Only 11% of Brits book their holiday with high street agents
Just 11% of Brits will be visiting a travel agent in person to book their 2012 holiday, according to a report by TravelSupermarket.
When it comes to booking their main summer holiday, 31% will book through an online travel agent, 20% through an online tour operator and 15% through an online price comparison site.
Another 14% of the 5,000 Brits surveyed said they would book over the telephone.
When it comes to researching their trip, the poll found 12% would be calling in to see their high street agent for advice.
Instead, 52% will use internet search engines as their first port of call for holiday research, 40% will use review sites to get the opinions of other travellers, and 37% said they would be visiting travel agents’ websites to plan their dream break.
Bob Atkinson, travel expert from TravelSupermarket commented: "The switch to online for our holiday planning – whether to research or book – has been one of the most noticeable changes in travel over the last few years and appears to be continuing.
"The internet makes researching our holiday so much easier. Review sites are growing in popularity as holidaymakers trust the opinion of their peers, plus as Brits get savvier about finding the best price on their holidays they are using the internet to compare prices to get the best deal."
Spain is set to lead the way this year with 11% of Brits already planning on heading there for their main break, followed by Italy (3%) and Portugal (2%).
The findings were taken from the TravelSupermarket Travel Trends Tracker, due to be published later this month.
by Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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