Laffitte Conseil

Aux USA, Internet passe avant la radio

Près d'un tiers des américains estiment que le web est devenu le media le plus important dans leur vie de tous les jours. Seule la télévision obtient un score plus important.

 

Les habitants des Etats-Unis ne sont plus que 17% à qualifier la radio de média le plus essentiel dans leur vie. C'est encore pire pour les journaux, qui n'obtiennent que 10% des faveurs de ces sondés de plus de douze ans. Selon l'étude menée par Edison Media Research (*), la télévision, comme d'habitude, se paye la part du lion, avec 36% d'opinions favorables.

 

Les médias traditionnels en déclin depuis 2002

 

Le fait marquant de ce rapport est qu'Internet se rapproche très près de la TV, en étant cité comme le "most essential medium" par un tiers des sondés. En 2002, radio et TV dépassaient Internet, en étant choisi par respectivement 39%, 26% et 20% des sondés. Edison Media Research a également demandé à l'échantillon de citer les médias les moins importants. La logique est respectée.

Article complet

Number of Indians holidaying abroad is set to double

The number of tourists travelling from India will more than double by 2011 according to new travel and tourism data issued by  Euromonitor International. Leading tour operators, such as Kuoni Travel and  Thomas Cook, are preparing to take advantage of this boom in the Indian travel market, as the total number of outbound travellers looks set to reach 16.3 million in 2011 alone.

This dramatic rise in the number Indians travelling abroad, 132% over 2006 to 2011 according to Euromonitor International’s latest research, is being driven by rising disposable incomes, more affordable holiday options and the growth of low cost carriers, enabling more Indians to travel abroad.

Full article

Home Internet Usage in India Creeps Up

Internet users in urban India totaled 30.32 million in April 2007, according to JuxtConsult. That is up 28% over the number of users reported in April 2006.

bercafes drove the total in 2006, but that increased Internet usage at home was the big story in 2007. Home Internet usage in India grew 19% from April 2006 to April 2007.

Gauging an accurate measure of regular Internet users is difficult in India as a whole (including rural usage), due to the majority of Internet users accessing the Internet from cybercafes and the sheer size of the population.

eMarketer estimates there will be 71 million total Internet users in India by 2011.

The variety of comparative estimates eMarketer has assembled for India paints a confused picture. Internet users could number anywhere between 18 million and 60 million! eMarketer has assessed that the numbers from the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) as well as past JuxtConsult data seem more plausible than most.

Full article

UGC Users Outnumber Creators

Even taking into account the power and ease of use of user-generated content tools like digital cameras and affordable audio/video production software, there are more content consumers than creators.

In the US, the number of users of user-generated content will hit 101 million by 2011, up from the 2006 estimate of 69 million.

Globally, the estimated number of user-generated content users will hit 254 million by 2011, up from 128 million in 2006.

Full article

Travelzoo ‘doubles UK traffic’

Revamped online holiday search site Travelzoo claims to have doubled users to its UK site during the month of May.

Figures released by the company, based on comScore Media Metrix data, show an increase of more than 600,000 unique users to 1.25 million in the period.

The number of pages viewed per user rose by 66% month on month and Travelzoo rose 22 positions in the list of most visited UK travel websites from April to May, according to the company.

Travelzoo launched a more comprehensive site on May 10 including a dedicated travel search facility and the integration of a regional e-mail alert service.

Full article

UK Online Travel

eMarketer projects that online leisure and unmanaged business travel sales in the UK will total $21 billion this year, a 27% increase over 2006. But the annual sales growth rate will rapidly decelerate over the next four years, dropping below the teens.

So who exactly is using the Web for travel?

Silver surfers had the largest representation of any age group on UK travel Web sites in March 2007, according to Hitwise. Cruise sites in particular were popular with this age group. Hitwise found that in a recent month, cruise sites received 48% of their visitor traffic from Internet users ages 55 and older.

Full article

Germans are moving online

Germany is home to Europe's largest online population, and it is still growing.

In a new report, Germany: Online Overview, eMarketer estimates that there were nearly 40 million active Internet users in Germany in 2006, and expects that number to climb to nearly 50 million before 2011.

Full article

Travel Hacking: Essential web 2.0 Sites for Summer Travelers

Going on vacation this summer? For control freaks and geeks like us, there are now hundreds of sites to help organize your itinerary, discuss travel plans with people around the world, research the weather and landmarks before you go, share your travel photos and videos on the go, find traveling partners, book accommodation and transport, map out your journey and blog your trip from start to finish.

For your weekend reading, we’ve picked out some of our favorite new sites and services in this category.

Travel Planning & Management:

TripWiser takes travel planning to the next level, by letting you pick any location to travel to, then plan out each individual day. With the planning complete, you can write notes about your trip, upload photos and keep all your friends and family updated. Add to all this the ability to find hotels, activities, destinations, and restaurants, and you’ve got a very handy site indeed. Another cool feature: trip cloning…take the very same trip as another person with one click. (Previous Coverage)

iloho is a Digg-like service for super-organized travelers. It gives you the ability to share and view itineraries, create and manage groups of travelers, read and write travel-related articles, and allows you to get user opinions of major airlines. Although it is simple in what it offers, it still is a great service for travelers to utilize. (Previous Coverage)

Dopplr is a fairly useful site…if you can get access (it’s current in private beta and requires an invite). Once signed up, you can add trips and fellow travelers to your account. Specify the start and finish of a trip, the location, and add notes. Then you can see all your trips marked out on a Google Map. You will be able to keep track of the trips that your friends will be taking as well. A great site if you want to keep things super-simple.

