Tripadvisor users predominantly seek out the service for inspiration and to refine their choice of destination according to research the user-generated specialist revealed at the Social Media Revolution session at World Travel Market, the premier event for the global travel industry.
Head of Sales for the UK Martin Verdon-Roe said 32% of users come to the site for inspiration and know the type of holiday they want to go on but have made no firm decision on the destination.
Verdon-Roe added that the site had run some destination focused advertising with online travel agencies with about 47% of users choosing a different destination to the one they originally searched on.
Tripadvisor’s findings support research carried out by World Travel Market which found that the majority of social media users are likely to change their holiday choices after consulting the networks.
Panellists were also tackled on how social recommendation and social media becoming more personal would change travel and Verdon-Roe touched on Tripadvisor’s plans to build on its TripFriends initiative, launched in June, combining its current user-generated content with more relevant, personal content.
“We’re trying to take it to another level. Tripadvisor is the wisdom of the crowds but this is an opportunity to get the wisdom of friends. It’s potentially content that is not out there especially in the travel space.”
EyeforTravel Managing Director Tim Gunstone advised companies not to waste time on social media if their customers weren’t using it.
The WTM research of 1,200 holidaymakers revealed that only one-in-three used social media to help plan their summer holiday.
