For a perfect holiday it is essential to have the perfect accommodation. Many different factors play a role when selecting the ideal hotel. The hotel price comparison site trivago.co.uk asked over 4,000 travellers the factors that affected their choice of accommodation this year. The results show that 45 percent of the Brits relied on the opinion of a travel expert to select their hotel in 2009…
For a perfect holiday it is essential to have the perfect accommodation. Many different factors play a role when selecting the ideal hotel. The hotel price comparison site trivago.co.uk asked over 4,000 travellers the factors that affected their choice of accommodation this year. The results show that 45 percent of the Brits relied on the opinion of a travel expert to select their hotel in 2009.
Nearly half of the British respondents have based their choice of hotel for the 2009 holiday season on professional travel guides (45 percent). The second most important factor was advertising and holiday catalogues; this could be due to the current availability of cheap package holidays. Ten percent of the respondents based their decision on personal experience, they chose a hotel based on good experiences they had in the past. Surprisingly, even with the weak pound the price of the hotel was only listed as the fourth most important factor. Eight percent stated that local tourist information affected their choice of hotel, closely followed by online reviews about a hotel (seven percent). The reputation or affiliation to a hotel chain influenced the decision of four percent of respondents. Only two percent of British travellers booked because of a friend’s recommendation.
In other countries the results are very different. The Spaniards are the biggest bargain hunters: Hard hit by the economic crisis, 45 percent of Spanish travellers stated that the price as the most important factor when selecting a hotel in 2009. The Germans also indicated that the price was the most important criterion (35 percent), as well as the Italians (34 percent). From the French respondents, 60 percent stated that advertisements and holiday brochures were the most important factor. In no other country were advertisements and holiday catalogues such a prominent decision making factor. The Dutch travellers indicated that the travel reviews from former hotel guests were the most important factor that affected their choice of hotel in 2009. Hotel reviews were also a big factor in Italy (29 percent), Germany (27 percent) and Spain (22 percent).
The online survey was answered by 4112 visitors to trivago in August and September 2009 on six trivago country platforms (United Kingdom, German, Spain, France, Italy and The Netherlands).
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
