Digitization changes vacation planning - but not vacations
Digitalization has significantly changed the way the Swiss plan their vacations. While ten years ago they mainly used travel agencies as a source of inspiration, today they turn to their computer or tablet.
However, computerization has hardly changed the vacations themselves, as an analysis by the travel search service Kayak shows. Travelers still prefer to relax, go on sightseeing tours and enjoy good food during their vacations. Together with Poles and Austrians, the Swiss are also particularly sporty on vacation compared to the rest of Europe.
The communication behavior of Swiss tourists is also surprisingly resistant to change. The internet is on the rise. However, only 7 percent of holidaymakers are still regularly active on social networks during their vacation, which will also be a consequence of the still high roaming charges.
However, according to Kayak, this proportion is likely to rise steadily over the next few years. This is because, at 13%, almost twice as many under 35-year-olds post regularly from their vacations than the average.
Vacation reports on social networks
Compared to other Europeans, however, young Swiss people are also among the online grouches during their vacations. Across all age categories, Russians (22%) and Italians (16%) are significantly more digitally active. However, this does not mean that the travel reporting behaviour of the Swiss has not changed as digitalization has progressed.
Almost two thirds of all travelers still prefer to share their experiences verbally and directly from person to person. The postcard also remains surprisingly popular, with 35% of Swiss tourists still using it as a communication channel (2006: 62%).
At the same time, however, there has been a marked increase in personal vacation reports via social networks. Today, 46% of Swiss travelers upload photos and travel reports to their social network profiles during and especially after their vacations. In 2006, this figure was only 5 percent. They still prefer to use their computers for this purpose. However, this is likely to change in the next few years. This is because the smartphone is much more popular than the computer among 18 to 24-year-olds.
Mobile use on the rise
The same development is also foreseeable for travel itself. The majority of travelers still distrust electronic documents or find the applications too complicated. Only 15 percent use mobile online check-in and mobile boarding passes (2006: 3 percent). In contrast, 51 percent check in at home on their computer and print out their boarding pass (2006: 17 percent).
However, this means that digitalization and crowdsourcing - i.e. the outsourcing of activities to the customer - has become the norm at check-in. Today, only 23% of Swiss travelers check in at the airport itself. In 2006, this figure was almost three times as high at 66 percent. (SDA)























