TripAdvisor Survey Reveals That Travelers Find Mobile Devices Make Good Travel Companions

NEWTON, Mass., May 25, 2011 PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor^®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced the results of its mobile device travel survey of more than 1,000 U.S. respondents with mobile devices. Thirty-eight percent have used their mobile devices to plan a trip and 60 percent of respondents said they have downloaded travel apps on their mobile devices.

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While the main reason to bring a mobile phone on trips remains making calls, according to 47 percent, 19 percent cited communicating online through services like chat and email as the most important function.

Phone Plus

Thirty-eight percent said they often use their mobile devices for tasks other than calls when traveling, and 28 percent said they always do.  

Other than calls and texting, the top activities travelers use their mobile devices for when traveling include:

• 65% taking/sharing photos
• 54% surfing online
• 52% navigation
• 48% staying on top of the news
• 36% games

Mobile for Travel Planning

When asked what parts of the travel planning process they conduct on their mobile:

• 52% researched restaurants
• 46% read about destinations
• 45% read traveler reviews
• 42% booked or researched accommodations
• 34% booked or researched flights

On the Road Activities

While traveling, 62 percent of travelers said they use their mobile devices to research restaurants.  Fifty-one percent check their flight status and 46 percent research attractions. Twenty-eight percent have checked in to a restaurant, hotel or attraction using their mobile device while on a trip.

Other Mobile Device Travel Tidbits

• 23 percent have reviewed a hotel, restaurant, or attraction they've visited using a mobile device while on a trip.
• 38 percent post status updates to social networking sites to keep friends updated on their travels.
• 47 percent of respondents have used their mobile devices internationally.  
• The greatest frustration with mobile devices when traveling, not surprisingly, is sporadic connectivity, according to 35 percent, while 25 percent identified small screens as their biggest mobile device gripe.
• 75 percent of respondents said they use GPS devices when traveling.
• 59 percent of travelers have used the GPS capabilities of their mobile devices.

"Smartphone adoption around the world is skyrocketing, and is fundamentally changing the way people get travel advice," said Mike Putnam, director of mobile product for TripAdvisor. "Whether it is finding the perfect museum or restaurant, booking a hotel or a flight, or sharing advice, it is clear that travelers around the world now rely on their smartphones and other mobile devices to plan and have better trips."

TripAdvisor recently launched a new "My Saves" feature for its mobile websites and apps that allows travelers to save hotel, restaurant, and attraction pages so they can easily find them again for future reference. TripAdvisor has free mobile apps available for the iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, Nokia, and Palm smartphones, the iPad, and a mobile website available for all major mobile devices.

More information about TripAdvisor Mobile can be found at www.tripadvisor.com/mobile.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and Instant Personalization) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor® Media Group, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 50 million unique monthly visitors* across 18 popular travel brands**. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 40 million unique monthly visitors***, 20 million members, and over 45 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 29 countries worldwide****, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives.