Facebook Found To Influence Users’ Travel Plans

New research has found that people’s travel plans are increasingly being shaped by the activity of friends and family on Facebook, the social networking site said.

According to a study conducted by Facebook among its top 20 per cent of active users, travel is one of the most discussed topics on the site.

Around 84 per cent of respondents said that friends’ and family’s holidays inspire them while 64 per cent state that without Facebook they would not be aware of where friends and family had gone on holiday.

“We are seeing people research, talk about and share their travel experiences on Facebook,” said Jonathan Labin, head of Facebook for the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan.

“This process falls into five distinct stages: dream, plan, book, experience and reflect. The most progressive travel brands are using Facebook to ensure that they are visible throughout that process.”

Labin said that with the majority of users depending on Facebook to decide their travel plans, the travel industry should take advantage of the active conversations online about travel.

“Travel related posts are consistently the most popular and engaging content on Facebook. With nearly 1.2 billion people using the service and the average person having more than 140 friends, the opportunity to influence potential customers is huge,” he said.

There are around 56 million active monthly Facebook users in the MENA region, of which 28 million are daily users while 33 million are mobile users, said Labin. Daily users accessing Facebook via a mobile or a tablet in the MENA region has crossed 15 million.