s take lion’s share of transactions. Ian Taylor reports on TNS research for Travel Weekly


Advice: Just one in six say trade is their main source


One in six UK adults booking an overseas holiday used the trade as the main source of information for their most recent trip.


A TNS survey for Travel Weekly


found 17% cited visiting a travel agent, reading tour operators’ brochures or speaking to an adviser on the phone as the “main source of information” for their most-recent overseas holiday booking. That compared with 57% who said the internet was their main source of information. But while the dominance of


the web should be no surprise, the resilience of more-traditional sources of information could be. About one in seven (15%) said


friends or family were their main source of information. Another 6% relied on “old-fashioned” travel guides for their information and the same proportion (6%) on magazines and newspapers. Reliance on the web was


highest among 45-54-year-old respondents at 66% and lowest


21%


Proportion of young adults using friends and family for main advice


among 25-34-year-olds at 45%. One in five (19%) of 25-34-year-


olds regarded travel agents or advisers as their main source of information and 27% cited an agent or printed travel brochures – the highest percentage of any age group. In no other age group did more than one in 10 cite agents as the main source of information about a holiday. Brochures appeared of least


appeal to 35-54-year-olds, but the same age group showed most interest in printed travel guides with one in 10 seeing these as their main source of travel information. Young adults were most likely to look to friends and family for


ONLINE: 60% of 45-54-year-olds rely on web for main travel advice


information – 21% citing this as their main source. There was little regional


variation in source preference other than among consumers in the north, who appeared twice as likely to consult a travel agent in person as those in the south – 10% compared with 5%. Holiday buyers in higher- income households were more likely to regard the internet as their main source of information than those in lower-income households, with 62% doing so compared with 49%. Those less well-off were twice


as likely to consult an agent – 15% saying they would do so against 8% of those on higher incomes.


By UK region North


1 TripAdvisor 2 Booking.com 3 EasyJet 4 Thomson


4 Skyscanner


Midlands 1 TripAdvisor 2 Booking.com 3 Thomson 4 EasyJet 4 Expedia


Most-popular travel sites South


1 TripAdvisor


2 British Airways 3 Booking.com 4 Expedia 5 EasyJet


Sites used to research or book most-recent overseas holiday


1 TripAdvisor 2 Booking.com =3 EasyJet =3 Thomson 5 Expedia


6 Skyscanner


7 British Airways 8 Ryanair 9 Airbnb


10 Cheapflights 11 Travelzoo


12 Google Flights Other sites


44% 31% 25% 25% 24% 19% 18% 16% 10% 8% 5% 4%


29%


By child status With children


1 TripAdvisor 2 Expedia


3 British Airways 4 EasyJet


4 Booking.com


No children 1 TripAdvisor 2 Booking.com 3 Thomson 4 EasyJet 4 Expedia


Base: All booking a holiday outside UK and Ireland in 2016-17. Source: TNS 1 September 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 87


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