rankings,  social marketing activities will no longer be optional. They will be a necessary element of traffic driving success.

- In Q3 2011, 51% of travel brands cited an increase in traffic from Facebook to their web site;

- In Q3 2011, 39% of travel brands cited an increase in traffic from Twitter to their web site;

- The most popular marketing channels for travel brands? Search Engine Marketing (SEM) 29%, Email Marketing 28% and Social Media Marketing 20%.

Was there any particular finding or statistic in the video that surprised you? I personally wonder how Pinterest and Google+ will score on this next travel marketing survey when conducted by the end of 2012…

 

Filed Under: Marketing, social media, travel Tagged With: , , , , ,

Frederic Gonzalo

Senior marketing and communications expert & speaker with 18 years expertise in the travel and hospitality industry. Consulting since early 2012, I provide strategic planning, social media & mobile development counseling to small and medium businesses alike. Reach me at frederic@gonzomarketing.biz

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Gazalla Gaya
Gazalla Gaya

All these stats really seek to convey that social media marketing is the most important method of marketing in our global village. I would have thought that by now, this fact would be a no brainer for the travel marketing world and that 100% would be on board! I remember that way back in '98, we did all of our bookings to Paris via the internet, including choosing the hotel and paying online!

Frederic Gonzalo
Frederic Gonzalo

Indeed, Gazalla, one would think everybody in the travel marketing world would have embraced the social media shift, but that is not so. Why? Well, one big reason is that many hotels, inns and restaurants are still mom & pop shops, or tended by few people who manage operations, HR, marketing, legal and accounting at the same time. Thus, resources are often scarce, both in time and money, so it ain't always easy to shift from old habits to digital technologies. Once owners understand the potential of social media and mobile, most make the shift but resistance to change being what it is... ;-)

Tori
Tori

I agree that social networks has made the travel industry healthier as a whole. It will be interesting to see how Pinterest will impact this industry, too!

Frederic Gonzalo
Frederic Gonzalo

Indeed, I think Pinterest certainly holds the potential to be a serious contender within the travel industry social media strategies, with this simple design, powerful visuals and more importantly, ease of shareability. Time will tell... Thanks for your comment, Frederic

Adi Gaskel
Adi Gaskel

"50% of travel brands surveyed agreed that direct bookings were generated from social media" I'd be fascinated to learn how many sales are generated on average. I mean one sale generated sometime last year would still qualify for that stat but it's not as impressive as 25% of total sales being generated via social media.

Frederic Gonzalo
Frederic Gonzalo

Good point, Adi. Both stats convey strong messages so I guess the key takeaway for a travel marketer is to consider online & social media as both musts in any healthy online marketing approach. Thanks for your comment. Cheers, Frederic