Half of all travellers frustrated by poor websites

Frommer's Unlimited 27 April 2009

Half of all travellers have struggled with poorly constructed confusing and inaccurate websites that don't provide them with sufficient information according to a survey carried out by content experts Frommers® Unlimited, the business-to-business division of Frommer's, a branded imprint of Wiley.

The global survey of more than 1,200 people, carried out for Frommer's Unlimited by web usage specialists eDigitalResearch, found that half the people surveyed had encountered confusing sites with information hard to find, insufficient pictures, insufficient information about the destination, hotel, cruise, airline or ferry company. Four out of ten people also reported finding inaccurate, or misleading information and not enough information about things to do. A third of travellers said they were frustrated by a lack of response to email enquiries and sites which weren't bookable online. One in ten people said travel companies didn't tailor information to suit their needs and eight out of ten said they only sometimes found the right information to suit their requirements. Just one in ten said they did get the right tailored material when searching online.

Joel Brandon Bravo general manager of Frommer's Unlimited speaking at the PhocusWright Travolution conference in London said: "our survey has really highlighted the consumer experience problems which travel companies need to address in their websites. However we've also indentified what people most value when they were look online and the point at which that information was useful. Online research is considered critically important planning tool with more than 80% of people saying this is by far the most important tool for their research, compared to only 18% ranking travel agents most highly. We also found clear signals about the importance of providing online descriptions of the destination, images and maps because more than two thirds of respondents wanted this when planning and booking their trips. "

The most important factors for people when deciding where to go were price (86%), activities to suit special interests (68%), length of trip (65%), weather (63%), food (58%), exchange rate (45%), beaches (38%), length of flight (37%), off-the-beaten track information (36%) child friendly details (20%), nightlife (19%) and carbon footprint (15%).

The Frommers Unlimited research found that eight out of ten people wanted information online about destinations and practical guidance before they booked. But more than a third also wanted specific destination or more general holiday guidance at the time they were booking a hotel or flight. When booking a holiday travellers say the following items are important or very important to them: online pictures of accommodation and facilities (76%), a written description of the destination (72%), a destination map (70%), destination activities and events (67%), weather information (65%), travel information such as time zone currency and visa requirements (60%), local dining information (51%), local sports and leisure information (33%), a video of accommodation (30%), video of the destination (25%) and details of family and children's activities (20%).

A third of people in the survey also said they wanted information after booking but before leaving on their trip. A further 15% said they even checked information online about their destination while they were on holiday.

Respondents showed they could be loyal to online travel providers - a third said they were loyal, 40% said they were sometimes loyal to particular brands and a quarter said they were not loyal. More than half of the people surveyed also said that a website with good content such as travel guides would influence them to book with that business. Around 45% said it would make no difference.

Dominic Bean head of business development for eDigitalResearch said: "we were concerned but not surprised by the dissatisfaction shown by travellers' experiences online. We regularly research and report on the consumer experience of using major high street retailers' websites and have seen online standards in general retailing transform in the past two years. It appears that travel has a long way to go to match these levels of online service."

- ENDS -

About Frommer's Unlimited

Frommer's Unlimited is the business-to-business division of Frommer's Travel. For more than 50 years, Frommer's®, a branded imprint of Wiley, has been the trusted source of useful and engaging travel information. Frommer's Unlimited enables businesses to create high-value propositions for their customers by leveraging Frommer's travel expertise, rich content resources and technical capabilities. Products and services provided by Frommer's Unlimited include global destination and events content, private label Websites, mobile applications and custom publishing. Frommer's is a registered trademark of Arthur Frommer. For more information, visit frommers.biz

About Wiley

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfil their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Peace. Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

About eDigital Research
eDigitalResearch is a leading provider of digital market research, enabling customers to make critical business decisions with the benefit of comprehensive consumer insight and informed direction. eDigitalResearch possesses a unique combination of research expertise, marketing background, web technology and knowledge of the cross-channel consumer. As well as providing invaluable research data, the modules of its fully integrated research system - ratings, surveys, panels and forums - can combine to provide holistic analytics and essential market-leading insight. This gives clients the power, confidence and backup to make crucial decisions on key aspects of their business including product range, marketing, customer service, supply chain, even basic positioning. For further information visit www.edigitalresearch.com

The global survey of 1,234people was carried out for Frommers Unlimited by eDigitalResearch in April 2009.In the survey sample 45% took holidays once or twice a year and a quarter took holidays between two to three times a year. Half the sample respondents were from the UK, a quarter from the USA and the remainder from Europe, Middle East, Australasia and Asia.

 

---

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• reddit
• StumbleUpon
• Twitter

---

Frommer's Unlimited case studies

Frommer's Unlimited news