TripHub gives you the option of creating a trip page that shows all the information about your upcoming trips. It allows you to easily share this page friends so they can learn about your future travels and plans. (Previous Coverage)

Social Travel Networks:

WAYN, “Where Are You Now,” is an established site with millions of members. You can write about your past, present, and future trips. Share photos and journals of your travels, and find airfare information thanks to a deal with the search engine Kayak. (Previous Coverage)

Travelistic is the YouTube of travel based videos. The site allows you to post and view videos related to all things travel, including some professional content. Use the site to preview potential travel destinations and share your own experiences.

TripUp (formerly TripMates) allows you to connect with a travel community, based on people traveling to your city and other locations. You can hook up with locals on your journey, and form Trip Buddies as well. You can share maps, videos, photos, blogs, and reviews of travel related information.

Matador is a community for traveling and much much more. Instead of just sharing your travel plans and ideas, you join a site that is all things travel, culture, people, music, art, writing, sports, and global development. (Previous Coverage)

TravelBlog allows you to follow many bloggers around in their travels. It is a massive hub of bloggers which love to discuss traveling. You can also post photographs of your travels, and they have a forum for all things travel-related.

Travel Ideas:

Tripbase helps out by providing ideas for interesting trips. You simply need to sign up for the site, then adjust the sliders to your preferences: night-life, attractions, nature, etc. Tripbase suggests locations based on this info. It also shows you statistics like temperature, rainfall, and traveling popularity, plus things to do, places to eat, and lodging information. It’s a nice site to check out if you are looking for ideas for future trips. (Previous Coverage)

myTripBook(formerly Travelhiker) allows you to get travel inspiration and advice from people who have traveled before you to a destination that you wish to visit. A friendly social experience for travelers. (Previous Coverage)

Travel Services:

Kayak is a free service that allows you to compare airfares from multiple sources. It also offers services like finding hotels, rental cars, cruises, and special deals. I mainly use it for airline tickets though, and it is very good at what it does. Everyone likes finding cheaper airfares!

TripAdvisor provides you with recommendations for vacation spots, transportation, hotels, special deals, and much more. It offers similar services to Kayak, but I still prefer Kayak….both do have their advantages.

Travel Blogs:

World Hum, which was recently acquired by The Travel Channel, is an online travel magazine which offers both help and ideas for places which you might possibly want to travel to. It gives you tips on places of interest, hotels, vacations, and so much more. It covers so many areas of travel that you really must check it out to fully understand. Worth bookmarking if you like to keep up to date on travel information.

HoboTraveler features one man who has been traveling for the past 10 years and has visited over 76 countries. A useful resource for travelers who want to learn about locations he has already traveled to.

Mapping:

Google Earth can be a very useful tool for planning out trips if you don’t mind downloading some software. You can add layers of information, like restaurants and places. Fun to use, whether you’re traveling this summer or not.

Facebook Travel Applications:

Where I’ve Been is a simple little application that allows you to add a map to your Facebook profile - you then can click on any state/country on that map and highlight it. You can mark places you have been to, places you have lived, places you want to go to, and the rest are places you have not been to nor want to visit. It is a fairly simple idea, but it is fun to play around with and keep your friends updated.

A new Facebook application by TripAdvisor, Cities I’ve Visited is an application that utilizes Google Maps. You can mark down individual cities around the globe that you’ve visited.

Finally, Trips is an application that allows you to plan trips and have them displayed on a Google Map. You can add a destination, start time, end time, Facebook friends, other friends, and a description.

Enjoy your trip.

Declining online travel sales growth in Europe predicted

The value of online travel sales in Europe will reach $49 billion this year but growth levels will start to decline from 2008.

The prediction came from US market research firm eMarketer which said sales growth is expected to slow through to 2011 as the three largest online markets – the UK, Germany and France – continue to mature.

The UK is the largest market in Western Europe, capturing 45% of the $36.1 billion of online sales in 2006.

This will drop to 41% in four years as Germany, Spain and Italy are growing at a faster rate and will gain a grater share of online sales, according to eMarketer's European Online Travel report.

Growth levels of 27% this year are forecast to slow to 20% in 2008 to give a value of $59.5 billion, reducing to 17% in 2009 ($70 billion), 13% in 2010 ($74 billion) and 10% in 2011 ($80.7 billion).

The report highlights global trends as affecting the European tourism market over the next five to 10 years. Shifting demographics, macroeconomic trends, technological innovations and climate change are having a "significant impact".

Full article

Generation Y Multitaskers Boost Media Time

Multitasking is driving up the total amount of time that US teens spend with media, according to a Bridge Ratings study conducted in March to May 2007.

US consumers ages 13 to 17 spend more time with media overall than other age groups do, and their total media time has grown by more than two and a half hours per day since May 2004.

Bridge attributes this change to Generation Y's skill at consuming two or more of types of media simultaneously.

Full article