Skift Take
If a tourist hikes in the woods, but doesn't tweet about it, did he really go?
When travelers seek out Wi-Fi, it is most often to update their social networks, according to new research by Market Research Company PhoCusWright.
The report found that 50 percent of U.S. travelers who access mobile web use it to update their social profiles with a travel-related post.
Among its other conclusions, PhoCusWright found that travelers are less likely to post about their trips once they get home. What this means for industry players is simple: offer free Wi-Fi or risk the terrible fate of social media invisibility.
The report also found that only four percent of travel companies’ online traffic comes from social media, yet another indication that travel companies have a lot of work to do in terms of strengthening their social presences.
The following infographic from PhoCusWright outlines how U.S. travelers use social media:
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Tags: social media, wi-fi
Photo credit: Even Marin's Guesthouse, the oldest tourist establishment on Caye Caulker, an island off of Belize, offers patrons free Wi-Fi. Erik Terdal / Flickr