How do the French Internet users book a hotel room ?
October 6, 2010 by Isabelle du Plessix
Over 3/4 of Internet users (77.7%) used Internet to book hotel room. The second most common practice is to book by phone (33.3%).
Before finalizing the booking, 90% of the Internet users surf on the web to look for information that will confirm their choice of the hotel. This media has thus far exceeded the travel guides (16.8%) and travel brochures (10.3%). Traditional media such as magazines, TV, newspapers and radio are used for this purpose only by a tiny minority of Internet users.
Users view mostly at content website to find the information determining their choice of hotel. 66.3% of those surveyed, followed closely by ecommerce websites with 62.6%, ahead of search engines (50.4%).
On average, 52% of the Internet user surf on 3 to 5 websites before confirming the booking. The shorter the stay is, the less number of websites they surf on.
Travel review site are heavily visited. 68.5% reported being influenced by the rating of hotels. The advise of relatives as well as photographs are the most important element influencing the final decision on the choice of hotel. The reviews follow closely, ahead of text description of the hotel.
Source: médiamétrie 2010