GLOBAL – NEW YORK, USA, APRIL 7, 2011 — In its April trend report "Rebooting Travel", JWT surveys the latest travel trends, focusing on how mobile devices, real-time connectivity and social networking are reshaping the travel experience.
“Today’s travelers are different from those even a few years ago,” says Ann Mack, director of trendspotting at JWT. “They’re tech-enabled, with infinite information at their fingertips, and they’re driven to share experiences as they’re having them. The countertrend is that we’re seeing more vacationers looking to get a break from technology and its dominance over their lives.”
JWT’s travel trends report is the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted by JWTIntelligence throughout the year. Specifically for this report, JWTIntelligence interviewed travel experts and influencers and conducted a quantitative survey in the U.S. and the U.K. The survey used SONAR™, JWT’s proprietary online tool, to poll 1,024 adults aged 18-plus from March 4-15, 2011.
Key trends explored in the report:
Travel’s Tiny Essential: Smartphones are replacing guidebooks and folding maps through location-based services and guides, mobile mapping technologies and travel apps.
The New Travel Currency: Travelers can now share photos, videos and text in real-time, not having to wait until their return home.
Unplugged Holidays: In an extension of De-Teching, one of JWT’s 10 Trends for 2011, vacationers are increasingly choosing to log off in an effort to reconnect with loved ones, fully recharge and savor real-world experiences.
The trend report, “Rebooting Travel,” is available on JWT Intelligence.
