As many UK workers head off on summer breaks, half (49%) of all 18 - 29 year olds said they were most likely to be influenced by friends and family’s recommendations when planning where to go on holiday.  This drops to just 24% of the over 50s being influenced by friends and family’s recommendations, according to new research out today from Amadeus.
However, whereas personal recommendations from friends and family rate highly, professional advice from travel agents tops the list of sources travellers turn to when planning a trip, with 66% of all UK travellers making use of the knowledge that travel agents have.

Tendencies for sourcing information prior to travel also differ depending on where the traveller is based in the UK:

Londoners are more likely to surf the net for tips on where to go when planning their trips (57%) compared to those living in the rest of the South of England (47%).
Almost 2 in 5 (39%) of those living in the Midlands and Wales prefer to leaf through the more traditional paper brochure when planning their trips, compared to the Scots (29%) who prefer to go online (51%) and listen to their friends and family (32%).

Interestingly the findings also revealed that while just under two thirds (62%) of 18 - 29 year olds are heading online to plan their getaways, this trend is also being increasingly followed by the over 50s - 42% of whom claim they use the internet when determining where to escape on holiday. 

Stephane Durand, Managing Director of Amadeus UK said: “With the sun shining, people’s thoughts tend to drift away from work and towards the beach or a holiday destination.  While many people take the opportunity to head online in the office or at home to do their initial planning, our survey shows that most people are still also turning to their travel agent to get sound professional advice.

“It is interesting to note, that where we live in the country and our age impact how we determine where to go on holiday.  The under 30’s seem to be more swayed by recommendations of friends and family, whilst the 50+‘s seem to prefer to make their decisions based on professional advice and research.”
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