Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Media Travel-Buddy

It is no secret that we are becoming more attached to our mobile devices - but it may be surprising how emotional those attachments have become.  A recent survey commissioned by Intel asked 2,500 participants (aged 16-66) how they felt about traveling with their personal technology devices with the following responses:

44% Feel "anxious" traveling without a device
87% Of young respondents believed that social media and internet access while on vacation would improve their vacation experience
77% of travelers said they felt more anxious about losing a laptop than losing a wedding ring

I tend to savor remote vacation locales for the pleasure of turning off my devices ("sorry work, no cell reception") but I seem to be in the minority in terms of people wanting technology access while  vacationing. Along with the need to travel with devices came anger/anxiety when technology needs aren't met, including described feelings of "outlet outrage" by survey respondents when electricity wasn't available.

While travel discount sites and social sites (such as trip advisor, expedia, etc) have been popular for several years in terms of helping plan trips before travel, it seems a growing area will be integrating social media into real-time travel and vacation feedback. 

Hotels should perhaps consider capturing customer goodwill by helping travelers decrease the surveyed "technology anxiety" - including offering extensive indoor/outdoor power outlets (along with maps directing customers to where they can plug in) or even offering appointments with technology "counselors" to help travelers deal with lost/stolen devices.

How have you found social media to be most useful/persuasive while traveling? Would it be helpful or creepy if social media/Facebook showed you where friends were vacationing so that you could more easily arrange group outings/travel? What mobile/technology 'perks' from vacation sites would be most valuable to you?



http://mashable.com/2012/06/21/travel-tech-anxiety/

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Laura makes an interesting point here that our attitudes towards our mobile phones have shifted over the years. Recently, I was giving directions to SIRI and my girlfriend started incoherently cursing at my mobile device. I immediately told her to stop. Once she pointed out that this was rediculous, I said, "I don't care. Stop." In one of our classes, we studied Disney Land, and concluded that one of the reasons that the company is so successful is because it sells a product that is priceless. It sells the 'memory of a life-time'. When you think about the prices that people are paying for their phones, you start to wonder exactly how much these emotions are priced into the product. This is not a wealthy trend either. The smart phone has pervaded lower and middle class families as well. What was once unthinkable (having your cell phone bill potentially cost 1/5 of your rent) is now reasonable if not a necessity. Personally, I do enjoy vacations without cell phone service. You would be surprised how much extra time you have when you don't look at your phone 150 times a day. Almost one half of Iphone users would rather go shoeless than go without their iphone according to a survey by infographic.

eric kuo said...

I wonder how they did the poll. It was most likely done when someone had their mobile device on them, and not while they were actually on vacation. Often I feel anxious when I am about to go somewhere with no reception, but surprisingly (or not) when I don't have reception, I'm actually quite happy. Related, when my phone gets lost or stolen, the first few hours are terrible. But after a day or two waiting for a new phone, I find myself not rushing to activate it because I enjoy the peace and quiet.