A recent travel survey of over 38,000 members of leading travel social network, Where are you now? (WAYN), has revealed some interesting changes in how its users choose to travel. 

The introverts guide to travel? The results suggest that travellers increasingly seek solitude when on holiday, with the majority - 33% - claiming that they would choose to travel solo. The second most popular travel companions (26%) are friends, rather than partners or spouses.

Independent Travel vs. Tours? Traditional guided tours appear to be falling from favour with 49% of travellers opting to make their own sightseeing plans rather than join a specific tour.  Travellers seem to trust social media and other web research tools to arm them with enough detail to plan their trips, without the need of a guide.

Luxury or less? WAYN members prefer budget and mid-range accommodation to luxury hotels, with most members claiming that cost would be the only thing that would deter them from visiting the region: crime and disease were not considered deterrents.

Setting new standards in South America? The survey, which focused on questioning travellers about visiting South America, showed that WAYN members are clearly an adventurous bunch.  Brazil was the most popular country in the continent with 49% of respondents saying it would be their first choice in South America, while an ideal break would combine city and beach.  90% said they would travel widely while on holiday, visiting a number of cities and countries to make the most of having travelled to the continent.

Peter Ward from WAYN said: “We believe the internet accounts for some of these changes with increased amounts of accessible and relevant information empowering travellers to travel alone, stay in more diverse accommodation and plan visits to previously unconsidered destinations. I’m a big advocate of independent travel and our site gives users an opportunity to make friends at home before they travel so even if they do prefer to go solo, they have a virtual friend to explore their destination with.”

WAYN is the brainchild of Jerome Touze and Peter Ward who came up with the idea after returning from backpacking in 2002.  It is currently the world’s largest travel and lifestyle social media platform with 21 million members in 193 countries.  The focus of WAYN is to assist individuals with making the most out of life by discovering where to go, what to do and who to meet.