Social networking influences the way we travel, whether it be for leisure or business, a recently published YouGov Global Profiles report tells us. From planning and researching trips to keeping in touch with others, it’s no wonder that most leisure and business travelers say that having their phones on them can enhance their travel experience and that they like to stay connected to people back home while traveling. They are an integral part of the travel experience.
Following are several tables and data breakouts based on the Global Profiles material which illustrate the importance of phones and staying connected to others while traveling. (They show percentage in each country who agree with the following statements).
USA: A phone/tablet can improve my traveling experience
| Business Traveler | 84% |
| Leisure Traveler | 77% |
USA: I like being connected to people back home when I’m traveling
| Business Traveler | 79% |
| Leisure Traveler | 71% |
Great Britain: A phone/tablet can improve my traveling experience
| Business Traveler | 80% |
| Leisure Traveler | 77% |
Great Britain: I like being connected to people back home when I’m traveling
| Business Traveler | 69% |
| Leisure Traveler | 68% |
Which platforms do these travelers use? Among business travelers in the U.S. and Great Britain:
—Three in five people who travel for business say they use social media at least once a day or more often (63 percent for the U.S. and 68 percent for Great Britain).
—An additional fifth of all business travelers in the U.S. (21 percent) and Great Britain (19 percent) say they use social networking sites a few times a week, bringing total weekly usage to above the 80 percent threshold for business travelers in both markets.
What platforms are they using?
-Business travelers seem to have a stronger affinity for certain platforms than the overall population.
-In the U.S., they are most likely to be members of Facebook (70 percent vs. 72 percent of all U.S. adults) but skew heavily toward their usage of Twitter (45 vs. 35 percent), Instagram (50 percent vs. 40 percent) and LinkedIn (33 percent vs. 24 percent). This is an important insight for those aiming to reach this audience with their digital marketing spend.
-In Great Britain, a greater share of business travelers uses LinkedIn when compared to the overall British population (33 percent vs. 20 percent).
Question: Which, if any, of the following social networks are you currently a member of? Please select all that apply. (Percentage of business travelers in each market)
| Platform | U.S. | Great Britain |
| 70% | 59% | |
| 45% | 33% | |
| 33% | 33% | |
| 50% | 40% |
YouGov: Not displaying responses for Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr, Other and N/A
