A report by PhoCusWright has found that while traveller engagement on social networks is thriving, bookings are not.
According to PhoCusWright's Social Media in Travel 2012: Social Networks and Traveler Reviews, more than three quarters of travellers turn to social networks to find some type of shopping-related deal, and 30% specifically seek out travel-related deals.
However, travel suppliers that have implemented booking tools, widgets or full-fledged booking engines within Facebook have so far reported mixed results, citing a range of challenges.
Most significantly, travellers do not appear to engage in social networks with the primary intent of shopping or purchasing travel, as they would when using search or travel sites.
While Internet users are accustomed to using Facebook to share their travel photos and stories, they do not use the site to make purchases.
| Advertisement |
"Everybody and their grandma may be on Facebook, but for many in the travel industry, that has not made social into a reliably actionable and demonstrably profitable marketing medium," said Douglas Quinby, senior director, research at PhoCusWright.
"The potential of social for travel may lie less in any one platform and more in the ecosystem of social data to socialize a traveler's experience across a variety of online travel websites and mobile applications."
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
