UK

Usage Patterns and Demographics

Total Online Population (000's) in 46,68

2009: 4
Percentage of Population Online 76.4
in 2009: %
Demographics
There were 46,683,900 internet users UK (representing 76.4% of the population) in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 203.1% compared
to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
Around three quarters (73%) of UK adults used the internet in 2009, up from two-
thirds (63%) in 2007, according to Ofcom's Media Literacy reports, which reveal the
UK's media consumption habits and attitudes.

Adults in Scotland are the biggest home users of the internet (10.6 hours per week),
with adults in England logging on from home 8.3 hours per week , those in Wales 6.8
hours per week and adults in Northern Ireland using the internet at home the least at
6.5 hours per week. (Ofcom, May 2010)
The proportion of the British population with access to the internet has grown from
73.92% in December 2009 to 75.99% in March 2010, according to an IMRG report
prepared by the British Population Survey (BPS). (IMRG, April 2010)
More than 39 million UK residents use the internet in 2009, according to estimates by
eMarketer. By 2013, nearly 44 million will be online, representing more than 70% of
the total UK population.

Usage has risen in all age groups, but especially among young people. The UK's Office
of Communications (Ofcom) reported that 2/3 of children ages 5 to 7 were online in
2009, an increase of 16 percentage points since 2007. Among children ages 8 to 11,
Web penetration rose from 65% in 2007 to 77% in 2009.

Marketers can be confident that virtually all segments of the UK population, except
some senior citizens and lower-income households, are using the Web more than ever
to research products and services and to keep tabs on brand offerings, according to
eMarketer.

Most UK Web users are online more frequently, too. Ofcom noted that in 2009, 73% of
adults who had been online in the previous three months were daily internet users,
compared with 69% in 2008. (eMarketer, December 2009)
43.7 million people will use the internet in the UK by 2013, according to eMarketer.
This would be up from 39.4 million in 2009.

Internet users in the UK 2008-2013:

- 2008: 38.1 million
- 2009: 39.4 million
- 2010: 40.6 million
- 2011: 41.7 million
- 2012: 42.8 million
- 2013: 43.7 million
(eMarketer, May 2009)
Some 18.31 million UK households now have internet access, which is an increase of
1.85 million from 2008, according to a new report published by the Office for National
Statistics (ONS). In 2009, 16.5 million people - 63% of all UK house holds - had
broadband connections, representing an increase of 6.6 million since 2006.
The report also found that an estimated 73 %or 27.3 million adults accessed the
internet everyday or almost everyday.
But 16-24 age group took the prize for most frequent users, with an estimated 86%
using it everyday.
The ONS found that the most popular use of the internet was for email. Increases in
the popularity and use of social networking sites were shown in the findings with an
increase of 24% to 40% of users who said they'd uploaded self created content.
It also reported an 8% increase in the number of users listening to, or viewing content,
online since 2008, which illustrates a growing number of broadcasters are making
their content available online, said the report.
The majority of people (94%) still accessed the internet from home, claimed the
report. But the growing numbers of Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK between 2007 and 2009
has lead to an increase from just under 700,000 people accessing via hotspots in 2007
to almost 2.5 million in 2009. (ITPro, August 2009)
Internet users will have to make do with slower and more unreliable connections as
online traffic increases, according to a report by Nemertes Research. The report claims
that services like the iPlayer and websites like YouTube could mean that bandwidth
exceeded supply as early as 2010, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

Experts claimed that this would lead on to computers being disrupted and going off
line for minutes at a time. The researchers said that the web had reached a critical
point and even the recession had failed to stave off problems, as more people were
looking for work or working online from home. (ITPRO at , April 2009)
Digital Media
The VisitBritain.tv channel launched earlier in 2009 provides a YouTube-esque library
showcasing all of Britain's tourist product. The channel has surpassed 400,000
distributed views in its first four months. Any tourism business can be featured,
regardless of size. The service is a free service to everyone in the tourism industry in
the UK. (Visitbritain eNews - 2 September 2009, September 2009)
The total number of videos viewed online in the UK in April 2009 grew 47% versus a
year ago to 4.7 billion videos, according to comScore. The report also found that 21.8
million UK internet users viewed a total of 971 million online display ads on multimedia
sites during the month.

Google Sites ranked as the top UK online video property in April with 2.4 billion videos
viewed, an increase of 58% versus a year ago, driven by the popularity of
YouTube.com, which accounted for 99% of all videos viewed on the property. BBC
Sites ranked second with 79 million videos viewed, followed by ITV Sites (34.7 million
videos), Megavideo.com (31.7 million videos), and Microsoft Sites (30.2 million videos).
Each of the top ten video properties experienced double-digit growth during the past
year, while several saw their number of videos viewed multiply by a factor of two or
three. (comScore, July 2009)

Search Engines and Searches

Experian Hitwise revealed the top search engines in the UK for the 4 weeks ending
May 22 2010 ranked by volume and then by visits.

Top search engines in the UK for the 4 weeks ending May 22 2010 - volume:
1. www.google.co.uk: 87.64% of searches
2. www.google.com: 3.97%
3. www.bing.com: 3.01%
4. uk.search.yahoo.com : 2.57%
5. www.uk.ask.com: 1.41%

Top websites for the industry "Computers and Internet - Search Engines",
ranked by visits in the UK for the week ending May 22 2010:
1. GoogleUK : 77.02% visits
2. Google : 7.72%
3. Bing : 3.63%
4. Yahoo! Search UK & Ireland : 2.31%
5. Ask Jeeves UK : 1.85%
(Experian Hitwise, May 2010)

Last Updated on Monday, 21 June 2010 09:25

Access

There were 29,956,108 active internet home users in the UK in June 2009, according
to Nielsen Online. This was down up by 3.13% compared to the previous month.
(ClickZ, August 2009)
Gender
Communication and utility are top priorities for women, who use digital devices to stay
in touch with friends and family as well as save time and help get their families
organized, according to eMarketer. Women are much less likely than men to seek out
entertainment or simply pass the time on the internet or mobile phones. When they do
go online to relax and unwind, this too has a social context. Women typically share
content and experiences with selected friends or other people they know, according to
eMarketer.

Online activities of UK internet users, by gender, in 2009 (% of respondents):

- Communication: 76% (male) / 75% (female)
- Work/Studies information: 39% / 32%
- Transactions: 37% / 36%
- Entertainment: 33% / 28%
- Content creation: 28% / 39%
- News: 27% / 16%
- Leisure information: 20% / 14%
- Public/civic: 16% / 11%
- Health: 8% / 7%

Although they make up a majority of the UK population, women are less numerous
than men online, with 79% penetration compared with men's 84%, according to
Eurostat. Daily usage is high, however, and data from Nielsen indicates engagement is
increasing.

Involvement in the social media world, where women's adoption is outpacing men's, is
also rising. The UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) found that in 2009, female
internet users were 8% points more likely than males to have a social networking site
profile, for example.

UK internet users with a social networking site profile, by gender, 2007 & 2009 (% of
respondents):
- Total: 22% (2007) / 38% (2009)
- Male: 21% / 34%
- Female: 22% / 42%

Social networks are a primary channel for women online to strengthen existing bonds
with friends and family, according to eMarketer. According to data from Universal
McCann, women's top activities on social networks in 2009 included managing their
own profile and visiting pages or blogs maintained by people they knew. Men, by
contrast, were more interested in making new contacts. (eMarketer, January 2010)
Men continued to outnumber women online in the UK in September 2009, according to
The Nielsen Company. But women edged them out among Internet users under 50
years old.

UK internet users, by age and gender, September 2009 (% of total):

Total: 50.5% (Men) / 49.6% (Women)
- 2-17: 6.2% / 6.6%
- 18-34: 12.6% / 15.3%
- 35-49: 14.3% / 14.7%
- 50-64: 12.3% / 10.5%
- 65+: 5.1% / 2.5%

Wireless internet usage was also somewhat stronger among men than among women,
based on data from the UK Office for National Statistics.

Wireless internet users in the UK, by access device and gender, 2009 (% of
respondents):
- Mobile phone via GPRS: 21% (Male) / 15% (Female) / 18% (Total)
- Mobile phone via UMTS, HSPDA (3G, 3G+): 11% / 5% / 8%
- Handheld computer: 7% / unavailable / 5%
- Laptop via wireless connection away from home / work: 29% / 23% / 26%
- None of the above: 54% / 66% / 60%
(eMarketer, December 2009)
74% of female internet users in the UK went online every day in 2008, according to
IPC Media. This was up from 71% in 2007. In terms of login sessions, slightly more
women went online on weekdays. But on the weekends, they spent more time online -
an average of 20 more minutes a session.

Shopping was the most popular online activity. Nearly all the women (97%) said they
researched products online, 92% said they bought products online while 88% said
they both researched and bought products online.

Social networking sites are becoming more popular, too. More than half of all UK
female internet users ever visited Facebook (66%) in 2008; slightly fewer went to
MySpace (41%) and Bebo (23%). This was up respectively from 18%, 45% and 19% in
2007.

The appeal of video seems to be flattening out. While more UK women said they had
visited YouTube in the past, 5% fewer said they were regular viewers. (eMarketer,
April 2009)
Overall, women outnumber men in the UK. Males accounted for 49.5% of the total UK
population in 2008, according to the US Census Bureau and will remain the slight
minority over the next five years. Online, however, it's a somewhat different story.
eMarketer estimates that in 2008, there were 19.5 million males and 18.6 million
females in the UK using the Internet.
UK internet users, by gender, 2008-2013:
 • 2008: 38.2 million including 19.5 million of male users and 18.6 female users
• 2009: 39.4 million (M=20.1 million and F=19.3 million)
• 2010: 40.6 million (M=20.7 million and F=19.9 million)
• 2011: 41.7 million (M=21.2 million and F=20.5 million)
• 2012: 42.8 million (M=21.7 million and F=21.1 million)
• 2013: 43.7 million (M-22.1 million and F=21.6 million)
Males will retain their majority online for the next five years. But as more women aged
55 and older become Internet users (and redress the marked dominance of men in this
online age group) the male bias in the Web population will decrease, from 51.1% in
2008 to 50.5% in 2013.

eMarketer indicates that obviously, in absolute numbers, the gap between men and
women online in the UK is not great, but if you look closely at what the genders tend
to do online, you find many differences that marketers should consider. The online
activities of male Internet users in the UK are evolving. Beyond news and shopping,
other longstanding favourites, such as e-mail and search, remain popular. Portals are
also among men's most-visited sites. According to comScore Media Metrix, social
networks saw the largest gains with UK men, attracting 11% more unique male visitors
in November 2008 than in November 2007. (eMarketer, February 2009)
UK housewives' appetite for the web is bigger than everyone else's, according to
research - debunking the myth that it's the younger generations and males that spend
the most time online.
This group spend almost half (47% ) of their free time surfing the web, compared with
the lower rates of 39% and 32% for students and the unemployed respectively.
But the research - which spanned more than 27,000 respondents in 16 countries as
part of TNS' Digital World, Digital Life report - also showed that despite our love of the
web, we don't quite love it as much as our counterparts in China. Indeed, Chinese
surfers spend 44 % of their free time online, compared to 28% in the UK. (ITPro,
January 2009)

Last Updated on Monday, 21 June 2010 09:26

Online Travel Market

Travel Planning
The latest eTravel Benchmark study from eDigitalResearch reveals that online travel
websites are still failing to deliver adequate customer service. 43 out of the 47
websites reviewed have been affected by 'satisfactory', 'poor' or 'very poor' customer
service scores, with the airlines sector failing to answer over 51% of all email queries.
More online travel sites are looking to reduce traffic through their customer service
departments by increasing the amount of information they put on their websites.
However, as holidays are the single biggest annual purchase for many, people tend to
rely on customer service contact to give them confidence in the booking process. A
poor experience here will ultimately result in customers retracting their business.
While it is fair to acknowledge that the recent ash cloud will have impacted results to
an extent, the difference in ranking for those that scored well for customer service and
those that didn't is massive, clearly indicating the potential for market differentiation.
Industry best-practice came from Booking.com, who answered 100% of emails, 60% of
which received a response within six hours.
Premier Inn beat Booking.com to claim the overall top spot, its second consecutive
leading score. Scoring 82.8% (weighted average across all benchmark measures),
Premier Inn was rated highly from good first impressions through to its easy to use
search function, overall booking process and customer service.
However, its high score wasn't reflected across the hotel chains sector, with this sector
being among the worst performers alongside online travel agents.
While the travel industry is marginally closing the gap with the retail sector, the best
performer across multiple industry sectors, there is still a long way to go given the
weaker customer service scores. There is more than 10% separating the retail and
travel sectors overall with regards to customer service.
(Travelindustrywire.com, July 2010)
Experian Hitwise has revealed the most popular travel websites in the UK for the week
ending June 19 2010 in the categories Agencies; Destinations and Accommodation;
Airlines and travel search terms.

Top Agency websites in the UK for the week ending June 19 2010 by % of visits:
1. Thomson (www.thomson.co.uk): 8.53% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Expedia.co.uk (www.expedia.co.uk): 7.53% (2nd)
3. Thomas Cook (www.thomascook.com): 5.39% (3rd)
Top Destinations and Accommodation websites in the UK for the week ending June 19
2010 by % of visits:
1. Tripadvisor.co.uk (www.tripadvisor.co.uk): 8.03% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Booking.com (www.booking.com): 4.63% (2nd)
3. LateRooms.com (www.laterooms.com): 3.10% (3rd)
Top Airline websites in the UK for the week ending June 19 2010 by % of visits:
1. easyJet.com (www.easyjet.com): 20.57% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com): 17.95% (2nd)
3. British Airways (www.britishairways.com): 8.87% (3rd)
Top travel search terms in the UK for the week ending June 19 2010 by % of clicks:
1. google maps: 0.96% (previously ranked 1st)
2. ryanair: 0.86% (2nd)
3. easyjet: 0.78% (3rd)
(tnooz - talking travel tech, June 2010)
VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, has launched a new website that gives
customers from around the world a unique opportunity to be inspired to visit Britain.
The site, in development for a year, is a key part of VisitBritain's digital strategy using
social media, online content and mobile to enthuse potential visitors to Britain.

VisitBritain.com will be its main platform for communicating with its customers,
focusing on serving up dynamic and personalised content tailored to the country the
visitor comes from and written in their own language.

With 95% user generated image content throughout, the new version of
visitbritain.com will provide an immersive, multilingual online experience, including
the latest social media platforms and magazine-style travel features.

VisitBritain recognises that social media has become crucial in the way people decide
which holiday to go on, and so syndication and aggregation are enabled within the site
so that all content is available across a wide range of travel sites and blogs.

(eyefortravel, June 2010)

VisitBritain has launched a new British Film Location app across all smart phones,
including the iPhone. This coincided with the gala screening of Robin Hood in
Nottingham. The new app includes a Google maps and Facebook integration system
so users can find their favourite film locations, take a picture, and then post it on their
social networking sites.
The app can be downloaded at http://visitbritain.com/robinhood. (VisitBritain eNews -
Issue 45, 12 May 2010, May 2010)
VisitBritain has also launched their corporate Twitter account, @VisitBritainBiz.
VisitBritain will provide regular tweets on the latest research and statistics, press/PR
activities, industry events and opportunities. (VisitBritain eNews - Issue 45, 12 May
2010 and VisitBritain eNews - Issue 46, 26 May 2010, May 2010)
People in the UK searched for nearly 60,000 distinct search terms containing the word
‘luxury' over the 12 weeks ending 15/05/2010, according to Hitwise Intelligence. The
company was expecting the list to be dominated by fashion related terms, but was
surprised to see that three quarters of the top 20 terms were actually travel related,
with ‘luxury holidays', ‘luxury cottages', ‘luxury hotels uk' and ‘luxury hotels' taking
the top four places.

Although many of the people searching for luxury travel products end up on
mainstream travel sites, specialist luxury travel sites do exist. They only account for a
tiny proportion of total UK internet visits to travel websites (less than 1%), but the
proportion has been gradually increasing over the three years.
(HOTELMARKETING.COM, May 2010)
Young people would rather sightsee from the comfort of their own homes than actually
visiting other places, according to "The Future of Free Time" report commissioned by
lastminute.com. The report says that young people are more likely to play computer
games and indulge in social networking than enjoy leisure activities outside.

The report also indicates that perhaps worryingly, a new generation will reject travel
altogether in favour of gaming, social networking and 'always on' media. The report
worries that as in-home leisure is becoming more engaging, a group of young people
will emerge who do not go out any more.

Futurologist Dr. Ian Yeoman reported that what they've seen in the last ten years is
young people spending more time now on in-home entertainment and technology
rather than travelling the world.

Patrick Hoffstetter, vice president at lastminute.com, believes that we all have a

natural inclination to travel and explore, but the travel industry must remain
innovative and embrace technology to remain exciting for a younger generation. In
the future, in-home games will expand and compete more intensely with out-of-home
free time.

The report concluded young people found out-of-home activity too "action poor".
(travelmole, May 2010)
Online travel companies need to invest in consumer engagement to match retail
expectations, according to the latest eTravel Benchmark Study from eDigitalResearch.
The study featured online mystery shoppers to evaluate the end-to-end customer
experience of 45 leading travel websites.

Customer service was the lowest performing category in the study. Low cost airlines
were among the poorest performers, displaying basic booking sites supported by
minimal human contact, while cruise operators and cross-channel ferries scored highly
for customer service with customer queries dealt with quickly and effectively.

The highest rating was 80.1% (weighted average across all key customer journey
measures) for Premier Inn, a new entrant into the Benchmark study with the inclusion
of hotels. Premier Inn scored highly for first impressions, its easy and precise search
function and overall booking process, but was weaker at initial research and telephone
contact, with customers preferring more information and a quicker human response.
Despite it being the best overall travel performer, its rating was still 7% below that of
the highest scoring online retail brand, M&S.

Results of the study indicate that online travel organisations need to better engage
with their customers in order to improve and match the performance of other sectors
like the retail sector, according to Lloyd Viney, associate director of eDigitalResearch.

The biggest climbers from the last Benchmark study in November 2009 were Monarch
and Eurotunnel, which both climbed 18 places. Monarch has made major
improvements to its customer service with its telephone and email services rated 25%
higher than the previous study. Eurotunnel has invested more in the front-end with
large improvements noted for first impressions and initial research.

Online travel agents provided best practice in website performance, combining

functionality with engaging content and using customer reviews to provide additional
confidence in holiday selection. Virgin Holidays came second overall due to a good
balance between informative content and inspirational imagery, backed up by a good
customer star rating system.

Despite the overall improvements in website functionality, the online travel sector still
has some way to go to catch the retail sector, which is the best cross-sector
performer. While customer service is a key element that will help to close the gap,
travel companies also need to better engage their customers.

The leading retailers are capturing and using consumer opinion to their advantage via
online communities and product reviews. This is where online travel brands can gain
ground, as this will dictate where further investment is needed, according to Viney.
(eyefortravel, April 2010)
Holidaymakers are now booking trips based on online travel reviews rather than glossy
publications, according to a survey conducted by TotalMedia, a UK-based media
planning and buying agency.

Findings of the survey highlight that the traditional glossy brochure was expensive to
produce and the travel industry has embraced e-commerce as a way of making the
booking process far more cost effective.

Reviews written by strangers on independent websites such as TripAdvisor, search

results on Google and word of mouth advice from family and colleagues are more
influential than brochures, advertising, media reviews and advice from travel agents
when it comes to booking holidays.

The survey of 1,375 consumers found that:

- About 25% now used online reviews by strangers to determine their travel plans
- 13% used travel programmes
- 11% used magazines and newspaper supplements.

The survey also found that almost half of travellers over 45 are using websites to
recommend or warn fellow travellers by posting a review of their travel experiences
online. Surprisingly, the age group least likely to use the internet to exchange views
on holiday destinations were the "digital natives", 16 to 24 year olds, which means
that middle age Britons, are shaping our views of the best hotels and holiday
destinations at home and abroad. (See article on EyeForTravel and article on eTN
eTurboNews Global Travel Industry News, March 2010)
The IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops list provides a unique insight into the top 50 UK e-
retailers. The sixteenth quarterly edition, based on February 2010 rankings, saw a
number of travel sites move up the rankings.

It's steady again at the top of the latest Hot Shops List, with the leading four brands
retaining their dominance of the UK online shopping scene: Amazon.co.uk (1), Argos
(2), Play (3) & Apple Computer (4). Amazon.com (5), Tesco (6) & John Lewis (8) all
moved up one place with Easyjet (10) entering the top 10 by moving up 2 places.
Marks & Spencer (7) fell two places and Next (9) dropped a single place.

The biggest movers this quarter were: Thomas Cook (15) moving up 31 positions,
British Airways (31) moved up eleven places, The Trainline (24) and Thomson Holidays
(11) both climbed ten.

Robin Goad from Experian Hitwise comments that with Christmas and sales shopping
mostly out of the way and snow covering much of the country, during January British
consumers turned their attention to planning and booking their summer holidays.
Seven travel companies moved up the rankings, and easyJet re-entered the top 10.
The big travel agencies did particularly well, with Thomas Cook moving 31 positions to
15th and Thomson Holidays 10 positions to 11th, one ahead of Expedia. There was
minimal movement elsewhere in the top 10 and the top four remain unchanged.
(Hitwise United Kingdom Newsletter - March 2010, March 2010)
An interactive online movie has been created to encourage more visitors to Blackpool.
Users can upload their favourite pictures to The Movie's microsite
www.blackpoolthemovie.com and automatically share their virtual adventure with
friends and family online.

Blackpool: The Movie has been designed by Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board to
encourage potential holidaymakers to visit the resort and to maximize internet chatter
on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Youtube.

The trailer provides a tour of Blackpool's top attractions accompanied by a voiceover

by the X Factor's Peter Dickson, allowing them to experience their family snaps
transformed into a truly personal Blackpool trailer. By entering their family name and
home town, users will see their personal details become an integral part of the trailer,
appearing on billboards, posters and lighting up the sky alongside a pyrotechnic
firework display. All entries will be entered into a prize draw and for one family to win
annual passes to Blackpool attractions.

Mike Wilkinson of Lancashire Tourist Board said that Blackpool has made a name for
itself as a destination which uses leading-edge technology to encourage tourists to
visit Blackpool and Blackpool: The Movie marks an exciting venture into the new world
of virtual tourism. (Travelmole, March 2010)
Britain's national tourism agency, VisitBritain has partnered with FindsYou.com, the
UK-based online ‘find engine'. From April 2010, the FindsYou.com service will be
available to VisitBritain users as part of the product search facility on the website
www.visitbritain.com.

The new find engine allows accommodation seekers to post a ‘wanted' advert on the
site, outlining exactly what they are looking for. FindsYou.com then matches the
request with suitable accommodation providers who are then able to contact the user
directly.

For the first six months, accommodation providers are being offered the service
completely free of charge.
FindsYou.com CEO Guy Walker indiacted that their recent research shows that
although the majority of people use the internet to source accommodation, they're
increasingly disillusioned with faceless booking systems. The Findsyou.com service re-
introduces the personal contact that most customers prefer. (EyeForTravel, February
2010)
Google UK has seen stronger growth in travel searches in January 2010 than in January
2009, according to the search engine reporting a 21% increase in queries and a 7%
increase in clicks.
Google UK has also reported branded holiday queries such as ‘Thomas Cook holidays
in Turkey' are growing at double the rate of non-branded. The trend demonstrates how
consumers are looking for the reassurance and security of long-standing brands when
looking to spend their holiday money.
Growth rates for luxury travel queries have caught up with budget travel terms in the
past year, according to the figures. (HOTELMARKETING.COM, February 2010)
VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, announced a free British Film Location App
for iPhone and iPod touch is now available from the App Store. The app allows iPhone
and iPod touch users to discover and photograph the most iconic British film locations
in cinematic history. It also shows the most famous film scenes on Google maps and
allows users to search by film title.
Users can plan an entire British film tour from the app, whether they're looking for
Harry Potter's Hogwarts or one of the Braveheart battlefields. Each film location is
accompanied by a detailed synopsis and description of how to find it.

VisitBritain has harnessed the power of films to enthuse visitors from around the world
to explore Britain for many years. The agency's research indicates that 40% of
potential visitors would be very likely to visit places they have seen in films or on TV.
The Great British Film Location App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone
and iPod touch or at http://itunes.apple.com/app/british-film-locations/id341442910?
mt=8.
The launch is part of VisitBritain's digital campaign around the forthcoming Sherlock
Homes movie supported by a dedicated microsite. The Sherlock Holmes movie,
starring Robert Downey Jr and directed by Guy Ritchie premiered in London on
December 14 2009. (VisitBritain eNews - 6 January 2010, January 2010)
Building on their partnership, VisitBritain are working with mobiEXPLORE to develop a
series of individual "Destination Guides" providing more in-depth information on all
major UK destinations for the mobile phone carrying visitor.

The objective of mobiEXPLORE Mobile Destination Guides are to:

- Attract visitors to the UK by going mobile and taking a next step in digital marketing
- Stimulate visitor's expenditure by providing fingertip access on information on where
they are, what can they see and do, and where can they spend money.

Features of the Mobile Destination Guides include:

- Free for the end-user, with rich content and useful features
- Content features: Interactive map of the destination, restaurant and accommodation
listings, sights and attractions, updated local events and weather forecast
- The basic package is available in English, with optional add-on's for additional
languages
- Includes the development of embedded application for Smartphones (iPhone,
Symbian, Windows Mobile, Blackberry) and a WAP portal.
(VisitBritain eNews - 9 December 2009, December 2009)
The British national tourism agency, VisitBritain was awarded the accolade of World's
Leading Tourism Authority Website at the World Travel Awards 2009. The prestigious
award was voted for by travel agents worldwide.
Already three times winner of World's Leading Tourism Authority Internet Site,
VisitBritain.com offers a seamless blend of web 2.0 technology, inspirational content
and innovative social media integration. This international tourism website publishes a
record 57 sites in 41 countries, translated into 21 languages and has an estimated 17
million visitors per year.

VisitBritain.com continues to set the benchmark for tourism websites by launching its
next generation of the site due for release in April 2010. The new-look VisitBritain
website will feature unique customised content, cutting-edge social media tools and
will aim to attract over 20 million visits. Additionally, through developing innovative
content syndication applications on the site, it is aiming to attract a further 20 million
visits to its content via high-profile online portals such as Yahoo, Yell.com, Google,
YouTube, and Facebook, and also through up-and-coming niche travel sites such as
Joobili and Zoover. (VisitBritain eNews, November 2009)
Tourist destination VisitBrighton hopes to become the "First Photosynth City" as its use
of Microsoft's cutting-edge technology gathers pace. New Mind, the destination
management supplier for Brighton, has incorporated Photosynth, a new feature of
Microsoft's Bing Maps for Enterprise, into its Destination Management System (DMS).
Photosynth allows users to take a selection of photos depicting a scene or object and
‘automagically' ‘stitch' them all together to make an interactive 3D experience to
share on the web.

With visitors to the VisitBrighton site already exploring synths of popular landmarks
including Brighton Pier and the Royal Pavilion - tourism bosses are now encouraging
local accommodation providers, restaurants and attractions to seize the opportunity to
create their own synths and ‘bring their businesses to life'. (TravelDailyNews, July
2009)
The online travel industry is lagging behind other sectors when it comes to website
engagement and customer service, according to the first eTravel Benchmark
survey by eDigitalResearch. As part of this survey, eDigitalResearch compared 18
ferry, cruise and airline websites in seven key areas ranging from first impressions to
the search and booking process.

When measured using the net promoter score to find out which are most likely to be
recommended through word of mouth, travel companies achieved an average score of
5. In other recent eDigitalResearch benchmarking studies, the retail sector scored 27,
finance 18 and car manufacturing 7.

The survey finds that the online travel sector is clearly lagging behind. Overall, ferry
operators fared better in the survey with P&O Ferries emerging as the top performer
and Stena Line second. Airlines, however, were let down by poor first impressions and
disappointing customer service. When measured on telephone customer service, only
British Airways made it into the top 10 rankings, rated seventh, and just two airlines
(Virgin Atlantic and BA) scored highly enough to make the top 10 for email customer
service.

The results indicate that online travel sites need to look beyond the ‘wow' factor and
work harder at improving the entire end-to-end website experience, according to
eDigitalResearch. The company indicated that although there are clear leaders in
certain categories, there is not one operator who has managed to tick all the boxes
consistently.

Based on overall performance, the 18 websites were ranked as follows, with their
overall score indicated:
- P&O Ferries: 86.1%
- StenaLine: 84.9%
- Princess Cruises: 84.7%
- Thomson Flights: 84.3%
- P&O Cruises: 84.1%
- Brittany Ferries: 83.3%
- British Airways: 81.8%
- SeaFrance: 81.3%
- Virgin Atlantic: 79.6%
- Royal Caribbean Cruises: 79.4%
- easyJet: 78.0%
- Cunard: 77.3%
- Fred Olsen Cruises: 77.0%
- Ryanair: 76.9%
- bmibaby: 76.3%
- Celebrity Cruises: 75.0%
- Monarch: 74.0%
- Eurotunnel: 68.2%

The eTravel Benchmark survey will be repeated in September. (Travelmole, July 2009)
National tourism agency, VisitBritain, is backing an interactive tourism tour ‘Edge of
Britain' that will use multimedia techniques and social media channels to bring to life
destinations around the coastline of Britain.

South African Scott Ramsay began his tour of the ‘Edge of Britain' tour on Sunday 12
July 2009, heading ‘off the beaten track' until 14 August 2009 and showing other
international visitors that there's more to Britain than just London and other city
destinations.

Starting and finishing in Peacehaven on the south coast, Scott is visiting coastal
resorts, some better known than others. His itinerary of nearly 30 locations includes
Bournemouth, Penzance, Mousehole, Porthmadog, Blackpool, Kyle of Lochalsh, John
O'Groats, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Dover and finally back to Peacehaven five weeks later.
As well as featuring excerpts from his tour on visitbritain.com/edgeofbritain,
VisitBritain is encouraging people to recommend places and sights for Scott to enjoy
on his trip via his blog edgeofbritain.blogspot.com.

His blog will highlight the secret spots, the best attractions, places to eat and drink,
and activities that offer the best value for money using video, photographs, tweets
and regular posts.

Justin Reid, head of online marketing for VisitBritain said that in many ways Scott is a
first-time visitor to much of Britain and VisitBritain was only too happy to support Scott
with tourist information and a platform for his ‘Edge of Britain' tour. The information
that Scott posts on his blog will enable VisitBritain to showcase Britain's wonderful
coastal destinations. Mr Reid believes that the rise of social media, user-generated
content and peer-to-peer forums can turn undiscovered destinations into the latest
getaway hotspot. (TravelDailyNews, July 2009)
Welcome to Yorkshire wins the TravelMole 2009 Web Awards for the tourist board
category. Welcome to Yorkshire was this year's winner in the tourist board category.
Other tourist boards shortlisted included VisitLancashire, Cumbria Golakes and
VisitOxford.

TravelMole Web Awards 2009 - Winners:

- Tourist board category: Welcome to Yorkshire
- Accommodation category: Trivago
- Airline category: bmi
- Car rental category: Holiday autos trade
- Cruise-Ferry-Rail operator category: P&O Cruises
- Holiday add-ons category: IdeasForTheKids.com
- Hotel Group category: Warner Leisure Hotels
- Mobile Technology category: streamthru.com
- Recruitment and Training category: TravelUni
- Responsible tourism category: Go Ape
- Tour operator category: Selective Asia
- Travel agent category: Greenbee.com
- Travel blog category: www.SpottedbyLocals.com
- Video category: The Egerton House Hotel
- Web 2.0 category: World Reviewer
(Travelmole, June 2009)
Travel Social Media specialist Digital Visitor is VisitBritain's official social media
solution. The two organisations are working in partnership to roll out the platform to
regional and destination tourist boards all across the country.

Digital Visitor has been shortlisted for an online travel award alongside industry giants
such as Air France, Lastminute.com and Kuoni in the ‘Best Online Application' category
at this year's Travolution Awards. Since its launch a year ago, Visitor Review has
gained valuable recognition within the leisure and tourism industry and is used by
numerous visitor attractions, hotels and tourism agencies. (EyeForTravel, June 2009)
Travel companies are sliding down the Hitwise list of the top 100 performing websites
in the UK, with Thomson the exception. According to May 2009 figures, based on the
number of visits to a company's website, travel companies all came lower in the list
than they did three years ago.

Hitwise indicated that Thomson was the only travel company to increase its position.
Budget hotel chain Travelodge and rail booking website, The Trainline, have also
moved up the list.

Hitwise indicates that the one thing that they are seeing in search behaviour is that
people are a lot more price conscious and are looking for package holidays, rather
than putting together the components themselves. Hitwise said travel companies are
also performing worse in the list because they are being over taken by other sectors.
The travel sector was an early adopter of the internet and for a while travel companies
were punching above their weight, but now other retailers, particularly high street
retailers, are over taking them.

British Airways fell most dramatically in the latest list, falling from 11th position in
2007, to 19th in 2008 and then to 43rd in 2009. In general, airlines have seen visits
drop by 20% while coach and train companies are up 4%. Budget airlines are holding
up the best, with Easyjet and Ryanair hovering around the same levels as in previous
years. Easyjet has moved from 8th to 10th then to 11th in the last three years, while
Ryanair has gone from 9th to 14th to 12th this year. Thomas Cook has also dropped
down the list, from 18th three years ago to 30th today. (Travelmole, May 2009)

Times Online recommend its top 100 travel websites in 2009 on the basis of their
content, design, ease of use, navigability and fulfilment, and split them into categories
for easy accessibility. The categories include:

Best websites for holiday inspiration:

- www.straightuptraveler.com
- www.101holidays.co.uk
- www.worldreviewer.com
- www.aito.co.uk
- www.flickr.com
- www.whatsonwhen.com
- www.stanfords.co.uk
- www.timeout.com
- www.visitbritain.co.uk
- www.economist.co.uk/businesstravel
- www.goodbeachguide.co.uk
Websites giving info on where not to go: www.fco.gov.uk/travel;
www.comebackalive.com; www.travelwatchdog.com.

Best websites for booking flights:

- www.kayak.co.uk
- www.cheapflights.co.uk
- www.skyscanner.net
- www.travelsupermarket.com
- www.dohop.com
- www.alternativeairlines.com
- www.moneysavingexpert.com/flightchecker
- www.netflights.com
Flight essentials: www.flightstats.co.uk; www.oag.com; www.airlinequality.com;
www.airlinemeals.net; www.seatguru.com; www.seatplans.com; www.flymycase.com;
www.firstluggage.com.

Best travel blogs and communities:

- Cities: www.gridskipper.com; www.spottedbylocals.com
- Rants: www.travel-rants.com
- Food: www.seriousseats.com; www.chowhound.com
- Communities: www.dopplr.com; www.pprune.org; http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com;
www.wayn.com; www.travelblog.org; www.travelpod.com; www.igougo.com;
www.gumtree.co.uk; www.carshare.com; www.car-pool.co.uk.

Best websites for booking places to stay:

- Find your perfect room: www.tripadvisor.co.uk; www.goodhotelguide.com; www.i-
escape.com; www.travelintelligence.com; www.mrandmrssmith.com;
www.sawdays.co.uk; www.tablethotels.com; www.chicretreats.com; www.holiday-
rentals.co.uk; www.english-country-cottages.co.uk.
- Specialists: www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/en; www.rarebits.co.uk;
www.japaneseguesthouses.com; www.boutiquesrilanka.com; www.parador.es;
www.rusticae.es; www.agriturismo.com/englisch.htm.
- Bargain rooms: www.hostelbookers.com; www.hostelworld.com;
www.europefamoushostels.com; www.hostelz.com; www.hostels.com;
www.couchsurfing.com; www.sleepinginairports.net; www.roomauction.com;
www.laterooms.com; www.priceline.co.uk; www.homebase-hols.com;
www.homelink.org.uk.

Best websites for holiday bargains:

- www.travelsupermarket.co.uk
- www.travelzoo.co.uk
- www.expedia.co.uk
- www.codes.co.uk
- www.vouchercodes.co.uk.
Best websites for holiday essentials:
- Maps: http://masp.google.com; www.googleearth.com
- Weather: www.metcheck.com; www.weather2travel.com
- Flying with kids: www.babygoes2.com; www.family-travel.co.uk; www.mumsnet.com.

- Disabled travellers: www.holidayaccessdirect.com; www.tourismforall.org.uk.

- Staying in touch: www.pc2paper.co.uk; www.ppme.co.uk
- Red tape and essentials: www.biba.org.uk; www.ehic.org.uk; www.climatecare.org
- Health: www.who.int/en/; www.travelturtle.com.

Best road, rail, ferry and cruise websites:

- Road: www.carrentals.co.uk; http://insurance4carhire.com;
www.nationalexpress.com; www.gotobus.com/ www.transportdirect.info.
- Rail: www.seat61.com; www.nationalrail.co.uk; www.thetrainline.com;
www.deutsche-bahn.co.uk; www.raileurope.co.uk.
- Cruise: www.cruisecritic.co.uk
- Ferry: www.sailanddrive.com

Best websites for specialist travel:

- www.ramblers.org.uk
- www.nationaltrail.co.uk
- www.factivities.co.uk
- www.companions2travel.co.uk
- www.singulartravel.co.uk
- www.friendshiptravel.com
- www.solosholidays.co.uk
- www.blacktomato.co.uk
- www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure
- www.skiclub.co.uk
- www.natives.co.uk
- www.welove2ski.com
- www.snowboardclub.co.uk
- www.gapyear.com
- www.yearoutgroup.org
- www.wwoof.org
- www.bootsnall.com
- www.greentraveller.co.uk
- http://gogreentravelgreen.com.
(HOTELMARKETING.COM, March 2009)
The deepening recession is significantly changing when, how and where the British are
booking their summer holidays, according to a poll by online travel search site
Kayak.co.uk of 1,000 UK users.

The study found that 85% still expect to travel abroad this year. The majority (92%)
plan to go online to find the best prices for air fares, hotels and car rental, believing
the best deals are found on the web. But fewer than 1% of respondents (0.8%) will
turn to high street travel agents for advice on stretching summer budgets.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) plan to take two or less holidays this year.
Staying in budget (32%) is a bigger concern than having fun (24%) or protecting the
environment (1.5%).

Some of the most popular ways people aim to save cash include:
- Choosing a destination in off-season to take advantage of lower prices (66%)
- Swapping European strongholds like Spain for better value alternative destinations
such as South Africa, Iceland, Thailand and Malaysia (65%)
- Staying with friends or relatives (46%)
- Trading down the number of stars on the hotel (42%)

But more than half (59.7%) of respondents would happily pay an additional £50 in
order to catch a flight from their closest airport. (TravelMole , March 2009)
VisitBritain have launched a dedicated visitor review website where visitors can read
and view comments, photos and videos of Britain destinations, attractions, events etc
submitted by other travellers. Currently linked from the homepage of visitbritain.com,
the site is being further developed to integrate more seamlessly with the VisitBritain
website, gather content placed on regional tourist board review websites, and
distribute the reviews to destination guides. (VisitBritain News - Issue 14, February
2009)
Online searches for flights during the week after Christmas dropped by 42% compared
to the previous year. According to Hitwise, a division of Experian, the week ending
January 3 saw a 42% decline in web searches by UK internet users for flights
compared with the same week last year. Traffic to travel websites fell by 16% in the
same period. (EyeforTravel, January 2009)
UK internet searches for flights have plunged by 42% over the last 12 months,
according to latest Hitwise figures. The economic downturn means that consumers are
being more cautious when booking flights abroad this year, according to the
organisation.
As a result of the weak pound, people are switching from holidays in the eurozone or
US and considering cheaper destinations such as Turkey and North Africa, or
considering taking their holidays at home.
Online searches for flights increased by 58% between the weeks ending December 27
and January 3. But they were down by 42.4% when compared with the equivalent
post-Christmas week last year - the week ending January 5, 2008. Hitwise said. Flights
to the US suffered the biggest annual fall in searches of 52.2%.
Searches for flights to countries that use the euro fell by 44.8%. Meanwhile searches
for flights to the UK and the rest of the world also fell, but at a smaller rate. There
have been big falls in searches for flights to all of the most popular European holiday
destinations over the last 12 months: France is down 45.4%, Spain 42.8%, Portugal
41.7% and Italy 41.2%.
Australia remains the most popular non-euro/dollar destination, accounting for almost
a quarter of all searches for flights to destinations outside of the UK, US and eurozone.
Searches for flights to Australia have fallen by 32.85% over the last 12 months, but
this is at a lower rate than for many other destinations.
Only five destinations saw an increase in flight searches over the last 12 months:
Norway, Denmark, Brazil, Morocco and Cuba.
Turkey saw the smallest decline in flight searches over the last 12 months - a fall of
24.6% compared with an average of 42.4% for all destinations. Turkey also overtook
Canada and Thailand to become the second most popular non-euro/dollar destination
for British tourists.
Change in UK internet searches for flights to popular destinations between 05/01/08
and 03/01/09:
- Turkey: -24.6%
- Dubai: -27.1%
- Thailand: -32.2%
- Australia: -32.8%
- South Africa: -32.9%
- Caribbean: -34.6%
- Italy: -41.2%
- Portugal: -41.7%
- Spain: -42.8%
- France: -45.4%
Destinations with the biggest increase (or smallest decrease) in flight searches
between 05/01/08 and 03/01/09:
1. Norway +30.9%
2. Denmark +20.3%
3. Brazil +19.5%
4. Morocco +2.1%
5. Cuba +1.2%
6. Kenya -7.8%
7. India -12.7%
8. China -12.8%
9. Hungary -13.7%
10. Singapore -14.6%
(Travelmole January 2009)
Travel Booking
Over a third (36%) of UK adults now prefer to book holidays online or by email, making
it now as popular as booking in person, according to Ofcom's Media Literacy reports,
which reveal the UK's media consumption habits and attitudes. (Ofcom, May 2010)
Online travel sales dropped by 9% in the UK during the month of April 2010, according
to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. While sales increased year-on-year by
5%, this growth is lower than the market average (13%). After recording yearly
growth in double figures during February and March, this may be an early indication of
the impact of the volcanic ash cloud on the travel industry, according to the Sales
Index.

The recession cost the UK travel industry £3.7 billion in 2009 and it looks like the
sector will face further difficulties in 2010. (HOTELMARKETING.COM, May 2010)
Following the disruption caused by an Icelandic volcano eruption in April 2010, the UK
travel industry's marginal recovery could be in jeopardy, according t o a report,
commissioned by Kelkoo and conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business
Research (CEBR), covering 12 countries in Europe with important markets, comprising
the UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden,
Norway, Finland and Poland.

Nonetheless, the online travel sector is thought to be better equipped to deal with the
financial impact of the disruption and will continue to buck industry growth trends this
year, according to the European Travel Index. According to the study, the UK has the
highest online travel expenditure in Europe and the sector is solidly on course to
sustain its recession-busting performance throughout 2010, with spending projected
to rise by £2 billion this year from £15.6 billion to £17.6 billion compared to £13.2
billion in 2008 - a 33% increase over the past two years.

Over the same period, overall travel sales will have decreased by -6.4% from £43.9
billion in 2008 to an estimated £41.1 billion by the end of 2010.
UK online spending will account for 42.8% of total UK travel sales or 25% of the
European online travel market by the end of 2010 - the largest share of any EU
member country. British consumers are among the most web-savvy in terms of
holiday planning, with 69% using the internet to research and buy holidays compared
to the European average of 54%. (EyeForTravel, April 2010)
A survey of 1,375 consumers conducted by TotalMedia, a UK-based media planning
and buying agency, found that almost 70% of consumers use the internet to book
their holidays, compared to 23% by phone and just 8% who chose travel agents.

Consumers aged 35-44 were found to be most likely (74%) to book online. Price (80%)
was cited as the main reason for using the internet along with information (53%) and
convenience (50%). (See article on EyeForTravel and article on eTN eTurboNews
Global Travel Industry News, March 2010)
Despite the recession, the UK will retain its current position as the largest online travel
market in Europe for some time to come, according to PhoCusWright's UK Online
Travel Overview Fifth Edition. Growth will be driven by increased efforts by the major
tour operators to drive customers to book through online channels, as well as by OTAs'
continued efforts to grow revenues. Despite this growth, the relative prominence of
the UK online travel market will eventually wane as other European markets narrow
the gap and increase online adoption levels.

UK share of European total and online travel market (%) 2008 vs. 2011:
- 2008: total (21.8%) / online (30.9%)
- 2011: total (20.0%) / online (26.4%)
(PhoCusWright, December 2009)
Even as the UK travel market struggles under the weight of global economic pressure,
online travel bookings are projected to increase by 3% in 2009, according to
PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition report. With online
leisure and unmanaged business sales of nearly £17.1 billion, nearly half of the UK
travel market is booked online. UK online leisure and unmanaged business travel
penetration grew by five percentage points to reach 45% of all bookings in 2009.

The overall UK travel market is expected to contract by 8.9% in 2009. Gross bookings
will fall to approximately £37.6 billion for the year. Nearly all segments of the market
have been affected, although traditional carriers and hotels are bearing the brunt of
the slowdown. The short-term outlook remains bleak, with a return to 2007 booking
levels not expected until 2012.

Although approaching maturity, UK online travel penetration continues to grow in

2009 as online channels outperform other booking methods. Airline Web sites
dominate other suppliers online, representing over half of online direct sales in the UK.
Hotel company Web sites are expected to grow in line with the market, and tour
operators are projected to make the greatest gains online among suppliers.

Selling a combination of pre-packaged, dynamically packaged and decoupled travel

components, UK tour operators' share of UK online direct travel is expected to
increase through 2011. Despite the strides tour operators have made, online travel
agencies (OTAs) will lead growth for all online channels in 2009 and help the UK online
travel market continue to mature and retain its current position as the largest online
travel market in Europe. (PhoCusWright FYI, November 2009).
More than ¾ of people (79%) who conducted an online transaction on a travel site in
the past year experienced problems when doing so, according to a survey of online
consumer behaviour conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Tealeaf
Technology. The survey was conducted among 2,223 British adults. Almost half
(47%) of these said they would abandon the transaction as a result, with 43% saying
they would switch to an online or offline competitor.

The most common problem on travel sites was found to be receiving error messages
(43%), followed by difficulty navigating (34%) and being stuck in an endless loop
(29%). Travel customer service teams are still unable to efficiently deal with website
enquiries. 49% of British adults who contacted a call centre after encountering a
website problem were unable to have their issue resolved, and 76% reported that the
agent was not knowledgeable about the website or about their particular online
problem.
Nonetheless, the results from the survey also show that 60% say they are now
conducting more transactions online than they did in the past. This is due to the
current economic climate, with the ability to compare products and prices cited by
80% of these as the main reason.

With problems on travel sites still existing, consumers, empowered by social media,
are increasingly likely to share experiences and opinions about companies, rather than
with them. 14% of those who encountered problems conducting online transactions
said they shared those experiences on a blog or social networking site, twice as many
as in 2008 (7%).

And direct communication with a company declined, with a quarter (26%) of people
experiencing problems conducting online transactions then posting a complaint on a
company website (down from 30% in 2008) and 42% contacting a company's call
centre (down from 45% in 2008).

The research reveals that social networking sites can be highly influential, with 55%
saying social media content had directly influenced how they conduct online
transactions and 79% of those saying it had affected their choice of vendor. The
survey also found that people whose transactions have been influenced by social
media content actually respond to positive reviews (37%) more so than negative ones
(28%). This means that good online transaction experiences are amplified online just
as much, if not more, than bad, according to Tealeaf. (Travelmole, October 2009)
A 9.5% growth in the UK online travel market is estimated for 2009, according to
EyeForTravel's research estimates. EyeForTravel added that online travel sales are
growing as customers flock to the web to get the best deals and that the growth rate
they predict is an incredible growth for a recession. (EyeForTravel, May 2009)
The UK remained the largest online travel market in Europe in 2008, accounting for
30% of the European online travel market, according to the study (updated in March
2009) "Trends in European internet Distribution - of Travel and Tourism Services" by
Carl H. Marcussen of the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research.

In 2008, the two leading European markets, the UK and Germany accounted for 48%
of the EUR 58.4 billion European online travel market. (Full material updated 23rd
March 2009 is available at http://www.crt.dk/uk/staff/chm/trends.htm, March 2009)
More than half (62%) of consumers in the UK fear their security is at risk when
purchasing travel over the internet, according to a study by payment solutions brand
RBS WorldPay. The poll was based on the opinions of 110 decision makers and 1,000
consumers. The research also found that 55% rank security as the most important
factor when making an online purchase.

While people are happy with purchasing small ticket products online, nearly a third
(30%) feel more comfortable making a booking offline due to the large amount of
money involved in the transaction.

In addition to security issues, the research also shows that technology failure halfway
through the transaction process is a further bugbear of online travel bookers - cited as
an issue by more than a quarter (26%) of those surveyed. Furthermore, whilst travel
businesses may not regard payments as an obvious contributor to customer service,
nearly a quarter (22%) of consumers specifically says they want faster payment
solutions when paying for travel.

When it comes to purchasing products offline, travellers are even more demanding.
Four in ten said they would like to see a future where we have just one piece of
technology (e.g. a mobile phone) or one card to handle all payment transactions and
four in ten (42%) said their lives would be much easier if they could pay for everything
with cards rather than cash. Half of those interviewed said they expect the UK to
become a near cashless society by 2030.

The research also covered the future of payments within the travel industry, showing
that consumers are already ‘future gazing'. A third (29%) expect to soon pay for goods
and services with automated face recognition and a quarter (24%) believe microdots
will be inserted into hands to enable ‘wave and pay'.

RBS WorldPay indicated that this study clearly shows that consumers buying travel
services and packages want to see changes in the way they pay - be it in speed or
security, on or offline. Security fears could deter transactions, which often involve
large sums of money. They believe that travel companies that consider new types of
technology and adopt them where relevant will be among those that secure a
competitive edge in the future. (Travelmole, February 2009)
A record number of consumers booked a holiday online at the beginning of January to
escape the New Year blues, with cottages4you taking its highest number of internet
bookings ever in one day on Sunday 4th January 2009. And it looks like the British
break is the most sought after holiday for the first half of this year.
cottages4you, the UK's leading provider of holiday cottages with over 10,000
individually owned cottages throughout Britain has already seen a 30% increase on
bookings for Easter, with the February half term holiday also up by 5% on last year.
(TravelDailyNews, January 2009)
Travel Industry Online Developments
Lastminute.com Topsee app initially available on iPhone has now been made available
on the Apple iPad, taking advantage of the larger screen for multi-person use.

The original Topsee system was created at the online travel agency's Labs department
and is a way of bringing in travel content and other product feeds for London onto a
mobile handset, matched to the user's location. What Lastminute has done with the
iPad version of the app is try to make it less about on-location services and more
about trip planning.

Users can select the destination and browse through the agency's chosen top
attractions for a given city. The size of the screen means the iPad can be used almost
like a Microsoft Surface table, with more than one person browsing through the items.
Once a product is selected the user can see prices, availability, more information as
normal, with a click through to the Lastminute.com for booking. (tnooz - talking travel
tech, June 2010)
Microsoft is looking to introduce Bing Travel in the UK after a successful launch in the
US. The technology giant is conducting focus groups with customers to find out how
to adapt its travel search engine for the UK market. A launch date has not been set,
but is likely to be months rather than years.

Launched exactly a year ago in the US, Bing Travel provides price comparisons for air
fares and hotel rates. It also predicts airfare and hotel rates based on the time of
year, telling travellers when it's the best time to get the best deal. Microsoft gained
this technology after a $115 million acquisition of travel website Farecast last year.
(travelmole, June 2010)
The winners of the UK 2010 Travelmole Web Awards have been announced at a
ceremony at the Canadian High Commission in central London in June 2010. The
winners were:
- Best Tourist board site - www.yorkshire.com
- Best Use of Video site - www.yorkshire.com
- Best Car Rental site - www.holidayautos.co.uk
- Best Accommodation only site - www.i-escape.com
- Best Airline site - http://flybmi.com
- Best Cruise, Ferry & Rail site - www.pocruises.com
- Best Deployment of Mobile technology site - www.thetrainline.com
- Best Holiday Add-ons site - www.essentialtravel.co.uk
- Best Responsible tourism site - www.responsibletravel.com
- Best Hotel resorts site - www.borgoegnazia.com
- Best Meta search site - www.skyscanner.net
- Best Recruitment site - www.gailkenny.com
- Best Tour operator site - www.gapadventures.co.uk
- Best Travel Agency site - www.sunshine.co.uk
- Best Travel blog site - http://wearecunard.com
- Best Use of UGC - www.tripadvisor.co.uk
(travelmole, June 2010)

bmi, British Midland International, has launched its social media strategy. The airline
says its customers can now engage with bmi on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The
latest move features news, special offers and customer engagement across the
chosen social media platforms.

The launch marks part of a larger move towards increased online engagement for the
airline, which has recently launched a destination guide widget with Wallpaper
magazine, and has integrated a live Twitter feed into its destination guides.

Only a few days ago, Wallpaper launched a free iPhone app, in association with
Swarovski Crystal Palace. This free app will give users instant access to the pick of the
best from the worlds of art, fashion, travel, architecture and technology. (eyefortravel,
May 2010)
TripAdvisor has launched its flight search engine in the UK. The new offering, which
was launched in the US earlier in 2009, is now available in beta on tripadvisor.co.uk.
One of the highlights of the site is its dynamic Fees Estimator, a tool that helps in
understanding the true cost of a flight in a single display with payment method
charges and other fees included. Other features include SeatGuru content that is
available for the first time ever in a flight search engine through colour-coded maps
with detailed information about each seat, from legroom to noise levels, according to
the company. It will also have a built-in currency converter. Also, airline information
bubbles appear when travellers mouse over the airline logos, describing special
features of a particular airline, including seatback entertainment.
TripAdvisor shared that its survey of 600 Britons indicated that the average traveller
currently spends three and a half hours researching flight options across six different
websites in order to find the optimum flight. Other findings of the survey show that:
- 68% of British travellers have been surprised by the final cost of a flight, as a result
of `add-ons'.
- 2/3 of travellers (64%) do not know what their free-baggage allowance is across the
major carriers.
- 77% are unaware of what the differing card-payment fees are.
(EyeForTravel, October 2009)
Teletext has decided to focus completely on online travel services. The company is to
switch off its news and information service, available on analogue and digital
television, in January 2010. The move comes following a comprehensive review of the
business by the senior management and will see up to 70 people made redundant.

Teletext is available on ITV, Channel 4, Channel Five and some Sky and Freeview
channels. Teletext Holidays, which is broadcast on Freeview, would continue, as would
the increasingly profitable Teletext web operation, which includes
teletextholidays.co.uk, thisistravel.co.uk and villarenters.co.uk.

The company will focus on these assets. The removal of loss-making TV activities will
allow investment in these businesses to accelerate, according to the group managing
director at Teletext.

The volume of commercial activity generated by the TV service has fallen sharply, with
revenue declining by 50% since 2003. As a result Teletext's television services have
been loss making for the last three years. The company blamed the decline in the
financial performance of the television services on the government's allocation of
broadcast capacity for the public teletext service in the 1996 Broadcasting Act.
(EyeForTravel, July 2009)
Looking at the UK online travel market, the percentage of travel websites' search
traffic that comes via paid clicks has declined over the last 12 months, from 25.4% in
March 2008 to 21.7% in March 2009, according to Hitwise. The rates and declines vary
by travel sub-sector:
- Websites in the agencies category (which includes both traditional and online players
such as Expedia) are most reliant on paid search traffic, but have also experienced the
steepest decline over the last 12 months.
- The declines in the Transport (i.e. airlines, trains, car hire, etc.) and Destinations and
Accommodation (which includes both hotel aggregator provider sites) sectors have
been less severe - although both are less reliant on paid search than the Agencies
category.
Looking at the decline in actual upstream traffic from paid search, rather than just the
paid search rate, provides further perspective. The percentage of the travel sector's
overall traffic that comes from paid search declined from 11.6% in March 2009 to
9.3% in March 2009.

Percentage of travel websites's UK internet traffic that comes from paid search, March
2009:
- Overall Travel: 9.3% (-2.3% compared to March 2008)
- Agencies: 14.4% (-6.2%)
- Destinations & accommodation: 9.4% (-2.2%)
- Transport: 9.8% (-1.0%)
(Hitwise United Kingdom Newsletter - May 2009, May 2009)
87% of Travelodge's room reservations are booked online, according to IMRG's
Industry Digest. (IMRG, June 2009)
People will be inspired by an even wider variety of British destinations as VisitBritain
helps Google take its Street View technology beyond the nation's towns and cities.

Feedback from people around the UK indicates that Britons want to showcase famous
landmarks beyond the 25 towns and cities currently captured. As a result, Google is
giving people a sneak preview of its latest groundbreaking invention - the Google
Trike. This mechanical masterpiece comprises 3 bicycle wheels, a mounted Street
View camera and a specially decorated box containing image collecting gadgetry. It
comes replete with a very athletic cyclist in customised Google apparel. The Trikes
have the same capability as Street View cars for collecting street-level imagery and
are designed to help Google make special imagery collections in places less accessible
by car.

Google and VisitBritain are asking the British public to suggest tourist spots, such as
historic castles or famous landmarks, that the trike might visit to ultimately showcase
the destination to the world. People can submit suggestions in five categories: Castles,
Coastal Paths, Natural Wonders, Historic Buildings & Monuments, and (Sports)
Stadiums. These will be narrowed down to a shortlist for the public to vote for the
three locations the Google Trike will visit first. People can submit suggestions
at maps.google.co.uk/streetviewinfo.

The partnership is part of VisitBritain's strategy to ensure visitors are enticed to

explore Britain. As well as helping plan a trip, Street View adds an extra element to
the memories that visitors will share with friends and family when they return home -
potentially inspiring them to visit in turn. (VisitBritian eNews 27 May 2009, May 2009)
Following the launch of Google Street View in the UK on March 19th 2009, UK internet
visits to Google Maps UK increased by 41%, according to Hitwise. This was the busiest
ever day for Google Maps in the UK, becoming the 20th most visited site overall - its
highest ever ranking.

Google Maps UK received 1 in every 250 UK internet visits on the day of its UK launch,
while the US Google Maps site also received an 84% increase in visits. The average
visit time was 7 minutes 6 seconds, up from 5 minutes 28 seconds the day before its
launch. Consequently the increase in page views (76%) for Google Maps UK was
higher than the increase in visits (41%). (Hitwise UK Newsletter - April 2009, April
2009)
TripAdvisor has come out significantly ahead of other Expedia Inc brands in a study
about which hotel-related sites are most visible within Google UK natural search
results, according to a study by digital media agency Greenlight Search.

The study found that 5.6 million searches were generated in March 2009 from a
selection of 1,200 hotel sector key terms. The rankings are based on a site's presence
on the first page of Google for the term. TripAdvisor.co.uk was identified as the most
visible website, appearing on 42% of all searches. However, the most visible site in the
flights category, Cheapflights, had visibility of 100%. Six flight sites had a stronger
showing in their sector than the hotel market leader. (HOTELMARKETING.COM, April
2009)
Enjoy England has joined Facebook and invites Enjoy England users to become a fan of
England and to share their video, ideas, stories and photos. There is also the
opportunity to see the views and comments of other Enjoy England users.
(England eNews - England's official tourist board newsletter, Issue 04 2009, April
2009)
Top travel websites including EasyJet and Lastminute.com are failing to meet
customer expectations, according to a study by Global Reviews. The websites were
assessed against more than 600 criteria including the information available to
prospective customers, customer support and site usability.

Expedia recorded a satisfaction rate of 59%, 5% above the standard Global Reviews
regards as satisfactory. Lastminute.com scored 54%, while EasyJet was the worst
performer, scoring 46%.

For online bookings, Expedia received the highest score of 65%, closely followed by
Ebookers with 64%. Lastminute and Ebookers scored over 80% for their error
management system which helps customers through the booking process.
(HOTELMARKETING.COM, April 2009)
A brand new series of high quality mp3 guides from Way2Goguides have been
launched to leisure and business travellers coming to London. The Way2GoGuides are
set to revolutionize London's major attraction industry by offering a more sensory
experience, which gives visitors a chance to hear real Londoners talk about ‘their
London', as well as sharing usual local knowledge.

The series of 12 guides, which are available online at http://www.Way2GoGuides.com

and http://www.visitlondon.com offer the visitor an alternative - one that goes beyond
just the venue, and where the experience can begin at home.

Based around an hour of pristine quality mp3 audio, Way2GoGuides use professional
actors, authentic music and sophisticated sound design, all skillfully crafted to
memorable effect. Likened to a 'docu-drama', Way2GoGuides tell a compelling story -
in the words of those who were there.

Preloaded Way2GoGuides mp3players will shortly be available from selected retailers.

(TravelMole, March 2009)
The mobile application, mobiEXPLORE UK, is free to download via
visitbritain.com/mobile and is part of VisitBritain's campaign to promote Britain as a
leading tourist destination and capture its online audience.

mobiEXPLORE UK contains interactive maps, London tube map, sights description, list
of pubs, restaurants and hotels, sport & spa centers, shopping advice, weather
forecast, events notifications etc. The application covers Northen Ireland, Wales,
Scotland and England.

VisitBritain is supplying the mobiEXPLORE UK application with its events and

destination guides along with attractions and quality assessed accommodation data
from its database.

VisitBritain's head of online marketing Justin Reid said that the application fuses the
best parts of the traditional guidebook with the benefits of internet search.
(EyeForTravel and TravelMole, March 2009)
Virtual walking tours of key UK cities are to be made available on the internet through
a tie-up between VisitBritain and Google. The new Google Street View technology will
feature 25 cities and towns in Britain and Northern Ireland. Users of Google maps can
use the Street View mapping to get an idea of the sights they can see when visiting
Britain. They will be able to take a virtual walking tour of destinations such as London,
Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh, and from Southampton to Aberdeen, Bristol to Norwich.

VisitBritain has worked with Google to create a visual guide - called a maplet - directly
in Street View which features sights in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds and Oxford.

This maplet then links to VisitBritain's global website, visitbritain.com, where users can
access some of its 1,000 destination guides. Each guide further helps them plan their
trip with information about where to stay, shop and eat out, as well as the attractions,
events and experiences. (TravelMole, March 2009)
UK budget hotel chain Travelodge offers consumers a free GPS room booking service
via the 3G Apple iPhone. This new service labelled "Travelodge iBooker" will allow
business and leisure travellers on the move to find low cost accommodation across the
UK in three easy steps.

Travelodge iBooker is located in the iTunes Application Store and can be downloaded
for free to the iPhone via iTunes. Users simply hit the Travelodge logo and the GPS
service locates the nearest five Travelodge hotels with images, availability, distance
and room rates within the users' locality. In three easy steps the user can then book
their room(s).

Alternatively, the Travelodge iBooker service can be used to book Travelodge rooms
without using the GPS service. Just select a specific hotel, arrival dates and the
software will then return you the best room prices available. Select your room and
proceed with the booking.
There are currently over 1 million Apple iPhone users in the UK and 10 million users
across the world and this is set to rise to 45 millon by the end of 2009. The Apple
iPhone is set to become the UK's most popular mobile phone this year.
(HOTELMARKETING.COM, March 2009)
A new application allowing iPhone and iPod Touch users to access real-time rail
journey planning information across the UK rail network has been unveiled. At a cost
of £4.99, the applications is described as the "equivalent of SatNav for passenger rail".
It enables to find your nearest station and plan your journey home at the touch of a
screen.

The National Rail Enquiries for iPhone application uses the device's inbuilt GPS to find
your nearest station anywhere in Great Britain. The Next Train Home feature then
plans the best route home to your destination. A Journey Planner search function
allows users to save regular journeys for quick planning. Favourite stations can be
saved for one-touch access to departure and arrival information.

The software has been developed in conjunction with Agant Ltd.

National Rail Enquiries plans to introduce a complementary service that will enable
Microsoft Outlook users to plan journeys within Outlook using a meeting invitation as
the basis for their journey. (TravelMole, March 2009)
Lastminute.com launched a free talking phrasebook for 2009 for iPhone and iPod
Touch users in the UK. Developed by Coolgorilla, the phrasebook is available in six
different language versions: French, German, Greek, Italian Portuguese and Spanish,
and can be downloaded by visiting Apple's App Store. Lastminute.com is helping
consumers to make the best of their breaks and holiday costs by providing the
phrasebook completely free.
Using the talking phrasebook consumers can ask for directions, hire a car and even
engage in small talk. Each one contains over 500 sound files. The intuitive application
allows consumers to search quickly and simply for a phrase in English and press
'select', their iPhone then pronounces the phrase in the foreign language with a real,
native accent. The text translation is also provided on the screen. (EyeForTravel,
February 2009)
Potential cruise passengers go online to do most of their pre-booking research and the
brochure is becoming little more than a ‘timetable', according to findings of research
by P&O Cruises which emerged as part of parent company Carnival UK's annual Cruise
Report.
P&O Cruises acknowledge the fact that most people now prefer to base their choices
on user-generated content on cruise websites. Their research indicates that people go
online to do most of their pre-booking research so that by the time they get the
brochure, they have already decided to book and just want to see what is on offer for
the destination they want and the time slot they have for their holiday. (Travelmole,
February 2009)
UK's PC Advisor magazine features a selection of the country's best travel sites.
Dozens of Web 2.0 travel sites jumped in to fill new niches in travel planning (many of
them still in beta testing).
Best Trip Choices uses a simple yet highly revealing questionnaire to identify which of
six ‘travel personalities' you most closely match. After taking the quiz to determine
your type, you can drill down to identify destinations and activities that
BestTripChoices thinks are suited to your preferences.
Similarly, TravelMuse, Tripbase and Triporati present destination suggestions based on
your interests (which you identify on supplied lists or tags); TravelMuse and Tripbase
also factor in your budget, and TravelMuse asks you how much time you're willing to
spend en route.
All three sites provide reviews, maps, and other content, including links to booking
sites. These sites offer some specialised features, too. Triporati's Facebook application
lets you find friends who share specific travel-related interests. Tripbase returns costs
for its suggested destinations. And TravelMuse provides tools.
(HOTELMARKETING.COM, February 2009)
revealed the most popular travel websites in the UK for the week ending June 5 2010
in the categories Agencies; Destinations and Accommodation, Airlines as well as travel
search terms.

Top Agencies websites in the UK for the week ending June 5 2010 by % of visits:
1. Thomson (www.thomson.co.uk): 9.21% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Expedia.co.uk (www.expedia.co.uk): 7.74% (2nd)
3. Thomas Cook (www.thomascook.com): 5.48% (3rd)

Top Destinations and Accommodation websites in the UK for the week ending June 5
2010 by % of visits:
1. tripadvisor.co.uk (www.tripadvisor.co.uk): 7.50% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Booking.com (www.booking.com): 4.51% (2nd)
3. LateRooms.com (www.laterooms.com): 2.92% (3rd)

Top Airlines websites in the UK for the week ending June 5 2010 by % of visits:
1. easyJet.com (www.easyjet.com): 20.77% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com): 17.64% (2nd)
3. British Airways (www.britishairways.com): 8.89% (3rd)

Top travel search terms in the UK for the week ending June 5 2010 by % of clicks:
1. google maps: 0.98% (previously ranked 1st)
2. ryanair: 0.83% (2nd)
3. easyjet: 0.76% (3rd)

(tnooz - talking travel tech, June 2010)Experian Hitwise has revealed the most popular
travel websites in the UK for the week ending June 19 2010 in the categories Agencies;
Destinations and Accommodation; Airlines and travel search terms.

Top Agency websites in the UK for the week ending June 19 2010 by % of visits:
1. Thomson (www.thomson.co.uk): 8.53% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Expedia.co.uk (www.expedia.co.uk): 7.53% (2nd)
3. Thomas Cook (www.thomascook.com): 5.39% (3rd)www.tripadvisor.co.uk): 8.03%
(previously ranked 1st)
2. Booking.com (www.booking.com): 4.63% (2nd)
3. LateRooms.com (www.laterooms.com): 3.10% (3rd)www.easyjet.com): 20.57%
(previously ranked 1st)
2. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com): 17.95% (2nd)
3. British Airways (www.britishairways.com): 8.87% (3rd)tnooz - talking travel tech ,
June 2010)
Last Updated on Friday, 23 July 2010 10:22

eCommerce

The popularity of online shopping is continuing to grow rapidly, with over half of the
British population aged 15 or older shopping online, according to an IMRG report
prepared by the British Population Survey (BPS). The 50% benchmark was achieved
for the very first time in February 2010 (50.6%), while March saw further growth in the
number of online shoppers to 51%.
Percentage of British population aged 15 and older shopping online 2008-2010:
- March 2008: 43.4%
- March 2009: 46.6%
- March 2010: 51.1%

Of particular significance to the long term growth of online shopping, the survey
reveals a narrowing in the gap between those who search for product information
online and those who actually purchase: in March 2008, the ratio was 17 Shoppers to
every 20 Searchers, and by March 2010 this was 18 to 20.

BPS conducts over 80,000 face-to-face in-home interviews each year with an accurate
cross-section of the entire adult population. The report concentrates on the first
quarter of 2010 to provide a detailed national view of those who are internet
shoppers, who and where they are, how they access the internet, and how they search
for products and shop online. (IMRG, April 2010)
Although the final stats are not yet available, eMarketer expects UK online ad
spending to show hard-won gains in 2009 and regain momentum in 2010 and beyond.

UK online advertising spending, 2008-2013:

- 2008: £3,350 million / $6,198 million
- 2009: £3,380 million / $6,253 million
- 2010: £3,540 million / $6,549 million
- 2011: £3,880 million / $7,178 million
- 2012: £4,320 million / $7,992 million
- 2013: £4,730 million / $8,751 million
(eMarketer, December 2009)
Commuters in Liverpool are able to use contactless payments on buses since the end
of October 2009. This is the first time the technology has come to public transport in
the UK. Commuters are able to leave their change in their wallet and pay for their
journey just by waving a card. PayPass ‘Tap & Go' tech is being rolled out by
Stagecoach Merseyside on its fleet of 200 buses, and enables anyone with a
MasterCard PayPass card to wave it near or on a reader to pay for their journey.

The launch is in partnership with RBS WorldPay and is supported by Commidea, a

provider of credit card processing systems. According to a study by RBS WorldPay,
76% of retailers believed the technology would be cost effective and efficient.
Specifically, 41% believed that it would save time through faster transactions. (IT Pro,
October 2009)
Growth in UK business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce sales (including travel) slowed
in 2008, as the recession became a reality for many consumers. And the financial
squeeze is expected to continue to influence online buying activity through 2010.
However, eMarketer estimates that 72.5% of UK Internet users ages 14 and older will
buy at least one item online in 2009. Furthermore, between 2009 and 2013, the
number of online buyers will rise from 26.9 million to 31.8 million - over one-half of the
UK population.
When the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK) and Lightspeed Research asked UK
Internet users how the recession had affected the frequency of their visits to Websites,
41% of respondents said the time they spent shopping online had increased but 45%
said they were spending more time looking for deals.
When it came to the types of sites visited, price comparison sites were the clear
winners, with 33.7% of respondents saying they visited them more often due to the
recession. Visits to auction sites and value supermarkets were also up more than 22%.
The biggest drops were for luxury goods sites. While 3.7% of Web users polled said
they were visiting these more often, 22.7% said they accessed luxury sites less
frequently.
(eMarketer, August 2009)
Of the people not shopping online in the UK, some 30% identified a lack of trust as the
main reason, according to a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Personal
security was the problem for 20%, while 15% simply had no faith in online retailers.

The OFT believes that consumer confidence is improving, with more than half (54%) of
respondents saying shopping online was as safe as shopping in a store - up from 26%
in 2006.

However the government department said that online shopping could never reach its
full potential with current attitudes. Of the people who did shop online, almost three
quarters (72%) still had concerns, while many users were unaware of their consumer
rights. (ITPRO, May 2009)
Online Advertising
Overall, UK advertising spending suffered a double-digit drop in 2009, according to
several sources. But the Internet defied this downward trend. UK advertisers spent
£3.54 billion ($5.56 billion) online in 2009-5.7% more than in 2008.
Internet advertising will gain momentum in 2010 as the economy inches into recovery,
reaching £3.79 billion ($5.95 billion). Slower growth is expected in 2011, but the
London Olympics and greater financial stability should bring higher rises in 2012. By
2014, online ad spending will approach £4.84 billion ($7.60 billion).
Search accounted for 60.7% of Internet ad spending in 2009. Display claimed 20% and
classified ads 19%, while less than 1% was spent on e-mail sent to purchased lists.
Search will increase its share of the pie in 2010 and beyond, as classified ads lose
ground. Spending on video and mobile ads will boost the display category.
Telecoms, finance, technology, and media and entertainment firms topped the UK's
Internet spending league in 2009. On mobile devices, however, entertainment
companies led with roughly 60% of all ad spending.
(Emarketer, June 2010)
The financial crisis has brought the progress of the UK's digital marketplace almost to
a halt. Growth in online ad spending in the UK will be minuscule in 2009, just 0.9%,
according to estimates by eMarketer.

UK online advertising spending, 2008-2013:

- 2008: £3,350 million (+19.1%)
- 2009: £3,380 million (+0.9%)
- 2010: £3,540 million (+4.7%)
- 2011: £3,880 million (+9.6%)
- 2012: £4,320 million (+11.3%)
- 2013: £4,730 million (+9.5%)

In 2010, online spending should recover more quickly than spending in other media,
according to eMarketer. (eMarketer, July 2009)
The largest percentage of UK internet users in all age groups said they were most
likely to pay attention to an online advertisement after 6 in the evening, according to
a study by Lightspeed Research and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK).

Time of day when UK internet users are most likely to pay attention to online ads, by
age, November-December 2008 (% of respondents):
- 18-24: before 9am (4%) / 9am-12pm (10%) / 12pm-2pm (17%) / 2pm-6pm (24%) /
after 6pm (46%)
- 25-34: 5% / 12% / 13% / 17% / 54%
- 35-44: 3% / 13% / 10% / 15% / 59%
- 45-54: 5% / 15% / 11% / 15% / 54%
- 55+: 6% / 21% / 6% / 23% / 45%
The likelihood of users paying attention to advertising at other times varied slightly
depending on age.

Attention to ads also varied based on the activities users were engaged in. The
greatest proportion of UK internet users said they were very likely to process an ad
while "researching the best deals," followed by shopping, gambling and searching
online. Most people said they were not at all likely to notice online ads while e-mailing
or instant messaging, followed by watching online video and playing online games.
(eMarketer at , May 2009)
More than half (51%) of UK users said that they pay attention to an online ad when the
ad is relevant to them, according to findings from the UK Internet Advertising Bureau
(IAB UK), based on polling data from Lightspeed Research.

Reasons that UK internet users pay attention to an online ad, November-December

2008 (% of respondents):
- If it is relevant to me: 51%
- If it is useful to me: 43%
- If it gives me money off: 33%
- If it gives me new and/or exclusive information: 16%
- If it is entertaining: 15%
- If it adds something to my online experience: 9%
- I don't notice online ads: 25%

Along with confirming the belief that people like to save money, the most popular
answers showed an openness on the part of consumers to more targeted advertising.
The results varied in some cases by age. Younger audiences were more interested in
special offers, exclusive information and entertainment value. For ads to resonate with
younger baby boomers, they needed to be more relevant and useful.

Certain ad formats had a higher rate of recall than others. Respondents remembered
paid search, display, e-mail and pop-up ads more than social network or pop-under
ads. The research has found that even though not all consumers click on ads, they are
now fully acquainted with most forms of advertising online. (eMarketer, March 2009)
UK advertisers substantially reduced their budgets in the final three months of 2008
according to the IPA's Q4 Bellwether report, published today. Just 7% of the companies
questioned reported an increase in overall Q4 ad budgets, while 49% said they had cut
spending during that period.
Even online ad spend -- which managed to avoid reduction in Q3 -- began to suffer,
with around 7% of companies reporting a drop in spending in the fourth quarter.
However online experienced less of a reduction than any other medium, suggesting
further growth in overall market share, which the IPA now estimates at 10% . Hardest
hit in the fourth quarter were budgets for "main media advertising," which includes TV,
radio and press. (ClickZ, January 2009)

Broadband Access

A broadband divide between the North and South of the UK has been revealed in
research results by Point Topic. Their findings show that 68 cities, towns and districts
have high broadband penetration but only 3 on these are above the line drawn from
the Wash to the Bristol Channel. It also showed that of the 60 places with low
penetration, only 6 were south of that line.
The South East, South West, East of England and London regions have 32.9 broadband
lines for every 100 residents but the other eight north and west regions have only
26.1. Many of the areas that suffer from low penetration are very rural with low
populations and often far away from their nearest exchange. However, there is some
positivity north of the border as Scotland has more exchanges per head compared to
England, with many of them designed to serve smaller communities.

Overall, it is not all doom and gloom as 74% of the population live in areas considered
to have medium penetration and only 8.8% are in areas where penetration is
considered low or very low. There is clearly still a challenge to be faced to provide
everybody with decent broadband levels, as promised in the Digital Britain report
earlier in 2009. (ITPRO, November 2009)
The UK has taken a disappointing 25th place in the latest global broadband study
undertaken by MBA students from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford
and the University of Oviedo's Department of Applied Economics on behalf of Cisco.
The country is considered to be meeting the needs of today with its broadband
capability but it only held a mid-table spot behind Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia.
Sweden came out top for the European contenders but came 4th overall behind South
Korea, who took the top spot ahead of Japan and Chinese territory Hong Kong.

Almost 2/3 thirds of countries were able to deliver good enough broadband for the
most common web applications today, such as social networking, streaming low-
definition video, web communications and sharing small files such as photos and
music. However, only nine countries were prepared for future web applications such as
high definition internet TV or high-quality video communications like home
telepresence, which the report suggests will become mainstream in the next three to
five years.

The research looked at 66 different countries' quality of connections and the

percentage of households which have one. (ITPro, October 2009)
Real-life UK mobile broadband speeds reach, on average, only 24% of the headline
data rates advertised by carriers as maximum available throughputs, according to a
five-month research project by customer experience management specialist Epitiro.

At less than 1Mbps, the average mobile broadband speed is 34% slower than average
speeds achieved on ADSL connections, the firm said.

The research was based on data taken from Epitiro's handset-based ‘Isposure'
application, which was installed on more than 1,300 handsets across the UK, between
the beginning of December 2008 and the beginning of May 2009. More than 1.4
million test results were recorded. (telecoms.com, June 2009)
Around 15% of UK homes (3 million households) have internet broadband access with
speeds of less than 2 Megabits per second, the minimum speed the government
envisaged for the whole country, according to research by the BBC. The research also
revealed that many of these households are not located in rural areas, but in
commuter belts.

In January, the government revealed it plans to ensure every UK household has access
to 2Mbps broadband by 2012, in the initial findings of its Digital Britain report. Around
60% of UK homes have a broadband connection, while 99% have access to it. (IMRG,
May 2009)
Interactive TV and Mobile Devices

Mobile Phones and Wireless Access

According to Ovum and Verdict Research 28% of the UK adult population had internet
access on their mobile in 2009 but just 2.1% used this access to shop online. Verdict
estimates that in 2009, internet shopping sales via mobiles was worth just £122.9m,
0.6% of total £21.2bn online retail spending. At present, rather than shop, it is clear
that consumers are using their mobiles to enhance the shopping experience by
comparing prices, researching products and interacting with retailers. Indeed, the
findings of Verdict's consumer research reveal that 11.5% of all UK shoppers are using
their mobiles to research before shopping, while 3.8% use them to research, engage
and interact with retailers while out shopping.

By 2013, internet sales via mobiles are predicted to have doubled to £275 million,
driven by a 119% rise in the m-commerce population, improvements in mobile
technology, better interoperability and greater take-up of smartphones and Android
devices. Verdict and Ovum believe that though m-commerce will still not have
become a significant channel by 2013, its effectiveness as a marketing tool and way of
interacting with customers will have increased substantially, providing a massive
boost to sales growth across all channels.
(Datamonitor, June 2010)
London mayor Boris Johnson has given his support to plans to install Wi-Fi hotspots
and mobile phone base stations in London Underground stations. In his address to the
annual State of London debate, Johnson said he was willing to consider any ideas that
would help London become one of the most technologically advanced cities in the
world, as long as they are financially viable.

But efforts to make progress since then have stalled, mainly because of costs. A six-
month trial of on-platform web and phone services was due to commence in 2008, but
a suitable partner could not be found.

Johnson has made no secret of his desire to give all of London wireless internet
access, and last month told a Google conference that he had approached Europe's
largest broadband provider The Cloud, which already covers the City of London, to
extend the coverage across the capital in time for the 2012 Olympics. Plans would
include installing wireless hotspots in street lights and bus stops.

As recently as last year, mobile access on the tube was mooted, as part of the Digital
Britain report.

(ITPro, June 2010)

The Cloud has come in as the front runner to provide blanket Wi-Fi coverage of London
in time for the Olympic Games in 2012. The company, which is the largest provider of
Wi-Fi across Europe, has been asked by London Mayor Boris Johnson to draw up plans
of how to get the Olympic site at Stratford connected, according to the Financial
Times.

It will not be the only provider involved however. A statement from The Cloud's chief
executive, Steve Nicholson, claimed other mobile operators (such as O2, Vodafone
and Virgin Mobile) have been included in a series of meetings to work out the logistics
of getting the site fit for connectivity purposes. (ITPRO FIT FOR BUSINESS, May 2010)
Consumers are increasingly media multi-tasking with more than 8 out of 10 mobile
media users (84%) simultaneously interacting with their TVs or PCs, according to a
mobile focused research commissioned by Yahoo! among 2,004 UK mobile media
users aged between 16 and 65.
The study conducted over the last five months showed that almost a quarter of
respondents (22%) regularly use their mobiles, TVs and PCs to access content
simultaneously, with 17% using PC and mobile at the same time, 29% using TV and
mobile at the same time, and a massive 77% watching TV and using their PC
simultaneously. The findings mean brands need to consider all platforms if their
marketing campaigns are to drive consumer awareness and ward off negative
consumer perception, according to Yahoo.

The findings also included a warning for brands that they must get their mobile
offerings right, with many consumers opting to switch brands because of a bad brand
experience.

The research showed that 1 in 10 mobile media users make mobile purchases, with
this figure rising to 4 in 10 for iPhone users (including purchasing apps from the App
Store). (eyefortravel, April 2010)
22% of all mobile consumers aged 15-50 in the UK regularly used their mobile to
access the internet, according to a report published in February 2010 by Ipsos
MediaCT, Moving Mobile Internet into the Mainstream.

The findings show that over half of all mobile consumers have still never used their
mobile to access the web. For this group, functional barriers hold them back with
nearly half stating that the internet is better on a PC/laptop, 36% state mobile web is
too expensive and 20% that the screen size is too small. Importantly, the barriers are
not that they do not want to access web content via a mobile. It is no longer apathy
holding them back, which is a significant step forward.

Mobile internet usage is going through a transformation. The significant driver of this
change has been the iPhone. At 7% ownership in the UK, the iPhone has opened up
the market and together with the wider smartphone base, has shifted what consumers
see as possible on a mobile, breaking down many lingering preconceptions about
mobile internet.

Research from Ipsos MediaCT shows that 88% of iPhone owners regularly access
mobile internet, sot hey are certainly much more active. iPhone users do, however,
use a similar range of services on the fixed internet to typical mobile owners,
suggesting the underlying motivations for using the web are similar.

The big difference is how iPhone owners are using the mobile internet. Their mobile
web usage habits are now almost level with fixed internet usage, highlighting the
extent to which the fixed experience has been transferred to the mobile for iPhone
owners. IN the case of location based services (such as accessing maps or looking up
places of interest) penetration of usage via the iPhone is beyond fixed levels. One of
the few exceptions is shopping, remaining largely a fixed internet based experience -
going forward, mobile commerce clearly offers a big growth opportunity on the iPhone.

Internet usage amongst iPhone owners, November 2009 (services accessed in the past
3 months) :
- Webmail: 76% (mobile web) / 81% (fixed web)
- Browse news: 75% (79%)
- Maps/Directions: 73% (68%)
- Facebook: 71% (77%)
- Download/listen music: 67% (67%)
- Location: 60% (46%)
- Travel info: 57% (62%)
- YouTube: 57% (68%)
- Twitter: 19% (28%)
- Shopping: 17% (71%)
- Catch-up TV: 15% (58%)

For the typical mobile owner, the web is still very much a fixed internet experience.
The research from MediaCT showed that across a broad range of online activities the
gap in current usage between fixed and mobile access is significant.

Interest in future usage uniformly rises across all activities when the three main
functional barriers are removed (i.e. using handset with a large colour screen, fast
mobile internet and web browsing is inclusive in the tariff). Interest increases to such
an extent that it nearly mirrors today's iPhone user. The main activities on the fixed
web (social networking, webmail, browsing news/entertainment sites and accessing
music) all show the highest levels of interest for mobile web usage.

Internet usage amongst all mobile consumers:

- Facebook: 24% (mobile web) / 71% (fixed web)
- Webmail: 20% / 84%
- Download/listen music: 19% / 58%
- Browse news: 16% / 73%
- Maps/directions: 13% / 67%
- Location: 11% / 47%
- Travel info: 11% / 57%
- YouTube: 7% / 64%
- Twitter: 0% / 17%
- Shopping: 0% / 65%
- Catch-up TV: 0% / 55%

(IPSOS MORI, February 2010)

Reports suggest that mobile giant Orange will start selling the iPhone in the UK from
10th November 2009. The mobile giant has yet to respond to IT PRO's request for
clarification on the situation, but has declined to comment on a number of other
reports that claim the iPhone's Orange UK debut is mere weeks away.

In September, Orange, which already supports the iPhone in 28 countries around the
world, announced that the iconic device would be hitting UK shores before Christmas.
Vodafone quickly followed saying the iPhone would be available on its network early
next year.

Since it emerged that O2's exclusive hold over the iPhone is coming to an end, users
have crossed their fingers, hoping for a price war. However, both operators are
remaining tight-lipped on exact delivery dates, leaving users playing a waiting game
and wondering which one to go with to get the best deal. (ITPro, October 2009)
Around a third of young adults (those under 36) in the UK regularly access sites such
as Facebook and Twitter from their mobile phones, according to a survey among more
than 1,000 adults between 16 and 35 years old in the UK by CCS Insight. The research
company noted that the 16 to 24 year-olds are often cited as the most vibrant
segment of the market, but when it comes to buying mobile content, it's those over 24
who are doing the spending.

CCS Insight concluded that because the phenomenal growth in mobile phones and
internet usage have collided with spectacular results, networks are going to have to
think carefully about how they charge for mobile internet access.

Those under 36 love social networking via the mobile and expect to pay for it,
however, younger adults expect mobile content (especially music and videos) to be
free. Moreover, a third of the survey respondents said they'd like the bandwidth-
hungry BBC iPlayer on their mobile phones.

This leaves operators in a predicament. The challenge operators face is balancing

demand for these services with the bandwidth they consume, particularly as
applications such as YouTube, BBC iPlayer and Skype become more popular.

Coincidentally, UK mobile operator O2 said that it has forged an agreement with

Twitter allowing users to receive free SMS alerts from Twitter. The deal follows up
existing agreements from Facebook and Bebo and takes effect from August 2009. As
part of the deal, Twitter will be heavily promoted on O2's Active portal and will likely
be expanded to Telefonica's other operations. O2 said that over a million customers
per month now access social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook using O2
Active, bolstered by hundreds of thousands of iPhone users who have downloaded
social networking applications. O2 believe that mobile will soon become the most
popular way of accessing social networking sites, giving real time access to tweets
and status updates wherever you are. (Telecoms.com, July 2009)
BT willturn cash machines into Wi-Fi hotspots, in a five-year deal with ATM provider
Cashbox. The BT Openzone wireless broadband service will initially be available in 10
locations, including sites in London, Manchester and Glasgow.

However Cashbox is looking to expand its connectivity to more of its 2,500 ATM sites.
BT broadband customers with inclusive Wi-Fi minutes as well as O2 iPhone users will
be able to use the service. (ITPRO, June 2009)
Taking and sending photographs were the two most popular non-core mobile services
among UK users in 2008, according to data supplied exclusively to telecoms.com from
market research specialist TNS.

24% of UK mobile users have browse the internet with their handsets, a year on year
increase of 33%.

Top ten most popular mobile services in the UK 2008:

- Taking pictures: 66% (+33% compared to the previous year)
- Sending pictures: 44% (+63%)
- Using Bluetooth: 36%
- Playing games: 35% (+59%)
- Listening to music: 31% (+72%)
- Making videos: 31% (+24%)
- Connected phone to computer: 25%
- Internet browsing: 24% (+33%)
- FM radio: 22% (+57%)
- Sending videos: 14% (+75%)

The 12-18 year old age group was the most voracious user of all services, apart from
internet browsing, which proved more popular with both the 19-24 year old and 25-34
year old demographics. While the oldest group, 55 and above was unsurprisingly the
lowest using of all demographics, penetration of some services was reasonable. 44%
of users in this age range had taken photos with their handsets and 25% had sent
them.

Audience of UK mobile users browsing the internet by age:

Total: 23.5%
- 12-18: 33%
- 19-24: 61%
- 25-34: 39%
- 35-44: 26%
- 45-54: 15%
- 55+: 6%

Penetration among male and female users was very close for some services, with
females marginally more likely to take and send photographs and to make videos.
Male users were slightly more inclined to use Bluetooth, play games and listen to
music. The popularity of internet browsing and email was markedly higher among
males than females.

The data come from TNS' ComTech research project, which sees 170,000 users in the
UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France interviewed about their usage of mobile and
fixed telephony, broadband and TV. The UK-the first market for which TNS has
published results-has the largest sample user base, with 15,000 customers aged 12
and above interviewed during 2008. (Telecoms, April 2009)
The lack of user-friendly handsets contributed to a slow take-up of mobile Web
services in the UK. But things may be changing. The launch of the 3G iPhone in the
summer of 2008 gave the market a big boost, according to eMarketer. Nifty, practical
iPhone applications such as maps, GPS services, games, news and social networking
have caught consumers' attention and are starting to build momentum.

Estimates of UK mobile internet users still range between just 7.2 million and 17.4
million, however.

Comparative estimates: UK mobile internet users, 2008:

- Mobile Data Association (MDA), February 2009: 17.4 million
- comScore M:Metrix, December 2008: 12.9 million
- Nielsen Online, November 2008: 7.2 million

According to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), more mobile users in the UK
are accessing the internet via computer than by handset.

UK adults who have accessed the internet via selected mobile devices, 2008 (as a %
of respondents):
- Portable computer (laptop) via wireless connection: 23% (up from 18% in 2007)
- Mobile phone via GPRS: 15% (15%)
- Hanheld computer (PDA): 4% (4%)
- Mobile phone via UMTS (3G mobile): 4% (3%)

A majority of internet users not yet connected via phone would like Web access on
their mobile, according to eMarketer. But compelling content and services are needed
to attract more converts.

In fact, iPhones are not for everyone. In the short term, there is a lack of proven,
affordable internet-ready handset alternatives that meet a range of consumer and
professional needs.

The financial crisis has overtaken content providers and mobile developers too,
slowing the migration of prime content to the mobile Internet. But the mobile Web is
gaining ground in the UK, and soon the audience will be large and broad enough to
interest mainstream advertisers. (eMarketer, March 2009)
93% of iPhone owners in the UK accessed mobile media in January 2009, according to
comScore. Mobile e-mail is used by 75% of British iPhone owners, making it the most
popular type of mobile content consumed on the device.
The penetration of e-mail usage on the iPhone is more than double that of the
smartphone category as a whole. Over the past several quarters, the UK smartphone
market has been dominated by the N95, which lacks a QWERTY keyboard. As a result,
comScore see smartphone users favour using their device for music and photo
messaging, two activities for which these Nokia devices are particularly well-suited,
more than e-mail.

Top activities among iPhone users/all smartphone users/all mobile phone users, 3-
month average ending January 2009 (Total UK, age 13+, smartphone owners):
- Accessed news/info via browser: 79.7% (iPhone users) / 48.0% (Smartphone users) /
19.8% (All mobile phone users)
- Accessed e-mail: 75.4% / 35.4% / 13.1%
- Listened to mobile music: 65.6% / 40.5% / 22.6%
- Accessed news or info via downloaded application: 55.6% / 22.1% / 6.3%
- Accessed social networking site: 54.8% / 29.6% / 12.7%
- Accessed weather: 55.5% / 26.1% / 9.2%
- Used web search: 55.1% / 31.9% / 12.3%

comScore data show that nearly 80% of UK iPhone owners accessed news and other
information via a browser, four times the rate for all mobile phone users. The App
Store is also extremely popular among iPhone owners, with 55.6% accessing news and
information via a downloaded application, compared with 22.1% of smartphone
owners, and 6.3% of all mobile phone users. The iPhone has also provided a boost to
the mobile games sector, with 37% of iPhone owners downloading a game and 18.6%
purchasing one. Only 5.6% of smartphone owners and 2.7% of mobile phone users
purchased a game in January.

comScore also revealed the demographics of iPhone owners, and found that 75% are
males, mostly between the ages of 18-44. Smartphone ownership also typically skews
male in the UK, with males comprising 65% of the audience.

The iPhone is indeed an early adopter phenomenon in the United Kingdom, according
to comScore. While the device's ease of use is certainly contributing to the lift we see
in mobile media consumption, the fact that the device requires a subscription package
that includes an unlimited data plan is also a contributing factor. However, it is also
important to note that while nearly all iPhone owners are consuming mobile media,
the device is in the hands of only two percent of mobile phone users in the UK.

comScore data also shows that 55% of mobile media consumers are male, and 65%
are between the ages of 18-44. 23% of mobile media users own a smartphone; and
3.5%, an iPhone. (comScore, March 2009)
vSocial Networks and UGC

Traffic to social networks in the UK such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounted
for 11.88% of all traffic in the country in May 2010, passing the search engines with
11.33%, according to Hitwise.

Such changes in online user behaviour are fascinating, but especially for the travel
sector where search is such an important part of the discovery process.

First of all the data indicates how omnipresent social networks have become in
everyday web use - in this case, Facebook takes a mammoth 55% share of all social
networking traffic. As Facebook integrates such features as Facebook Questions then
it would be logical to presume that they will use social media for search even more.
And Twitter, for example, can be a reasonably useful search engine for mentions
about destinations or travel brands.

So what does this mean for travel? A social media strategy should be one of the most
important areas in a marketing plan. Travel companies must create profiles on social
networking sites, especially Facebook.
Monitoring social media activity should be a requirement, not something that is done
haphazardly.
Companies must engage with users on social networks, understand where and what
the conversation is.
Every part of the marketing plan must be joined up - offline-to-online-to-social. Search
engine optimisation and keyword buying should have a social element. (tnooz - talking
travel tech, June 2010)
Experian Hitwise revealed the top social networking websites in the UK for the week
ending May 22 2010 in ranked by visits.

Top 10 websites for the industry "Computers and Internet - Social

Networking and Forums", ranked by Visits for the week ending May 22 2010:
1. Facebook : 55.54%
2. YouTube : 16.29%
3. Twitter : 2.04%
4. MySpace : 1.18%
5. Bebo : 1.16%
6. Yahoo! Answers : 1.03%
7. Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers : 0.70%
8. Stumble Upon : 0.58%
9. Windows Live Home : 0.55%
10. Moneysavingexpert.com Forums : 0.42%
(Experian Hitwise, May 2010)
Most UK internet users are becoming more knowledgeable about security issues and
less willing to provide personal information online, according to Ofcom's Media
Literacy reports, which reveal the UK's media consumption habits and attitudes. It
reveals that 80% of adults with a social networking profile are now more likely to only
allow friends or family to see it, compared to 48% in 2007.

Almost half of adult internet users in Scotland say they have set up a social
networking profile (49%) compared with 46% in Wales, 44% in England and 31% in
Northern Ireland. (Ofcom, May 2010)
UK internet users spent 65% more time online in April 2010 than they did during the
same month in 2007, according to data issued by the UK Online Measurement
Company (UKOM), and collected by Nielsen.

That growth was driven by social networks and blogs, and online news content, as
those categories witnessed 159% and 84% growth, respectively, over the three-year
period, according to UKOM. By contrast, use of instant messaging services suffered
greatly, with users spending 66% less time with them in 2010 than they did in 2007.

Overall, UKOM suggests social networking now accounts for almost a quarter of UK
users' time online, at 22.7%, followed by e-mail which accounts for 7.2% of their online
activity, and gaming at 6.9%.
Users spent a total of 884 million hours online during the course of the month, UKOM
estimates.

Leading UK online sectors in April 2010 by share of total UK internet time:

1. Social Networks/Blogs: 22.7% (+159% compared to April 2007)
2. Email: 7.2% (+11%)
3. Games: 6.9% (+15%)
4. Instant Messaging: 4.9% (-66%)
5. Classifieds/Auctions: 4.7% (-6%)
6. Portals: 4.0% (+10%)
7. Search: 4.0% (-3%)
8. Software Info/Products: 3.4% (-36%)
9. News: 2.8% (+84%)
10. Adult: 2.7% (-3%)
Other: 36.8% (-13%)
(ClickZ, May 2010)
Facebook reached an important milestone for the week ending March 13, 2010 as it
surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week.
Facebook.com reached the #1 ranking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New
Year's Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th. The market share of visits to
Facebook.com increased 185% for the week ending March 13, as compared to the
same week in 2009, while visits to Google.com increased 9% during the same time
frame. Together Facebook.com and Google.com accounted for 14% of all US internet
visits for the week.

What about the UK? Facebook is the second most visited website in the UK (and has
been for a while now) but Google.co.uk remains ahead of it, according to Robin Goad,
research director, Hitwise UK. For the week ending March 13, Google.co.uk picked up
9.34% of UK internet visits, while Facebook accounted for 6.01%. In the US, the
respective figures were 7.03% (for Google.com) and 7.07%.

There are two main reasons why Facebook hasn't yet caught up with Google in the UK
(and doesn't seem likely to do so in the foreseeable future), according to Goad:

1. Facebook has a very similar share of the social networking markets in both the UK
and US (51.9% and 51.3% respectively last week), but social networking is slightly
more popular in the US, so Facebook's share of all internet visits is higher in there.

2. Google has a larger share of the search market in the UK (over 90%) than in the US
(just over 70%), and search engines as a category are also more popular on this side
of the Atlantic.

(EyeForTravel, March 2010)

Marketers and brands using social networks will soon find their activities in those
spaces regulated by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, following
recommendations submitted by the Advertising Association. The proposed
amendment to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code (expected to be in
force by September 2010) will extend the regulatory framework currently in place for
paid online ads to all other online marketing communications. As a result, claims from
marketers on their own Web sites and third-party sites like social networks will now be
subject to ASA scrutiny, as they are in TV, print, and other forms of online advertising.
The code is designed to ensure that ads do not offend or mislead, and that they
respect specific laws relating to the marketing of alcohol, gambling, auto, health, and
financial products. The code will also apply to content on marketers' own Web sites.
(ClickZ, March 2010)
Mobile carrier Orange UK said it is working to integrate popular social networking
platform Twitter into its own service offerings, including TV as well as mobile and web.

In a pan-European move, but launching first in the UK, Orange will integrate Twitter
features into its mobile service, allowing users the ability to upload and share photos
with their Twitter followers via MMS. SMS-based tweets will be rolled into the standard
mobile plan and users will be able to set times for receiving tweets, chose a maximum
number of daily tweets and chose to receive updates in real time, hourly or daily.
Interestingly, Orange has said it will also explore ways of integrating Twitter into its
IPTV platform to create interactive Twitter feeds that will run during and alongside
programmes and will embed the service within Orange web portals from 2010.
Twitter will be implemented first in UK, followed by France, Spain, Poland in 2009. It
will then roll out across the rest of the Orange European footprint in 2010.
The platform will be added to Orange's social media aggregation service "Social Life"
in the UK, "Mes communautés" in France or "My Social Place" in Spain, alongside
Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and a range of other popular social sites. (Telecoms.com,
November 2009)
Facebook accounted for almost 15% of all UK pageviews in September 2009,
according to data from Experian Hitwise. Although the social network continues to trail
Google in terms of unique visitors, it generated almost three times as many pageviews
during the course of the month, with Google's U.K. site attracting 5.8% of views,
followed closely by eBay with a 5.5% share.

However, the overall market share of Google-owned sites (factoring in properties such
as YouTube and its GMail product) is somewhat higher at 11.8%.

In addition, Hitwise reported that UK internet visits to the Facebook site increased by
86.1% between September 2008 and September 2009, and accounted for 49.2% of UK
visits to a social networking site during the month.

Top 10 UK webistes by share of page views, September 2009:

1. Facebook: 14.5% of share of page views
2. Google UK: 5.8%
3. eBay UK: 5.5 %
4. YouTube: 2.5%
5. Windows Live Mail: 1.9%
6. Gmail: 1.7%
7. Bebo: 1.5%
8. Yahoo UK & Ireland Mail: 1.1%
9. Google.com: 0.9%
10. Google UK Image Search: 0.9%
(ClickZ, October 2009)
For the first time, Twitter received more UK internet visits than MySpace for the week
ending 29/08/09. Twitter.com picked up 1 in every 400 UK internet visits and ranked
as the 27th most visited website in the UK, one position above MySpace.

Hitwise noted a couple of points worth considering:

- If anything, Twitter is even more popular than their numbers imply, as they are only
measuring traffic to the main Twitter website. If the people accessing their Twitter
accounts via mobile phones and third party applications (such as Twitterrific,
Twitterfeed and Tweetdeck) were included, the numbers would be even higher. Of
course, MySpace also picks up a significant amount of traffic outside of the
MySpace.com domain, particularly via mobile platforms.
- The social networking rankings are changing pretty fast in the UK.

Most popular websites in Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums -
week ending August 29, 2009:
1. Facebook: 47.50% of visits
2. YouTube: 16.63%
3. Bebo: 4.26%
4. Twitter: 2.21%
5. MySpace: 2.21%
6. Yahoo! Answers: 1.21%
7. Tagged: 0.64%
8. Windows Live Home: 0.60%
9. Gumtree.com: 0.58%
10. Google Video UK: 0.57%
(Experian Hitwise, September 2009)
Social networking sites accounted for 13.8 billion display ad impressions in August
2009 in the UK, representing more than 25% of all display ads viewed online in the
country, according to the results of a study of UK online display advertising on social
networking sites by comScore.

Of the top 10 advertiser categories on social networking sites, teen content

advertisers like Habbo and NHS-owned TeenLifeCheck delivered the highest proportion
of their ad impressions in the social networking category at 37.3%. Online dating
advertisers (33.8%) and retail advertisers (30.1%) also delivered an above average
(25.5% total internet) proportion of their ads in the site category. The figure for the
travel industry stood at 11.5%.

A demographic analysis of display ads on social networking sites in the UK revealed

that while ad delivery skewed somewhat younger than average, all age segments
were reached with a notable percentage of display ads. 15-24 year olds were the
highest indexing age segment, accounting for 29% of display ad impressions while
representing 23% of the total category audience. Those between the ages of 25-44
received ads at a slightly higher than average rate, while those 45 and older received
ads at a lower than average rate. Each of the five age segments accounted for at least
15% of the category audience and 10% of ad impressions. (Comscore, October 2009)
The number of adults signing up to social networking sites has almost doubled in the
last two years, according to new Ofcom research. It reveals that 38% of UK internet
users now have a social networking site profile - up from 22% in 2007.

At the same time people are also becoming more cautious about sharing their
personal information online. Three quarters of those with a social networking profile
now say that it can only be seen by family and friends - up from 48% in 2007. (Ofcom,
October 2009)
Despite recent suggestions that teens and young adults are losing interest in social
networks, data by comScore suggests that, in the UK at least, they're simply
gravitating towards one in particular - Facebook. Although 15- to 24-year-olds are
spending 9% less time overall on social networking sites, comScore found the number
of users in that age bracket reached 6.8 million in June 2009, up 14% from the
previous year. The decline in overall engagement is attributable to younger users
spending less time on secondary sites behind Facebook. (ClickZ, August 2009)
The top ten online brands (including Facebook, Google, eBay and YouTube) accounted
for almost half of all UK internet time in April 2009, according to research by Nielsen
Online. The share of time taken up by the top ten brands has increased from 42% in
April 2008 to 45% of total UK internet time in April 2009.

Facebook accounts for 13% of all UK internet time and is the most heavily used
internet brand. Facebook and MSN/Windows Live are the top two most heavily used
online brands and together account for around 11 billion of the 48 billion minutes that
Britons spend online, equivalent to one in every five minutes spent on the internet.
The remaining 55% of online time is shared among 7,625 web brands.

The average Briton spent 22 hours and 20 minutes online or using internet-related
applications in April 2009, representing a 34% increase from last year when the figure
was 16 hours and 36 minutes, according to Nielsen. (IMRG, May 2009)
39% of UK internet users (or more than 15.4 million people) will use social networks at
least once per month in 2009, according to eMarketer. And growth will continue,
though at slightly slower rates after 2010. By 2013, the social networking population
in the UK will reach 21.9 million and represent 50% of internet users.

UK online social network users, 2008-2013:

- 2008: 13.3 million (35.0% of internet users)
- 2009: 15.4 million (39.0%)
- 2010: 17.5 million (43.0%)
- 2011: 19.2 million (46.0%)
- 2012: 20.5 million (48.0%)
- 2013: 21.9 million (50.0%)

Most early adopters of social media in the UK were young and male, according to
eMarketer. And while older users (especially those ages 65 and older) still lag in social
media usage, the appeal of Facebook and the spread of professional social networking
among UK employees are boosting take-up in other age groups. The all-important user
group, UK women, is also warming to social networking, forums and blogging.
(eMarketer, April 2009)
UK internet visits to Twitter have increased 6-fold since the start of 2009 and 32-fold
over the last 12 months (between March 2008 and March 2009), according to Hitwise.
During the week ending 4/4/09, Twitter entered the top 50 websites in the UK,
becoming the 5th most popular social networking site. To put that figure into context,
Twitter received more UK internet visits in this period than the Daily Mail, RightMove,
MSN UK Search, Directgov, and all retail websites with the exception of eBay, Amazon
UK, Play.com and Argos.

During March, Twitter's largest source of UK internet traffic came from Facebook
(accounting for 18.2% of its traffic), presumably a result of the integration between
Twitter updates and Facebook status feeds. As well as being the 50th most visited
website in the UK, it was also the 36th biggest source of traffic to other websites in the
UK during March.

Like Facebook, Twitter sends the largest amount of its traffic to other online media
websites. The top four downstream categories from Twitter are Entertainment, Social
Networks, News & Media and Lifestyle, which together accounted for half of all post-
Twitter UK internet visits during March. Just 4.7% of Twitter's downstream traffic goes
to Shopping & Classifieds websites, with even less to other 'transactional' industries,
such as Business & Finance and Travel. (Hitwise UK Newsletter - April 2009, April
2009)
4 out of 10 online over-50s in the UK (4,700,000) belong to at least 1 social network,
according to a study by InSites Consulting regarding awareness and use of social
networks in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. Facebook is the most popular social
network in this target group: 93% know it and 35% are a member. Social networks are
mainly used for private purposes and less so for professional purposes. For the latter,
Likedin is the most popular network (6%). Belgium and the Netherlands are trailing
behind the UK as far as the awareness and membership of social networks is
concerned amongst online over-50s.

The over-50s use social networks less than people under 50. 72% of the under-50s
online population use these sites. For the over-50s, the figure is 1 in 4. (InSites
Consulting, April 2009)
Microblogging and social networking tool Twitter has made a return to the UK mobile
market, after signing a deal with Vodafone that will allow users to send "tweets" by
SMS.

Twitter pulled the plug on part of its UK mobile service in the summer of 2008, citing
the high prices charges by UK operators for SMS notifications. The SMS feature was
available to users who wanted to receive update straight to their mobile devices, but
Twitter's UK number was actually servicing all of Europe, leaving the firm with a hefty
bill.

In March 2009, Twitter signed a deal with Vodafone allowing UK users to send updates
to and receive SMS notifications from the messaging network. Vodafone is the only
operator which allows SMS updates to and from Twitter in the UK.

But there's a catch, while the SMS updates posted on Twitter will be free of charge for
the first few weeks from launch, they will eventually become part of customers'
bundles. Regular charges will apply to customers without bundles but all text message
updates sent from Twitter will remain free of charge.

When receiving a text message from Twitter with a URL, customers will be able to click
on the link and access the publicised webpage directly from their handset.

The company has already achieved similar deals in Canada, India, and the United
States. (Telecoms.com, March 2009)
Sites like Facebook and MySpace could be forced to log data on everyone their users
make contact with on their sites, according to reports filed in the UK. The government
is thinking of monitoring social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo as
part of its anti-terrorism measures.

The moves follow controversial proposals, under European Union directives, to store
information on phone calls made, emails sent and websites visited in Britain. The
information could be added to a planned database to track terror plots.

The Home Office defended the proposals amid alarm from privacy and civil liberties
groups, and stressed that the government was not seeking the power to examine the
content of messages sent on the sites. (EyeForTravel, March 2009)
During the week ending February 7th 2009, Twitter.com became one of the 100 most
visited websites in the UK for the first time, according to Hitwise. It ranked 91st within
All Categories, placing above online heavyweights such as Expedia UK (96th),
Gumtree (100th), easyJet (101st), Digital Spy (103rd) and MoneySupermarket (105th).

Twitter traffic has already more than trebled in 2009 and there was a noticeable
increase in visits following the media attention generated by the likes of Stephen Fry
(owner of the world's second favourite Twitter feed after Barack Obama) and Jonathan
Ross.

Over the last 12 months traffic to Twitter.com has increased 27 fold. As Hitwise is only
measuring traffic to the Twitter website, if people accessing their Twitter accounts via
mobile phones and third party applications (such as Twitterrific, Twitterfeed and
Tweetdeck) were included, the numbers may even be higher.

One of the reasons for Twitter's success is the 'eco-system' of sites and applications
that it has created via its open API. One of the most notable is Twitpic, which
essentially allows users to upload pictures to their Twitter profiles. The site ranked 7th
in the Entertainment - Photography category for the week ending February 7th 2009,
up from 26th a month ago. Twitpic is still small in comparison to Flickr and
Photobucket, but is growing rapidly. UK Internet traffic to the site has increased more
than 5 fold already this year. (Hitwise, February 2009)
VisitScotland are piloting TripAdvisor as a new feature on www.visitscotland.com. A
cross-section of 500 accommodation businesses who provide allocation are being
given the opportunity to allow independent reviews from visitors who have stayed with
them. TripAdvisor is the world's largest online travel community with more than 6
million members worldwide.

Research shows that people are relying more on review sites and these are second
only to photographs and videos in influencing travel-booking decisions. (VisitScotland
eUpdate - February 2009, February 2009)
In mid-2008, eMarketer calculated that UK social network ad spending would reach
£175 million ($322 million) in 2009. Changes in the market have led to revisions of the
2009 estimate downward by about 20%, although that would still be a healthy
increase over the £115 million ($212 million) total estimated for 2008.
Some of this adjustment is due to the general economic climate. But it also reflects
the fact that MySpace, the world's most popular social network among English
speakers, has had difficulty gaining traction in the UK. Hitwise found that in its social
networks category, the UK market share of MySpace had fallen by one-half in the year
to June 2008, from over 29% to less than 15%.
The popularity of Bebo, with its younger audience profile, is falling too. Nielsen Online
data from August 2008 showed Bebo ousted from second place in its UK social site
rankings by Blogger. Bebo fell to fourth place, according to Nielsen, and achieved just
14.1% audience reach.
Facebook, by contrast, has done well in recent months. Its UK unique user base grew
from 12.4 million in December 2007 to 18.4 million in September 2008, according to
comScore World Metrix. Yet Facebook continues to struggle with ad sales in the UK, as
in the US.
Such shifts in audience loyalty are bound to make some advertisers think twice before
using social networks as central elements of their marketing strategies. Nonetheless,
social network ads in the UK will represent about 4.4% of total online ad spending in
2009. That spending recognizes the growing % age of the online population that uses
social networks. More than one-third of UK internet users ages 18 to 55 had visited
such sites in the past month as of December 2008, according to TNS, and more than
one-half of teens have a social networking profile. (eMarketer, January 2009)
UK internet traffic to micro-blogging service and social network Twitter has risen 10-
fold over the last 12 months, new figures show. For the week ending January 17,
www.twitter.com ranked as the 291st most visited website in the UK, up from a
ranking of 2,953 in the equivalent week last year. UK internet traffic to the website
has increased by 974% over this period, according to online competitive intelligence
service Hitwise.
The most followed Twitter user is new US president Barack Obama
(twitter.com/BarackObama), who has over 140,000 followers.
Twitter receives the largest amount of its traffic from the US, but its penetration is
greater in the UK, Hitwise has calculated. In Britain Twitter is still most popular with
younger users in urban areas, but its appeal is broadening as it grows. The fastest
growing age group of users is 35-44 year olds, who now account for 17.3% of UK
visitors to www.twitter.com.
The amount of traffic Twitter sends to other websites has increased 30-fold over the
last 12 months. Almost 10% of Twitter's downstream traffic goes to news and media
websites, and BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk) is currently the seventh most popular site
visited after www.twitter.com. A further 17.6% of traffic goes to entertainment
websites, while 14.6% goes to social networks, 6.6% to blogs and 4.5% to online
retailers.
The most popular website visited after Twitter is Facebook. The UK's most popular
social network continues to pick up users and is now the second most visited website
in the UK after Google UK. (Travelmole, January 2009)

IRELAND
Ireland

Usage Patterns

Total Online Population 2,83

(000's) in 2009 0
Percentage of Population 67.3
Online in 2009 %
Demographics
There were 2,830,100 internet users in Ireland (representing 67.3% of the population)
in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 261.0%
compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
Overall 92% of Irish businesses have internet access in first quarter of 2010, according
to SME & Corporate ICT Research H1 2010 report, a review of Findings by
MillwardBrown Lansdowne. There has been a small (but not statistically significant)
decrease in access among SMEs this wave of research.

The trend of companies with fewer than 10 employees having lower than average
access continues this wave, with 84% of these businesses claiming to have access to
the internet. Internet access is also lowest among businesses in the retail (82%) and
hotels/restaurant (80%) sectors although from small bases. (ComReg, March 2010)
The total number of internet subscriptions increased to 1,517,449 in Ireland in Q3
2009, according to the Irish Communications Market - Quarterly Key Data Report Q3
2009 by ComReg. This represents a growth rate of 2.2% since last quarter and 9.4%
since Q3 2008.
The report also shows that reductions in narrowband internet subscriptions continued
this quarter, declining by 12.1% since Q2'09 and 40.3% since Q3'08. There are now a
total of 156,195 narrowband subscriptions in Ireland. (ComReg: Irish Communications
Market - Quaterly Key Data Report Data as of Q3 2009, December 2009)
There has been a continued increase in internet usage in Ireland and penetration now
stands at 66%, according to ComReg's Consumer ICT Survey Q2 2009 carried out by
Millward Brown Lansdowne.

Usage is higher among 15-24 year olds (91%), ABC1s (82%), and Dublin Residents
(79%). Among students usage is near universal (95%).

Technology usage in Ireland, Q2 2009 (Total population):

- Internet usage: 66%
- Mobile internet usage: 19%
- Home internet connection : 67%
Millward Brown Lansdowne conducted analysis on all respondents to segment them
based on their usage and attitudes to technology. A range of different questions were
used including general attitudes to new technologies, mobile phone ownership, fixed
line ownership, home PC ownership, Internet usage and home Internet access. Four
distinct segments were identified.

1. Tech Savvy: The tech savvy are predominately a young segment with 70% aged
under 35 and 25% currently in 3rd or 2nd level education. They are very comfortable
with new technologies, preferring to be the first to use new technologies, and are
likely to be important influencers of others choices -be it parents or less
technologically astute peers. There is quite a strong male bias, as well as a bias in
favour of the C1 socio-economic grouping.

Tech Savvy segment average:

- Internet usage: 95%
- Mobile internet usage: 57%
- Home internet connection: 84%

2. Tech Enthusiasts: The majority of the group are employed (66%), and there is as
light female bias (53%). High fixed line and mobile phone usage is typical of this
group, as well as demonstrating the highest incidence of home Internet connections.
A large proportion of this group (62%) are over 35, and they have interest in and
appreciation for technology, but feel they could learn more. The members of this
group fall predominantly into the C1 socio-economic grouping.

Tech Enthusiasts segment average:

- Internet usage: 82%
- Mobile internet usage: 5%
- Home internet connection: 97%

3. Mobile converts: The main distinguishing feature of this segment is the high level
of mobile phone use compared to other technologies. Fixed line phone ownership is
well below the national average. Mobile Converts have embraced mobile phones
almost to the exclusion of other ICTs. Many claim not to understand new technologies
and feel they need to learn more. They are also below the national average in terms
of how they value new technologies in making their life easier.

Mobile converts segment average:

- Internet usage: 15%
- Mobile internet usage: 4%
- Home internet connection: 4%

4. Tech Rejecters: The majority (61%) of this group are over the age of 60, and a
high percentage are retired (26%). They have very high home phone ownership (84%)
and do not use mobile phones much. Many admit to not understanding new
technologies, and show less than average interest in learning more about them. Their
use of the Internet is very low. This group is more likely to fall into the DE socio-
economic grouping.

Tech Rejecters segment average:

- Internet usage: 22%
- Mobile internet usage: 0%
- Home internet connection: 29%

(ComReg, July 2009)

Access
Work and home remain the primary locations from where the internet is accessed in
Ireland, according to ComReg's Consumer ICT Survey Q2 2009 carried out by Millward
Brown Lansdowne.

Home access has continued to rise with almost 9 in 10 (87%) of internet users saying
they use the internet at home. There has been a slight increase in work access after a
steep fall in the previous wave of research.

Locations of internet access in Ireland, Q2 2009:

- Home: 87%
- Work: 28%
- School/college: 15%
- Friends' houses: 9%
- Cybercafes: 6%
- Public library: 5%
- On the move using portable equipment: 4%
- Elsewhere: 1%
(ComReg, July 2009)
Online Travel Market
Travel Booking
Online hotel bookings grew by 11% in 2008, and domestic tourists made six out of
every ten online hotel bookings, according to the Gulliver Ireland Hotel Sector Review
2009. The Review was launched in March 2009 to coincide with the 2009 Irish Hotel
Federation Annual Conference.

The Review revealed that hotel bookings performed well through Gulliver Ireland in
2008. However, the company acknowledged that the hotel sector faces a very
challenging year, which will affect hotels and other parts of the tourism industry.

The highlights of the Gulliver Ireland Hotel Sector Review 2009 were:
- 77% of all Gulliver hotel bookings were made online last year, a 6% rise on 2007.
- The volume and value of online hotel bookings increased by 11% and 4%
respectively.
- GoIreland.com grew its bookings volume by 9%.
- Dublin secured almost half (49%) of hotel bookings across all sales channels.
- Hotel bookings to the North grew by an impressive 37% while the Midlands East,
South East and North West regions all recorded strong growth on their respective
2007 performance.
- Hotels outside the capital recorded strong online booking growth through
GoIreland.com.
- Domestic tourists accounted for 54% of all hotel bookings, three times that of UK
visitor bookings (18%), which were double those of US visitors.
- The average online price per night per person sharing was €59.42.
- The average length of stay for online bookings was 1.65.
- Almost 71,000 hotel bookings were made through Gulliver in 2008, which were
valued at €14.2 million, and represented almost 260,000 bednights.
(TravelDailyNews, March 2009)
Broadband Access
Broadband subscriptions (fixed and mobile) continue to increase in Ireland in Q3 2009,
according to the Irish Communications Market - Quarterly Key Data Report Q3 2009 by
ComReg. The number of broadband subscription (fixed and mobile) reached 1,361,254
in Q3'09. This is a 4.2% increase on Q2'09. The broadband penetration rate (including
mobile broadband) reached 30.5% in Q3'09.
Excluding mobile broadband subscriptions (411,855), which have been the biggest net
broadband contributor since Q1'08, fixed broadband subscriptions increased by 1.4%
this quarter to 949,399. (ComReg: Irish Communications Market - Quaterly Key Data
Report Data as of Q3 2009, December 2009)
Most respondents (94%) with home internet access in Ireland in Q2 2009 claim to have
a broadband connection, according to ComReg's Consumer ICT Survey Q2 2009
carried out by Millward Brown Lansdowne. However based on their response to the
"type of connection" asked in a subsequent question, the percentage of users with a
home broadband connection is estimated at 82%.

Of the home connections used, broadband (which includes DSL, FWA, Mobile
Broadband, Cable, Mobile Phone and Satellite) accounts for 83% of these - with DSL
remaining the platform used by most with home Internet access (49%).

The use of Mobile Broadband has increased markedly in the last year with 18% of
home Internet users now using this access method. This is higher among 18-24 year
olds (29%), C2DEs (21%) and those living in Munster (24%) and Conn/Ulster (25%).

Students (26%), those who rent (26%) as well as those with no fixed line in the home
(42%) are also higher users of mobile broadband.

Overall narrowband usage (Dial up and ISDN) continues to fall although there has
been a stated increase in ISDN. (ComReg, July 2009)
Nearly 2/3 with home internet access in Ireland had broadband access in the fourth
quarter 2008, according to the findings of the Commission for Communications
Regulation's (ComReg) second Residential Survey of information and communications
technology (ICT) for 2008. Home access has increased marginally this wave.
Type of home internet connection in the fourth quarter of 2008:
- Broadband: 65%
- Narrowband: 28%
- Other: 4%
- Don't know: 4%
(comReg, February 2009)
Interactive TV & Mobile Devices
Mobile Phones & Wireless Access
The number of WiFi access points increased by 2.9% between Q2 2008 and Q2 2009,
according to ComReg Quaterly Key Data Report. The number of WiFi Hotspots has
decreased by 2.4% since Q2 2008. In Q2 2009 there were approximately 18.85 million
WiFi minutes of use in Ireland, a decrease of less than 1% from the previous quarter.
(ComReg, September 2009)
Just over 1 in 5 (21%) mobile phone users has accessed the internet on their mobile
phone in the last year, according to ComReg's Consumer ICT Survey Q2 2009 carried
out by Millward Brown Lansdowne. This level of usage has not increased since Q2 08.

Findings show that:

- Higher usage of this service is seen among males (24%) and 15-24 year olds (39%).
- ABC1s (25%), students (44%) and those with no fixed line at home (27%) also record
higher usage.
- Post-pay mobile phone customers (26%), mobile users who rent (26%) and those
with home Internet access (24%) -as well as those who use the Internet from any
location (28%) -are also among the groups more likely to use mobile Internet.
(ComReg, July 2009)
Mobile retail revenues in Ireland for Q4 2008 reached over €516 million, according to
ComReg Quaterly Key Data Report Revision - March 2009. (ComReg, March 2009)
 FRANCE

France
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
Usage Patterns
{vivochart}cht=p3&chtt=Percentage of Population
Online&chd=t:69.3,30.7&chs=260x120&chl=69.3%{/vivochart} Total Online
Population ( 04030,1's0) 0in 2009
Percentage of Populatio n 6O9n.3li%ne in 2009
Demographics
There were 43,100,134 internet users in France (representing 69.3% of the
population) in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats . This was up by 407.1% compared
to 2000.
( Internet World Stats , April 2010)
35.3 million people aged eleven and older connected to the internet in France during
February
2010, according to Médiamétrie//NetRatings . This represented 66.2% of the
population and an
8% increase compared to February 2010. ( Média
métrie ,
March 2010)
There were 32.6 million internet users aged 15 years and older in France in the last 30
days,
according to Ipsos Profiling 2009. It accounted for 64% of the population and more
than 1
million more than the previous year. The increase in the number of online users in the
country
continues to be attributed to the democratization of broadband (with 94% of home
internet users
having broadband). ( Ipsos , October 2009)
40.8 million people will use the internet in France by 2013, according to eMarketer .
This would
be up from 37 million in 2009.
Internet users in France 2008-2013:
- 2008: 35.2 million
- 2009: 37.0 million
- 2010: 38.2 million
- 2011: 39.1 million
- 2012: 40.0 million
1 / 21
France
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
- 2013: 40.8 million
( eMarketer , May 2009)
While some countries have seen the rate of growth in internet use tail off, the number
of Internet
users in France is still climbing steadily. Nielsen Online estimated that the digital
media
universe in France grew 15% between January and November 2008, from 34.85 million
to 40.13
million people.
The sixth edition of the "Mediascope Europe" report by the European Interactive
Advertising
Association (EIAA) noted that
Internet users in France are more likely than other Europeans to be online every day.
Two-thirds
(67%) of respondents in France told the EIAA that they used the Web daily, compared
with the
European average of 55%. Moreover, 29% of internet users in the country said they
were online
more than 16 hours each week.
A recent online poll by TNS Global also pointed out the vital role the Web now plays in
French
life. TNS quizzed more than 27,500 adults ages 18 to 55, in 16 countries, for its
"Digital World,
Digital Life" report. Nine countries in Europe (including France, Germany, Italy,
Norway, Spain,
Sweden and the UK) and several in Asia (China, Japan, South Korea) were surveyed,
along
with the US, Australia and Canada. Internet users in France spent 28% of their leisure
time
online, according to the study-the same proportion as in the UK and Canada. The US
posted a
slightly higher average (30%), while Web users in China took the trophy, with an
astonishing
44% of leisure time going to the Internet.
A degree of Internet dependence is also taking hold in France, said TNS. Survey
respondents
were asked to rate, on a scale from 1 to 10, how much it would affect their personal
lives if their
Web access failed. The average impact score in France was 6.9-the highest registered
in any
European country.
After a relatively slow start, the French e-commerce market is taking off in a big way
too. In
2008, Germany posted the highest proportion of online buyers in Europe, with 73%,
but TNS
found that France was above the average, with 58% of respondents buying goods or
services
online. ( eMarketer , February 2009)
2 / 21
France
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
Search Engine and Searches
9 out of 10 visits to websites initiated from search engines came from Google (90.6%)
in March
2010 in France, according to Médiamétrie-eStat. Bing arrived in 2nd position,
accounting for
3.3% of visits ; followed by Yahoo! (1.6%) and Orange (1.1%).
In the last 6 months (since September 2009), Bing has enjoyed the most increase,
winning
0.8% of market share. ( Classement CybereStat - March 2010 - Médiamétrie-eStat ,
April 2010)
29 million internet users in France conducted searches on search engines in February
2010,
according to Médiamétrie. They conducted on average 76 searches each. (
Médiamétrie ,
March 2010)
Google France was the most visited website in France during the week ending
30/01/10, picking
up 10.38% of all French internet visits - equivalent to 1 in every 10, according to
Hitwise. Two
other Google-owned properties also appeared in the list of the 10 most visited
websites in
France during the same week: YouTube at number 4 and Google.com at number 7.
Top 10 websites in France, ranked by market share of French internet visits, week
ending
30/01/10:
1. Google France (10.38%)
2. Facebook (6.83%)
3. Windows Live Mail (3.20%)
4. YouTube (2.37%)
5. Orange France Webmail (1.96%)
6. Orange France (1.88%)
7. Google (1.73%)
8. Sykrock (1.43%)
9. Leboncoin.fr (1.26%)
10. MSN France (1.01%)
Facebook is the second most visited website in France, accounting for 6.83% of all
French
Internet visits during the week ending 30/01/10. The site accounted for just under half
of all
French visits to social networks over the same period, picking up over twice as many
visits as
second placed YouTube.
Search Engines are the most visited category of website in France, accounting for
14.27% of all
3 / 21
France
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
French internet visits during the week ending 30/01/10. Social networks and Forums
rank
second, picking up 12.85% of French internet visits - more than the 10.61% the
industry
accounts for in the UK. Shopping and Classifieds websites, on the other hand, account
for a
higher percentage of Internet visits in the UK (8.74%) than in France (8.44%).
France and the UK have very similar sized internet populations, so it is interesting to
compare
the different ways in which the web is used in the two countries. In France, more
online time is
spent on communication and entertainment than in the UK, with Entertainment
websites and
Webmail services also picking up a higher proportion of visits. On the other hand,
people in the
UK are more likely to use the internet to make transactions and look for information.
News and
Media, Sports, Travel, and Education websites all account for a higher proportion of
Internet
visits in the UK than in France. ( Hitwise United Kingdom Newsletter - February 2010)
Digital Media
35% of French internet users claim to have viewed a video online in the last 30 days,
according
to Ipsos Profiling 2009. This activity is among the top 10 online activities in the
country. Users
viewing online videos are more likely to be young (36% are under 25, vs 23% of total
internet
users in the country) and to go online more often than the average (63% go online
several time
a day, vs 52%). ( Ipsos , October 2009)
27.1 million French internet users viewed a video online in January 2009, up 16%
versus the
previous year, according to comScore .
Driven by the popularity of YouTube.com (which accounted for 97% of all videos
viewed),
Google Sites grew 25% versus a year ago to further solidify its position as the leading
online
video viewing property in France, attracting 15.2 million viewers in January 2009.
French video
site Dailymotion.com ranked second with 11.5 million viewers, up 14% versus year
ago,
followed by Microsoft Sites (5 million viewers), Groupe TF1 (4.8 million viewers) and
Orange
Sites (4.4 million viewers). Each of the top ten online video properties achieved
positive growth
during the past year, with four out of ten more than doubling their video-viewing
audience.
Top French online video properties ranked by total unique viewers, January 2009
(Total France
- age 15+, home & work locations):
- Total internet: total audience: 27,074,000 (+ 16% compared to January 2008)
- Google Sites: 15,166,000 (+25%)
- Dailymotion.com: 11,478,000 (+14%)
4 / 21
France
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
- Microsoft Sites: 4,972,000 (+19%)
- Groupe TF1: 4,795,000 (+13%)
- Orange Sites: 4,370,000 (+204%)
- France Televisions Interactive : 3,378,000 (+228%)
- AOL LLC : 3,320,000 (+105%)
- AlloCine Sites : 2,680,000 (+18%)
- Kewego : 2,591,000 (+24%)
- Megavideo.com: 2,362,000 (+213%)
The 27.1 million online video viewers in France watched a total of 2.5 billion videos in
January,
an average of 92.9 videos per viewer, or approximately three videos per day. Google
Sites led
the pack with 31% of all videos viewed, followed by Dailymotion.com (9.8%)
Megavideo.com
(2.8%) and AOL LLC (2.7%).
Other notable findings from January 2009 include:
- 78.4% of the total French Internet audience viewed online video.
- The total French online video viewing audience watched a combined 180 million
hours of video
content.
- 14.9 million viewers watched 756 million videos on YouTube.com (51 videos per
viewer).
- The average online video duration was 4.3 minutes.
- Based on a three-month average ending January 2009, 3.9 million mobile phone
subscribers,
of which 39% were younger than 25 years of age, used their phone to watch any kind
of TV or
video in France.
( comScore , March 2009)
Access
Over 16.9 million households (16,911,000) in France had access to the internet in the
4th
quarter of 2009, according to
Médiamétrie//NetRatings
. This represented 62.6% of the country's total number of households and a 13%
increase
compared to the 4
th
quarter of 2008. (
Médiamétrie
, January 2010)
There were 30,971,894 active internet home users in France in June 2009, according
to Nielse
n Online
5 / 21
France
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
. This was down by 0.41% compared to the previous month. (
ClickZ
, August 2009)
Social Networking and UGC
Social networking sites enjoyed a strong growth in France in 2009, attracting 3 times
as many
people registered to social networking sites than a year ago, according to
Médiamétrie//NetRati
ngs . The time spent
on the sites has also increase by more than 112% during the last year.
Facebook accounted for most of the increase. Currently positions as the 5th most
popular
networking sites in France and 7
th
in terms of time spent, it attracted close to 21 million unique visitors in December
2009.
Twitter also enjoys a significant growth but not in the scale of Facebook, with 1.6
million unique
visitors in December 2009. ( Médiamétrie , March 2010)
« Facebook » was the most used keyword in France in March 2009, searched 38.3
million
times, according to Médiamétrie//NetRatings .
Top keywords used in France, March 2009:
1. facebook: 38.3 million searches
2. ebay: 13.8 million
3. orange : 11.5 million
4. youtube : 10.2 million
5. pages jaunes : 10 million
Twitter continues to enjoy an increased popularity with 65,000 searches (+158%
compared to
February 2009). ( Médiamétrie//NetRatings , April 2009)
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In December 2008, social network sites and blogs were the category of websites that
enjoyed
the highest growth rate (+19%) in France in terms of time spent online, compared to
November
2008, with more than 54 million hours spent in total in those sites according to
Médiamétrie//Ne
tRatings . In
December 2008, 23.6 million unique visitors logged on to this category of sites,
representing
about 69.4% of internet users in the country and a 2% increase compared to
November 2008. (
Médiamétrie//NetRatings
, February 2009)
59% of French internet users claim to visit social networking sites, according to the
results of the
Ipsos ProfilingTM 2008 study. 16% percent claim to visit this type of site "often".
Younger
internet users are becoming "addicted" to social networking sites. While six months
ago, 16% of
those aged 15 to 20 years old claimed to visit social networking sites "often", the
percentage
has now reached 32%. ( Ipsos Média , February 2009)
In December 2008, 21.7 million French internet users visited at least one social
networking site,
reaching 63.9% of the total French Internet audience, according to the results of a
study by co
mScore
on social networking site usage in Europe, with a particular focus on France. This
represented a
45% increase compare to the previous year.
Of the 16 individual European countries included in the study, social networking reach
was
relatively low in France at 63.9%, compared with 79.8% in the UK or 73.7% in Spain.
Despite its
relatively low penetration, France's social networking audience (21.7 million visitors in
December) was the third largest in Europe behind the UK (29.3 million visitors) and
Germany
(24.9 million visitors).
In December 2008, Facebook.com ranked as the most popular social networking site
with 12
million visitors, growing 443% over the course of the past year after launching a
French
language user interface in February 2008. Skyrock ranked second with 11 million
visitors (up
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Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
8%), followed by another French site, L'internaute Copains d'Avant, which enjoyed
impressive
112% growth throughout the year to reach 5.8 million visitors in December. MySpace
Sites (3
million visitors) and Flickr.com (1.8 million visitors) rounded out the top five.
Selection of leading social networking sites ranked by total French unique visitors* -
total France
(aged 15+ / home & work locations) in December 2008:
TOTAL FRENCH INTERNET AUDIENCE: 34,010,000 (+18% compared to December
2007)
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: 21,745,000 (+45%)
- Facebook.com: 11,996,000 (+443%)
- Skyrock: 11,042,000 (+8%)
- L'Internaute Copains d'Avant: 5,753,000 (+112%)
- MySpace Sites: 2,994,000 (+15%)
- Flickr.com: 1,809,000 (+120%)
- Trombi.com : 1,456,000 (+27%)
- Hi5.com : 980,000 (86%)
- Netlog.com : 920,000 (+25%)
- Viadeo: 904,000 (171%)
- Badoo.com : 733,000 (+30%)
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile
phones or
PDAs.
( comScore , February 2009)
eCommerce
Over 25 million million people in France bought a product or service online in the 1st
quarter of
2010, according to Médiamétrie's quarterly Barometer on ecommerce audience. This
represents
more than 7 out of 10 internet users in the country and an increase of 15% compared
to the
previous year (+ 3.5 million.
Médiamétrie also indicates that more seniors (aged 65 and older) are now shopping
online. In
the 1st quarter of 2010, seniors recorded the biggest growth (+41% in the past year).
( Médiam
étrie//NetRatings
, May 2010)
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French consumers flocked to the Web during the first three months of 2010, bringing
quarterly
e-commerce sales to €7.2 billion (US$10 billion), according to the Fédération du E-
commerce
et de la Vente à Distance (FEVAD)
. That translated to a 30% increase over sales in Q1 2009, and represented steeper
growth than
the previous year (+25%).
Estimates from Le Journal du Net in April 2010 indicated a somewhat greater sales
increase
for Q1 2010.
Ecommerce in France, Q1 2008-Q12010 (% change):
- Q1 2008: +27%
- Q1 2009: +28%
- Q1 2010: +35%
The latest rise, FEVAD suggested, is chiefly due to the launch of 16,000 new retail
sites in
France during Q1, bringing the total to 66,800.
Average basket value was also up, to €93 (US$129). Moreover, consumers were
buying more
frequently online. While buyers on average made 11 purchases on the internet in
2009, the
average number of transactions for each buyer was four in Q1 2010 alone.
Earlier this year, FEVAD predicted overall growth of 24% for e-commerce in 2010. That
would
mean total sales of €31 billion (US$43.1 billion), compared with €25 billion ($34.8
billion) in
2009. But if the momentum is maintained, those projections will happily need upward
revision.
B2C eCommerce sales in France, 2006-2012 (billions of € and % change):
- 2006: €11.5 billion (+37%)
- 2007: €15.5 billion (+35%)
- 2008: €19.8 billion (+28%)
- 2009: €25.0 billion (+26%)
- 2010: €31.0 billion (+24%)
- 2011: €38.0 billion (+22%)
- 2012: €46.0 billion (+20%)
As the size of the pie increases, the battle continues for market share among the main
players.
eBay claimed 29.8% of the audience for e-commerce sites in Q1 2010, ahead of
PriceMinister
with 28.6% and Le Redoute with 26.9%. A spokesman for Médiamétrie said that there
are now
seven players attracting more than 8 million unique visitors, whereas a year ago there
were just
four. ( eMarketer , May 2010)
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The number of people making purchase via their mobile phone has increased in
France in the
3rd quarter of 2009 (+29% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2008), according to
Médiamétrie's
quarterly iBarometer on ecommerce audience. Almost 1 million (905,000) main users
of mobile
phones have indicated to have ever purchased a product or services viua their mobile
phone. (
Médiamétrie
, November 2009)
The internet continues to gain ground as a decisive medium for shoppers in France,
according
to a survey of internet users in the country by Nurun and Ifop . The Web was rated
most highly
as a medium providing information relevant to a purchase, surpassing both television
and print
advertising. Radio, in-store and outdoor advertising were judged least effective in
conveying
information.
Media considered most informative for purchase decisions by internet users in France,
July
2009 (% of respondents):
- Internet: 22%
- TV: 21%
- Press: 19%
- Radio: 14%
- In-store advertising: 13%
- Outdoor ads: 11%
Asked which medium they considered most trustworthy, respondents again gave the
Internet
top marks. A full 29% said they had confidence in the Web to provide them with
guidance
relevant to their purchases. Television came second, with one in five respondents
expressing
confidence in what they saw there. Crucially, the Internet tied with television as the
medium that
most often created a desire to purchase.
The Ifop/Nurun study also looked at the Internet's influence on purchase in a number
of market
sectors, such as travel, automotive and consumer goods. In the travel sector, content
seen on
the Web (including advertising, brand Websites, price comparison sites, portals and
other
features) was found to have roughly three times as much decisive influence on
purchases of
flights, hotel accommodation and car rentals as ads or programming on television. (
eMarketer ,
November 2009)
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26.7 million people in France visited an online retail site in July 2009, an increase of
21% on the
previous year, significantly higher than the 5% average growth in the retail category
across
Europe, according to the results of comScore ‘s study of visitation to online retail sites
in
France.
Groupe PPR, owner of LaRedoute and Fnac Sites, as well as Yves Saint Laurent and
Gucci
brands, ranked as the top French retail property in July 2009 with 12.4 million visitors.
Groupe
PriceMinister ranked second with 12.3 million visitors, followed by Otto Gruppe (8.9
million
visitors), Amazon Sites (7.6 million visitors), and CDiscount.com (7.3 million visitors).
Within the
top 10, affordable fashion retailer, Kiabi, experienced the fastest growth during the
past year,
increasing 133% to 6.2 million visitors in July 2009.
Within the retail sector, clothing sites were the most popular amongst French online
shoppers,
attracting 16.4 million French internet users in July. ( ComScore , September 2009)
Nearly 8 out of 10 (78%) internet users in France claim to consult the internet before
making a
purchase (online or offline), according to the 5th barometer FEVAD-
Médiamétrie//NetRatings on
the purchase habits of French internet users.
The sites considered to be the most influential in researching purchases are:
- Merchant sites to consult product information: 65%
- Merchant sites to read internet users' reviews: 62%
- Portals / search engines: 59%
- Price comparison sites : 55%
Younger internet users are more likely (21%) to consult social networking sites before
making a
purchase compared to the overall online population (15%).
There were about 22 million online buyers in the first quarter of 2009 in France,
representing a
3% increase compared to the same period in 2008, according to the Observatoire des
Usages
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Internet de Médiamétrie. Online shopping continues to develop, especially among the
retired
(+13% compared to 2008) and the middle class (+10%). There is also a strong growth
among
women (+11%). For the first time, proportionally more women (66%) than men buy
online
(65%). ( Médiamétrie//NetRating , June 2009)
Retail e-commerce boomed in France during 2008. Online sales rose nearly 30%,
reaching
€20.1 billion ($29.5 billion), according to the Fédération du E-commerce et de la Vente
à
Distance (FEVAD).
B2C e-commerce sales in France, 2004-2010:
- 2004: €5.5 billion
- 2005: €8.4 billion
- 2006: €11.5 billion
- 2007: €15.5 billion
- 2008: €20.1 billion
- 2009: €25.0 billion
- 2010: €30.9 billion
Such solid gains help explain why, despite the global financial crisis, most online
retailers in
France remain cheerful about their prospects in the coming year.
FEVAD noted that the number of consumers buying online rose by 2.5 million in 2008,
to just
over 22 million. ( eMarketer , March 2009)
The number of internet users buying a product or a service online in France has
increased
sharply in the last year, according to the results of the Ipsos ProfilingTM 2008 study.
22.8
million people in France bought a product or service online in the last 6 months (2.9
million more
than in 2007).
40% of those buying online claim to do it at least once a month, while almost one in
ten (9%)
shop online on a weekly basis. Those shopping online more frequently (i.e. at least
once a
week) tend to be more likely to be male (62%), young (32% are between 25 and 34),
to hold
senior/management position (58%) and to live in the Paris area (31%).
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In a background of economic crisis, more of those buying online in France are
indicating that
price is a contributing factor for their choice to buy online. Twenty-five percent gave
price as
their first motivation for buying online, up 3% compared to 2007.
One in two internet users in the country (or 16 million) claim to have bought a product
or service
in a traditional/high street shop in the last 6 months following previous research done
online.
This represents a 3% increase compared to 2007. ( Ipsos Média , February 2009)
Online Travel Market
Travel Planning
Experian Hitwise has revealed the most popular travel websites in France for the week
ending
June 19 2010 in the categories Agencies; Destinations and Accommodation and
Airlines.
Top Agency websites in France for the week ending June 19 2010 by % of visits:
1. SummerBed ( www.summerbed.com ): 14.37% (previously ranked 3rd)
2. Voyages-sncf.com ( www.voyages-sncf.com ): 14.19% (1st)
3. Voyage Priv ( www.voyage-prive.com ): 13.77% (2nd)
Top Destinations and Accommodation websites in France for the week ending June 19
2010 by
% of visits:
1. ViaMichelin France ( www.viamichelin.fr ): 17.45% (previously ranked 1st)
2. Booking.com ( www.booking.com ): 5.18% (2nd)
3. TripAdvisor France ( www.tripadvisor.fr ): 3.31% (3rd)
Top Airline websites in France for the week ending June 19 2010 by % of visits:
1. Air France - France ( www.airfrance.fr ): 22.49% (previously ranked 1st)
2. easyJet.com ( www.easyjet.com ): 21.55% (2nd)
3. Ryanair ( www.ryanair.com ): 16.92% (3rd)
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Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
( tnooz - talking travel tech , June 2010)
About 3 out of 10 (29.6%) internet users in France consulted each month at least one
of the top
5 websites belonging to the "Online Travel Agents" (OTAs) category in the first quarter
of 2010,
according to the Baromètre Médiamétrie//NetRatings - Fevad. This represented more
than 11
million unique visitors each month (11,104,000).
The audience of this category recorded a 6% growth compared to the 1st quarter of
2009.
Top 5 "Online Travel Agents" websites in France - first quarter 2010:
1. Voyages-Sncf.com: 6,964,000 (18.5% of online population)
2. Promovacances: 3,826,000 (10.2%)
3. lastminute.com: 2,337,000 (6.2%)
4. VoyagePrive: 2,314,000 (6.2%)
5. Opodo: 2,147,000 (5.7%)
( Médiamétrie//NetRatings , May 2010)
The internet is the main source of travel information in France, according to a study by
Protourisme for which 1,002 French people were interviewed online.
Main source of travel information:
- Internet: 77%
- Word-of-mouth: 33%
- Tourist Information Centres and other DMOs or institutions: 27%
- Travel guides: 21%
- Travel agents: 21%
( L'ECHO TOURISTIQUE , March 2009)
24.2 million unique visitors logged on to travel websites in France in January 2009,
according to
Médiamétrie//NetRatings
. This represented a 2% increase compared to December 2008.
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Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
Travel websites recorded the biggest increase (+27%) in terms of time spent online
compared
to December 2008, with more that 21 million hours spent in total. French internet
users spend
on average 53 minutes on travel sites in January, compared to 42 minutes in
December 2008. (
Médiamétrie//NetRatings - Tous lieux de connexion - France - Janvier 2009 -
Applications
Internet incluses
, March 2009)
Travel Booking
More than 10 million people in France booked travel online in 2009, according to the
Cabinet
Raffour Interactif's annual barometer. This represented 35% of people in the country
aged 15
and older who took some holiday in 2009.
The results of the barometer also found that online travel generated €8 billion in
revenue in
2009, representing a 15% increase compared to 2008. The level reached €11 billion (€
3 billion
made offline) and represented 50% of people if travel planning online is taken into
account.
The annual barometer was carried out among 1,100 people in 2009.
( L'ECHO TOURISTIQUE , June 2010)
The online travel market represents 20 to 25% of online sales in France, according to a
survey
of online agencies from the Fédération du e-commerce et de la vente à distance
(Fevad). The
online travel market increased by 12% in the last quarter of 2009, a growth rate
higher than in
any of the other quarters of the year (+4%, +6% and +4%). Overall, the online travel
market
increased by 7% in 2009, compared to 20% in 2008. The fact that the sector is
reaching
maturity partly explains the slowdown in the growth rate of the sector.
Total online sales in the country increased by 26% in France in 2009, reaching 25
billion Euros
and should reach 31 billion Euros in 2010, according to the Fevad. ( L'Echo Touristique
,
February 2010)
By 2011, France is expected to represent 19% of the European market, unchanged
compared
to 2008 level, according to PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth
Edition . (
PhoCusWright FYI 09/12/09
15 / 21
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Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
, December 2009)
The French online travel market remains stable amidst global economic challenges.
Online
leisure and unmanaged business bookings as a share of the total French travel market
will grow
from 30% in 2008 to 33% in 2009, according to PhoCusWright's French Online Travel
Overview
Fifth Edition. Online leisure and unmanaged business bookings are projected to remain
flat
while the overall travel market contracts by 8.7%. The relative strength of online
channels during
the global downturn has driven the increase in online travel penetration.
French consumers have adjusted their travel habits in line with the nation's relatively
modest
recession in 2009 and French suppliers have suffered less than those in other large
leisure
market destinations like Spain and Italy, according to PhoCusWright.
Some sectors are faring better than others as consumers shift their travel patterns.
Traditional
airlines are the main driver behind the total market decline, as they are projected to
drop by
14% in 2009. Hotels, in contrast, are suffering less severely and are expected to
decline by 6%
in 2009.
The French OTA market remains somewhat fragmented, with global, regional and local
players
each maintaining a significant share. Although growth will slow substantially in 2009,
OTAs are
expected to benefit from the many consumers looking for travel deals. ( PhoCusWright
FYI
04/12/09 , December
2009)
IT products (52%) and travel related services (51%) were the most popular categories
purchased online in France in Q1 2009, according to the Observatoire des Usages
Internet de
Médiamétrie.
Most popular categories of products/services bought online in France, Q1 2009, in the
last 6
months:
- IT Products: 52%
- Travel/tourism (transport tickets, accommodation etc.): 51%
- Services (Tickets/photo/subscriptions etc.): 47%
- Entertainment products (CD, DVD, books): 46%
- Clothes: 46%
( Médiamétrie//NetRating , June 2009)
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The online travel market has increased by 23% in France in 2008, according to a study
by
Benchmark Group. It is estimated that about 20% of French households' travel budget
is now
spent online.
The online travel market has been affected by the recession since the end of 2008.
Benchmark
Group estimates that the online travel market in the country will not grow by more
than 10% in
2009 to reach about EUR7 billion.
Online travel market revenues in France 2007-2009:
- 2007: EUR5.336 billion
- 2008: EUR6.570 billion
- 2009: EUR7 billion
The Benchmark Group study involves 18 in-depth interviews with key tourism players
and an
online survey of 120 tourism websites (including 38 institutional organisations, 43
travel sites
and 39 accommodation booking sites). ( L'ECHO TOURISTIQUE , July 2009)
The online travel market in France is showing the first sign of the crisis, with a 1%
decrease in
revenues in the first quarter of 2009, according to the Fédération du e-commerce et
de la vente
à distance (Fevad).
Despite reassuring messages from some online travel agencies (OTAs) that hope to
attract
French internet users in search of bargains, the overall revenues of the OTAs in the
country
have declined slightly in the first quarter of 2009 (-1%).
This is the first for the industry and compares to a 20% growth in the first quarter of
2008. The
decrease indicates the maturity of the market but also the impact of the crisis on
travel
expenditure.
Traditional travel agencies have recorded double digit decreases during the same
period. ( L'Ec
ho Touristique
, May 2009)
B2C eCommerce revenues increased by 20% in France in 2008, reaching EUR14 billion
(compared to +25% in 2007), according to the research group Benchmark. In 2008,
the travel
market accounted for most of the revenues (about 47%), well above IT products (20%)
and
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Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:18
clothes (14%). In 2008, the online travel market enjoyed an above average increase in
revenue
(+23%) and Benchmark estimates that in 2009 the increase could be divided by three.
Benchmark estimates that B2C revenues should increase by 8% in 2009 to reach
EUR15.1
billion and the online travel market will represent half it. Other findings of the study
indicate that
18% of travel sales are now done online, while in the US the ratio is 36%, according to
PhoCusWright.
Benchmark interviewed 56 online merchants during in-depth discussions in January
and
February 2009. ( L'Echo Touristique , April 2009)
Two-thirds of French travellers claim to book all or part of their travel arrangements
online,
according to a study by Protourisme for which 1,002 French people were interviewed
online.
Protourisme estimates that more than 10 million French people will book their travel
online in
2009. ( L'ECHO TOURISTIQUE , March 2009)
France remained the third largest online travel market in Europe in 2008, accounting
for 14% of
the European online travel market, according to the study (updated in March 2009)
"Trends in
European internet Distribution - of Travel and Tourism Services" by Carl H. Marcussen
Centre
for Regional and Tourism Research
. This was up from 12% in 2004. (Full material updated 23
rd
March 2009 is available at
http://www.crt.dk/uk/staff/chm/trends
, March 2009)
e-Tourism and cultural products remain the two most popular ecommerce sectors in
France,
according to the results of the Ipsos ProfilingTM 2008 study. Forty-two percent of
French
internet users (or 13.5 million people) booked or bought travel online in the last 6
months and
31% (or 9.9 million) bought book/CD/DVD online. (
Ipsos Média
, February 2009)
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Travel Industry Online Developments
A new free iPhone App for Voyages-sncf.com has been developed allowing users to
consult
train timetables and book tickets. It also allows to plan and reserve travel
arrangement for group
travel (up to 6 passengers).
A year ago, Voayges-sncf.com had already launched a platform for mobile and
smartphone
users (Voyages-sncf.mobi). About 1 million users visit this site each month. ( L'ECHO
TOURISTIQUE ,
December 2009)
Broadband Access
31.8 million internet users in France (or 96.7% of home internet users) had broadband
internet
access in February 2010, according to Médiamétrie//NetRatings . This represented a
20%
increase compared to February 2009. (
Médiamétrie
, March 2010)
Interactive TV & Mobile Devices
Mobile Phones & Wireless Access
16% of people in France owned a smartphone in the 3rd quarter of 2009, according to
Médiamétrie. 73% of them claim to be mobile internet users. In December 2009, there
were
11.4 million mobile internet users in France.
The increase in iPhone ownership particularly contributes to the rise in mobile web
usage. The
iPhone represents more than 2/3 of traffic to sites, while Android represents 2.2% of
visits
(compared to only 0.1% a year ago).
In terms of applications downloaded, entertainment et leisure dominate (games,
leisure, social
networks and content). ( Médiamétrie , March 2010)
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There were 32.6 million internet users aged 15 years and older in France of which 14%
connected via a mobile phone in the last 30 days, according to Ipsos Profiling 2009.
46% of French internet users own an internet-enabled mobile phone or Blackberry and
14%
actually connected to the internet via their mobile device in the last 30 days.
French mobile internet users continue to more likely be male, young and active
internet user:
- 69% are male (vs 53% of total internet users)
- 70% are under 35 (vs 47%)
- 72% go online several time a day (vs 52%)
- 35% spend more than 60 hours per month surfing the Web (vs 20%)
- 56% have viewed videos online in the last 30 days (vs 35%)
- 58% have created a blog or a personal site (vs 32%)
When going online via their mobile phone, the most popular activities of French mobile
internet
users are: consulting news/information; practical services (meteo, traffic info, ...),
Chats/emails
and white/yellow pages. Downloading (rings/images), finance and blogs use remains
limited. ( I
psos
, October 2009)
Nearly 8 out of 10 people in France owns a mobile phone (79.6% of people aged 11
and older),
according to the results of the Mobile Consumer Insight (MCI) by Médiamétrie and
Nielsen
Telecom Practice.
Nearly half the people in the country use their mobile phone for other usage than
voice and
SMS: surfing the internet or an Application (27.8%), sending MMS (18.7%), listening to
the radio
(13.1%) or watching TV (4.6%).
Nearly 16% of mobile phone users in France own a smartphone; an increase of 5.4
million
users since the beginning of 2009. Nonetheless, this level remains lower than in other
countries
in Europe such as Italy were the level reaches 28%.
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Nearly 5% of mobile phone users in the country own an iPhone. More than 16
applications are
downloaded per month from the Apple Store, from which half are free applications. In
Europe,
Germans are the most likely to pay to download an application (32% of iPhone users).
( Média
métrie ,
October 2009)
Internet users in France have favoured mobile access (mobile phones, smartphones,
iPodTouch, etc) to log on to their favourite sites this summer, according to
Médiamétrie-eStat.
The number of visits to the sites measured by Médiamétrie-eStat from a mobile device
has
skyrocketted this summer, especially in August when the number of visits from mobile
devices
enjoyed a 6-fold increased (+493%) compared to August 2008 and a 2-fold increase
(+119%)
compared to the first quarter of 2009 average figure. (Médiamétrie-eStat , September
2009)
About 43 million people in France use a mobile phone, according to the Mobile
Consumer
Insight study by Médiamétrie and the telecom division of Nielsen. Only 11% of those
people
have chosen to use a smartphone as their mobile device.
France is lagging behind other European countries with, for example, Spain where
23% of
mobile users use a smartphone and 28% do so in Italy. Nonetheless, French users are
ahead of
their counterparts in other European countries when it comes to the use of advanced
features
(other than voice and SMS) at 58%. ( Médiamétrie , June 2009)

GERMANY

Media
35.7 million German internet users viewed at least one video online in August 2009,
up 38%
versus the previous year, according to comScore.
Driven by the popularity of YouTube.com (which accounted for 99.5% of all videos
viewed on
the property), Google Sites grew 45% versus year ago to further solidify its position as
the
leading online video viewing property in Germany.
Top German Online Video Properties in August 2009, ranked by Total Unique Viewers*
(Total
Germany - Age 15+, Home & Work Locations**):
Total Unique Viewers: 35,745,000 (+38% compared to August 2008)
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Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:17
1. Google Sites: 24,125,000 (+45%)
2. Universal Music Group: 10,609,000 (+19%)
3. ProSiebenSat1 Sites: 10,565,000 (+164%)
4. RTL Group Sites: 5,644,000 (+27%)
5. Fox Interactive Media: 4,440,000 (+231%)
6. Microsoft Sites: 3,972,000 (+107%)
7. Axel Springer AG: 3,491,000 (+222%)
8. MEGAVIDEO.COM: 3,067,000 (+47%)
9. Deutsche Telekom: 2,997,000 (+495%)
10. Amazon Sites: 2,223,000 (+179%)
*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video
includes
both streaming and progressive download video.
**Excludes Internet activity from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
from mobile
phones or PDAs.
Germany's 36 million online video viewers watched 6.4 billion videos in August 2009,
an
average of 178 videos per viewer. Google Sites was also the top-ranked video property
by
videos viewed with 2.8 billion, representing 43% of the German online video market.
ProSiebenSat1 Sites ranked second with a 2.6 percent share, followed by
Megavideo.com (1.6
percent share), and RTL Group Sites (1.3 percent share).
German online video viewers spent an average 16 hours per viewer watching videos
during the
month (up 86% versus previous year). The heaviest viewers of online video are males
between
the ages of 15-24 who watched approximately 24 hours of online video per person in
August. (
comScore
, October 2009)
Access
There were 37,093,495 active internet home users in Germany in June 2009,
according to Niel
sen Online
. This was up by 1.06% compared to the previous month. (
ClickZ
, August 2009)
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Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:17
Social Networking and UGC
The total German internet audience grew 11% compared to the previous year to 37.6
million
visitors in January 2009, according to comScore . Amongst the fastest growing site
categories
were multimedia (up 36% to 23.8 million visitors), social networking (up 36% to 23.6
million
visitors), entertainment (up 30% to 29.2 million visitors), and instant messengers (up
25% to
19.4 million visitors). Social networking sites, Yasni.de and Facebook.com were
Germany's
fastest gaining properties during the period, followed by avatar-based social-gaming
site,
Pennergame.de.
Top gaining properties by number of German unique visitors, January 2009 (Total
Germany,
Age 15+ - home and work locations):
- Total internet audience: 37,646,000 (+11% compared to January 2008)
- Yasni.de: 2,037,000 (+530%)
- Facebook.com: 3,143,000 (+465%)
- Pennergame.de: 1,793,000 (+157%)
- Quoka Verlag: 1,977,000 (+77%)
- The Mozilla Organization: 7,219,000 (+72%)
- Deutsche Post AG Sites: 4,033,000 (+47%)
- Preisroboter.de: 1,674,000 (+41%)
- United Online, Inc: 3,018,000 (+36%)
- Gameforge Sites: 2,442,000 (+35%)
- ZDF Sites: 2,342,000 (+28%)
( comScore , March 2009)
eCommerce
A total of 34.1 million Germans aged between 14 and 69 bought goods and services
online in
2009, according to findings from the German Online Shopping Survey (OSS) 2010. This
represents a rise of 2.2 million customers compared to the previous year.
With 14.9 million online shoppers, books are the most popular product category,
pushing
clothing (14.7 million) into second place. Then come event tickets (12.5 million), CDs
and DVDs
(8.5 million) and hotel bookings (7.4 million). The highest gains were made by books
(+2.5
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Germany
Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:17
million), followed by event ticket sales (+2.2 million) and clothes (+2.1 million). In
percentage
terms, growth in the number of online shoppers was particularly high for cars (+61%),
car
accessories (+25%), white goods (+32%) and food supplements (+23%).
Where shoppers had not yet bought online, the online shopping survey also examined
why not.
In this group, the proportion of individuals who saw no necessity for online shopping in
principle,
preferring to shop locally in person had grown markedly. It seems to be difficult to
persuade
these shoppers of the delights of online shopping, since they are firmly convinced that
using
local retailers is preferable.
While online shopping is not yet particularly popular in some socio-demographic
segments,
there is certainly potential for gaining more online customers in certain product
groups. These
areas include travel services, such as hotel bookings and car rentals, and the purchase
of
medical supplies, food supplements and technical goods like computers and software.
The online shopping survey (OSS) is an annual survey by ENIGMA GfK, an institute
specializing in media research which offers information services for TV, print, radio
and online
media. In January and February 2010, 1,183 Germans aged between 14 and 69 were
telephone-surveyed on the subject of the Internet and its impact on their shopping
habits for 29
different goods and services. ( GfK , March 2010)
German consumers spent around EUR 15.5 billion on goods and services online in
2009,
According to GfK. Overall, e-commerce sales recorded a significant increase of 14%.
The Internet has become a popular shopping venue for Germans, and remains the
fastest
growing sales channel. E-commerce sales rose significantly once again in 2009,
bucking the
general trend for non-food products. Nevertheless, the economic crisis has also taken
its toll on
online retailing. Whereas the growth rate stood at +19% in 2008, online business in
the first
three quarters of 2009 recorded somewhat moderate development, at +12%.
However, sales
regained their former strength in the fourth quarter of 2009, with growth of +19%.
The positive growth is primarily attributable to the fact that consumers are spending
more
money on the web, with average expenditure rising by 10% to EUR 506 per consumer
in 2009.
Purchasing frequency remained constant, at 9.4 purchases a year.
The individual product segments showed significant differences in growth levels. For
example,
the durables, which includes furniture, DIY products, toys, books, household products
and
similar items, and the electronic sector recorded disproportionately low growth of
+11.5% and
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Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:17
+12.3% respectively. Conversely, sales in the fashion segment rose considerably by
24.5%. ( G
fK Group
, March 2010)
German consumers spent approximately EUR13.6 billion on online purchases in 2008,
according to the findings of the GfK WebScope survey on the online purchasing habits
of
German consumers. In total, e-commerce sales grew by a considerable 19%.
Increasing numbers of consumers are shopping online more and more frequently, with
the result
that the internet remains the fastest growing sales channel. E-commerce sales rose
significantly
in 2008, bucking the general trend for non-food products.
This positive growth is primarily attributable to the fact that more people than ever
are shopping
on the net. In 2008, the number of online purchases rose by 12% to 29.5 million. While
purchasing frequency remained virtually constant - at an average of 9.4 purchases per
person
per annum - the average expenditure per purchase increased by 7% to just under
EUR49.
However, it is evident that individual consumer groups use the internet as a shopping
facility in
very different ways. Consequently, GfK Panel Services Germany has divided
consumers into
seven different online user types. Most consumers - just under 35% in total - belong to
the
group of selective users, but this group only contributes just below 13% to sales. At
20%, the
second biggest group of online users are the shoppers and bankers, who account for
the lion's
share of online sales of just under 35%. ( GfK , March 2009)
Online Travel Market
Travel Planning
When making their travel plans, 30.8 million Germans now rely on the Internet as a
source of
information. Of this figure, around 7 million use travel communities as a basis for
making a final
decision about their journey. A further 5 million intend to rely on these virtual
communities for
making their travel decisions in the future. These are the findings of a special survey
by the
Internet Travel Marketing Federation (VIR) as part of its representative survey "RA
online."
Questions targeted exclusively at online users on the subject of travel communities
reveal that it
is above all the genuineness of the evaluations and entries that is of vital importance
within
these communities and evaluation platforms. Making a choice from many different
opinions in
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order to form one's own view, ranks second in importance. Especially among 45- to
55-year old
Internet users, more than half regard it as extremely important for the person making
the
evaluation to have actually been to the location, whereas the majority of younger
users (16 to
24), i.e., more than 60 %, are quite "relaxed" about this particular criterion.
When dealing with travel community websites, women are definitely more critical than
men. Of
the women who were questioned, 48 % stated that they attach major importance to
the quality
and authenticity of the individual evaluations. It is also evident that it is predominantly
those
people in lower-income groups who make use of travel communities and whose
decisions are
more likely to be influenced by them than is the case with middle- and upper-income
groups. (
mice-contact.com
, August 2009)
Travel Booking
15.2 million Germans aged between 14 and 69 purchased travel services online in
2009 in
Germany, according to findings from the German Online Shopping Survey (OSS) 2010.
7.4
million online shoppers booked hotel online in 2009.
While online shopping is not yet particularly popular in some socio-demographic
segments, the
research shows that there is certainly potential for gaining more online customers in
certain
product groups. These areas include travel services, such as hotel bookings and car
rentals.
The online shopping survey (OSS) is an annual survey by ENIGMA GfK, an institute
specializing in media research which offers information services for TV, print, radio
and online
media. In January and February 2010, 1,183 Germans aged between 14 and 69 were
telephone-surveyed on the subject of the Internet and its impact on their shopping
habits for 29
different goods and services. ( GfK , March 2010)
By 2011, Germany is expected to represent 20% of the European market, up from
17% in 2008,
according to PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition .
( PhoCusWright
FYI 09/12/09 ,
December 2009)
8.6 million people in Germany booked their hotel online in 2009, according to the 2009
Online
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Germany
Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:17
Shopping Survey (OSS) carried out by ENIGMA GfK.
Top category ranked in terms of the number of online shoppers in Germany, 2009:
1. Clothing: 12.6 million online buyers
2. Books: 12.4 million
3. Event tickets: 10.3 million
4. CDs: 8.8 million
5. Hotel reservations: 8.6 million
Hotels reservations were up by 2.3 million, while flight tickets enjoyed an increase of
1.2 million.
Overall, online shoppers accounted for a share of 76% of all internet users in 2008.
The figure
has remained stable for the past two years. ( GfK at , April 2009)
The number of electronic room reservations in comfort, first class and luxury hotels via
internet,
CRS and GDS rose strongly in 2008 in Germany, according to the results of a study by
CHD
Expert for which 221 hospitality management executives have been interviewed. 12%
of hotels
in the country obtained nearly 50% of their turnover with electronic sales, while 1 in 5
hotels
generated up to 10% of all room bookings via electronic distribution channels and 1 in
10
gained nearly 25% of their annual reservation turnover via internet sales.
The findings show that:
- 81% of hotels indicated a growth in the number of electronic room bookings via third-
party
booking partner (e.g. HRS.com and hotel.info)
- 73% of hotels indicated a growth in the number of electronic room bookings via their
own
website.
- 58% of hotels indicated a growth in the number of electronic room bookings via CRS
and
GDS.
The leading booking platform for German hotel was HRS.com (for 59% of the
interviewed
hotels) in 2008, followed by Booking.com (17%) and hotel.info (8%). Other portals like
hotels.com or venere.com are also relevant for online bookings but not as a preferred
platform. (
TravelDailyNews
, April 2009)
Germany remained the second largest online travel market in Europe in 2008,
accounting for
18% of the European online travel market, according to the study (updated in March
2009)
"Trends in European Internet Distribution - of Travel and Tourism Services" by Carl H.
Marcussen Centre for Regional and Tourism Research .
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In 2008, the two leading European markets, the UK and Germany accounted for 48%
of the
EUR 58.4 billion European online travel market. (Full material updated 23rd March
2009 is
available at http://www.crt.dk/uk/staff/chm/trends.htm , March 2009)
AUSTRIA

Austria

Usage Patterns

Total Online Population (000's) in 2009 5937

72.3
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 5,936,700 internet users in Austria (representing 72.3% of the population)
in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 182.7%
compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
72% of all persons aged 16 to 74 in Austria used the internet during the previous three
months, according to the results of a survey conducted in Austria between February to
April 2009 for the eighth time by STATISTICS AUSTRIA.

Breakdown by Age:
- 16-24: 96.9%
- 25-34: 89.4%
- 35-44: 84.2%
- 45-54: 71.4%
- 55-64: 50.3%
- 65-74: 21.4%

Approximately 4,900 households with at least one household member aged 16 to 74

and approximately 7,600 persons aged 16 to 74 participated in the survey. (Statistik
Austria, September 2009)

Access
70% of the Austrian households had access to the Internet at the time of the survey
(February to April 2009), compared with 55% in 2008, according to the results of a
survey conducted in Austria for the eighth time by STATISTICS AUSTRIA. (Statistik
Austria, September 2009)
Gender
76.4% of men and 66.9% of women aged 16 to 74 in Austria used the internet during
the previous three months, according to the results of a survey conducted in Austria
between February to April 2009 for the eighth time by STATISTICS AUSTRIA. (Statistik
Austria, September 2009)
eCommerce
41% of persons aged 16 to 74 in Austria indicated that they had purchased goods or
services over the internet during the previous twelve months, according to the results
of a survey conducted in Austria between February to April 2009 for the eighth time by
STATISTICS AUSTRIA.

The most popular product groups for internet-shoppers were "books, magazines,
newspapers and e-learning materials", as well as "clothing and sports articles", "travel
and holiday accommodation", "electronic equipment", "tickets for events", "films and
music".

40% of the online-shoppers spent between 100 and 499 euros for their internet
shopping during the three months prior to the survey. 44% paid with a credit or debit
card when shopping over the internet. The majority of online-shoppers (94%)
encountered no problems relating to their internet purchases. (Statistik Austria,
September 2009)

Broadband Access
58% of households in Austria used a broadband connection to access the internet
(February to April 2009), compared with 55% in 2008, according to the results of a
survey conducted in Austria for the eighth time by STATISTICS AUSTRIA. Dial-up
connections decreased furthermore. (Statistik Austria, September 2009)

Interactive TV & Mobile Devices

Mobile Phones & Wireless Access
35% of the internet users in Austria used the internet wireless via a laptop or a
notebook, (February to April 2009), according to the results of a survey conducted in
Austria for the eighth time by STATISTICS AUSTRIA. (Statistik Austria, September
2009)
Switzerland
Switzerland
Usage Patterns

5,73
Total Online Population (000's) in 2009:
9
75.5
Percentage of Population Online in 2009:
%
Demographics
There were 5,739,300 internet users in Switzerland (representing 75.5% of the
population) in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by
168.9% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
81.3% of people aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the internet at least once
during the last 6 months between April and September 2009, according to indicators
by Statistics Suisse updated in February 2010. During the same period, 73.2%
claimed to use the internet regularly (i.e. several time a week).

People aged 50 or older are using the internet globally less than those aged 14-19.
The increase in the number of internet users aged 50 or older, although regular,
remains too low to close the divide.

Breakdown by age - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and older, between
April and September 2009:
- 14-19: 90.5%
- 20-29: 93.1%
- 30-39: 88.4%
- 40-49: 81.1%
- 50-59: 72.6%
- 60-69: 51.4%
- 70 and older: 20.9%

Breakdown by Linguistic region - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and
older, between April and September 2009:
- Suisse alémanique (German-speaking Switzerland): 75.0%
- Suisse romande (French-speaking Switzerland): 70.7%
- Suisse italienne (Italian-speaking Switzerland): 58.8%
- TOTAL: 73.2%

(Swiss Statistical Portal, February 2010)

79.2% of people aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the internet at least once
during the last 6 months between April and September 2008, according to indicators
by Statistics Suisse updated in July 2009. During the same period, 70.9% claimed to
use the Internet regularly (i.e. several time a week).

People aged 50 or older are using the internet globally less than those aged 14-19.
The increase in the number of internet users aged 50 or older, although regular,
remains too low to close the divide.
Breakdown by age - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and older, between
April and September 2008:
- 14-19: 91.8%
- 20-29: 90.8%
- 30-39: 85.0%
- 40-49: 78.7%
- 50-59: 69.6%
- 60-69: 50.8%
- 70 and older: 17.7%

Breakdown by Linguistic region - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and
older, between April and September 2008:
- Suisse alémanique (German-speaking Switzerland): 72.2%
- Suisse romande (French-speaking Switzerland): 69.3%
- Suisse italienne (Italian-speaking Switzerland): 60.0%
TOTAL: 70.9%
(Statistique Suisse, July 2009)
Access
69.6% of people aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the internet at home at
least once during the last 6 months between April and September 2009 while the
percentage reaches 34.3% at work, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse
updated in February 2010. (Swiss Statistical Portal, February 2010)
74% of households in Switzerland had internet access in 2008, according to indicators
by Statistics Suisse updated in July 2009. (Statistique Suisse, July 2009)
67.1% of people aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the internet at least once
during the last 6 months at home between April and September 2008 while the
percentage reaches 32.4% at work, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse
updated in July 2009. (Statistique Suisse, July 2009)
There were 3,637,642 active internet home users in Switzerland in June 2009,
according to Nielsen Online. This was down by 3.40% compared to the previous
month. (ClickZ, August 2009)
Gender
66.7% of female and 80.0% of male aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the
internet several time a week between April and September 2009, according to
indicators by Statistics Suisse updated in February 2010. (Swiss Statistical Portal,
February 2010)
63.5% of female and 78.7% of male aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the
internet several time a week between April and September 2008, according to
indicators by Statistics Suisse updated in July 2009. (Statistique Suisse, July 2009)
eCommerce
36.8% of adult in Switzerland had used the internet to make some purchases online in
2008, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse updated in July 2009. (Statistique
Suisse, July 2009)
Online Travel Market
Travel Planning
51.9% of people aged 15 and older in Switzerland had used the internet to search for
travel related information in 2008, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse updated
in July 2009.
The percentage reached 69.6% among those with home internet access (having gone
online at least once in the last 3 months), 73.2% among those going online at home
daily and 57.1% among those going online at home once a week or less. (Statistique
Suisse, July 2009)
Broadband Access
33.5 out of 100 inhabitants in Switzerland had broadband access in Switzerland in
December 2008, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse updated in July 2009. The
breakdown was as follows:
- DSL: 23.2
- