Social Media

Social Media in Russia

How Tech and Social Media Are Changing Travel [INFOGRAPHIC] It's spring break and summer is just around the corner, which means vacation season is upon us.

From mobile apps to deal sites, people use technology more than ever to help find places to go. Technology also helps vacationers enjoy themselves after they reach their destinations. But just how much is technology changing the way we travel? Nearly one-third of social media users have used a mobile app to find good prices for flights and hotels, and 15% have downloaded an app specific to a certain trip, according to a survey by the market research company Lab42. And just because people are on break, they aren't necessarily taking a break from their devices. For the full picture of how technology and social media are changing our travel experiences, check out the Lab42 infographic below.

Travel businesses pledge to spend more on social media and mobile in 2012. Two-thirds of travel companies will spend more of their precious marketing budgets on social media next year, while over half will also target mobile channels.

The results of the annual Frommer’s Unlimited Digital Content Trends survey, run via Tnooz in late-September, also found nearly 80% of companies have plans to develop iPhone applications during 2012, with 75% aiming to have similar services for iPad devices by the end of year. Meanwhile, half of the travel executives surveyed currently operate a site in one language, a third operate sites in up to five languages and a fifth have sites in more than five languages. The study found that a quarter are hoping to be running up to five language sites next year and 17% plan to have more than five language sites. Frommer’s believes there is a “maturing of the online marketplace as marketers look closer at the final stages of the purchase funnel and how they can convert more visitors into loyal customers”.

Here are some of the key findings: How much do travellers love social media? They cannot get enough of it [INFOGRAPHIC] Perhaps some parts of the industry continue to struggle with how to monetise all this social media malarkey, but that doesn’t stop consumers from embracing it.

From the so-called discovery part of the process, to booking, in-destination activity and what they do when they return home, consumers continue their passion for relying on strangers for advice, stay connected throughout their trips and will happily share (some of) their personal data with travel brands by way of Facebook fandom. The MDG Advertising blog has a decent infographic to illustrate it all: Travel companies see potential in scrapbooking site Pinterest. Yet another social media tool has emerged, one that the travel industry in particular is being advised to take note of. Pinterest, the much-buzzed-about scrapbooking website, might be the social media tool best suited to agents and suppliers alike, because it is all about images.

Members "pin" photos and other visual representations of things they like (or dislike) and set them up on various themed boards for their followers to see and share. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is not about telling. It's about showing, which plays to travel sales. "Travel is very visual," said Patrick Evans, social media manager for STA Travel.

Andrew Hickey, social media manager for G Adventures, said Pinterest enabled the company to expand on the popularity of the images it puts on Facebook. "Travel and beautiful images go hand in hand," he said. Travel agents are also catching on to the power of Pinterest. Other parts of the industry are not sure about Pinterest.

Best Pinterest practices. Where are travel brands concentrating their efforts in social media? [INFOGRAPHIC] Simpliflying spent some time analysing the data from a recent EyeforTravel report understand how travel companies are approaching social media in 2012.

Here are some interesting findings from the study, Social Media and Mobile Strategies for the Travel Industry 2011: Location-based services such as Foursquare will be huge this year. Almost half of all the airlines surveyed wish to increase their presence in location-based social networks in 2012 (they’re going to get you while you travel!) Over 70% of travel marketers are using social media to “build their brands” – a typically “fluffy” or qualitative goal which often can’t be measured in concrete termsMore marketers (56% vs 45%) are confident of having unlocked useful data to measure ROI on their mobile strategies vs general social media strategies.Almost 60% of marketers are either sure of the conversions to booking rate via Facebook or have a fair idea, which is rather impressive. And here is the obligatory infographic: Www.cybage.com/pages/downloads/impact of social media on travel industry.pdf.