Travel was top online purchase in 2012
In Finland, internet users turn to numerous sources before deciding on a travel destination, according to The Finnish Fair Corp.’s December 2012 survey conducted by TNS Gallup Finland. Of those surveyed, 61% looked to travel agency or hotel websites to plan travel, by far the most common resource used by respondents. Forty-four percent also reported using price comparison and booking services.
Indeed, the ability to compare is what draws consumers in Finland to the web for travel research. More than half of respondents to The Finnish Fair survey said they specifically looked to the internet and social media in order to research without the obligation to buy. Comparing prices, destinations and hotels were also top uses of the internet or social media for travel.
A proclivity for comparison shopping and researching does not indicate indecision, however. According to Statistics Finland’s 2012 study, 65% of consumers in the country had purchased products online in the past year. (Percentages approached or eclipsed the 80% mark among consumers aged 16 to 44.)
The report also found that of all the purchases those consumers made, accommodations and travel services were the top two categories—nearly two in five online buyers made travel accommodation purchases online in 2012, and about the same percentage purchased other travel services.
In Finland, consumers are clearly leisure-oriented when buying on the web overall—entertainment tickets and gambling also graced the top five online purchase categories, according to the survey.
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