Interesting - and perhaps some surprising - results from a survey produced to understand more about consumers who buy budget and hostel accommodation.
Hostelbookers ran the survey in late-2010 and got 15,000 responses, so a very thorough sample size and therefore worth taking a deeper look.
The survey looks at booking trends, influences, expectations, use of digital media and devices, and a few off-kilter questions at the end.
Here is a selection of the results:
How far in advance do you plan your trip?
Where do you get information from when planning a trip?
Note that the survey was carried out online, so a skewing of the top results as always, but interesting to see the influence (or not) of blogs, Facebook and Twitter, and mobile apps.
How do you keep in contact with people while you are away?
Facebook as an influence tool appears to be low (as above), but a strong communication device. Interesting for advertisers and fan page owners.
How often do you use the internet when travelling?
How do you access the internet when you travel?
Mobile devices still getting low use overseas, probably due to continued prohibitive roaming costs.
Do you use videos to research the destination(s) that you are travelling to?
Often told video, video, video, but perhaps not as influential as some suggest.
NB: Age breakdown saw 25% from both 21 to 24 and 25 to 29 ranges, around 20% over-40 and 15% from 30 to 34. Location: 25% from the UK, 10% Australian, 9% US and 5% from Canada. 50% were full-time employed, just over 25% in college or university education.
NB2: Some of the other results are here.