A survey from Sprint and Harris Interactive shows that
the majority of vacationers are not using helpful travel
applications because of budget concerns. Wireless phone are the most popular item to pack,
Aside from laptops (50 percent), MP3
players (38 percent) and portable DVD players (17 percent), wireless
phones (79 percent) are the most popular item for travelers to pack.
Use of Travel Apps
Eighty-nine
percent of young adults (ages 18-34) would ideally like to have access
to travel-related applications on their wireless phones, including
social media web sites (34 percent), online/wireless games (19 percent)
and restaurant guides (51 percent) while away. Thirty-five percent of males (ages 18-34) and 24 percent of females
(ages 18-34) already use at least some travel applications on their
wireless phones.
More than half of vacationers (56 percent) do not use available
travel-related features on their wireless phones because of cost
concerns. Sixty-one percent of these women and 65 percent of these
young adults (ages 18-34) believe that the fee to run travel-related
applications on their wireless phones is a deterrent to using them.
Accessibility Issues
More than one-third (37 percent) of
men misrepresent their accessibility to e-mail and their wireless phone
while on vacation. Young adults lead the charge in staying connected:
Three-quarters (77 percent) of young adults (ages 18-34) are more
likely to check their e-mail while away than their older counterparts
(61 percent of those ages 55+).
Sixty-seven percent of adults
prefer to use their mobile phones to keep in touch with their family
members who are not with them. In terms of checking e-mail, one in
three adults (31 percent) describe their e-mail checking personality as
"compulsive or frequent" while on vacation.
Social Media
Thirty-eight percent of
young adults (ages 18-34) who capture images/videos of their vacation
prefer to share the images/videos by uploading them to social network
sites.
Guess what Sprint's suggestion is to solve the cost problem...buy the Sprint everything plan.
This survey was conducted online May 20-22, 2009, within the United States by Harris Interactive
on behalf of Sprint among 2,212 adults ages 18 and older, of whom 2,070
go away on vacation. This online survey is not based on a probability
sample. Therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated.