BURST MEDIA SURVEY REVEALS CONSUMERS STILL TAKING SUMMER VACATIONS IN SPITE OF RECESSION
76% of Respondents Still Planning to Travel this Summer
Burlington, MA—June 15, 2009 - Burst Media, Burst Media, a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers, today released the results of a survey on summer travel. The survey, administered last month to nearly 2,000 adults 18 years and older, revealed that three-quarters (76.3%) of respondents will take a personal trip or vacation this summer that will entail travel at least 100 miles from home. Among this “summer travel” segment, 40.8% say the number of trips they plan to take is “the same” as the number they took last year; 24.4% say they will be traveling more frequently, and one-third (34.6%) of summer travelers will travel less frequently. Among respondents traveling less frequently, 71.3% say the recession has impacted their summer travel plans. Also of interest was the finding that two out of three respondents (63.3%) are “online” during their vacations.
Not surprisingly, nearly all (80.3%) summer travelers indicated they will use the Internet to help plan their vacations, but of particular interest was the survey’s revelation of the significant connection between affluence and Internet usage for travel planning. Among income segments, respondents reporting household income (HHI) of $100,000 or more were most likely (88.2%) to use the Internet to help plan their summer travel.
“Consumers are actively using the Internet as an information resource and a place to make travel purchases,” said Chuck Moran, VP of Marketing for Burst Media. “Online advertisers can benefit greatly from leveraging the web’s ability to target specific travel audiences – such as families, and the affluent - with content that is highly meaningful and engaging to the viewer.”
When asked to select what features/content of a travel website make them return to it, respondents cited destination information (46.3%) and the ability to check flight, hotel and car rental rates/availability (45.2%) as the most popular options.
To view the full copy of Burst’s Online Insights report please visit http://www.burstmedia.com/research/research.asp.
About Burst Media
An online media and technology company founded in 1995, Burst Media (www.BurstMedia.com) is a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers. Burst Media enables advertisers to reach finely segmented, engaged consumers as they visit Burst's extensive number of interest-based sub-channels. Through its Burst Network and Burst Direct units, the company represents one of the broadest and deepest offerings of interest-based websites online. Burst also markets its ad management platform, adConductor™, which empowers content websites, online ad networks, and web portals to manage the complete process of ad sales and service. Burst Media is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the United States and in London, UK. For more information, visit www.BurstMedia.com or call 781.272.5544.
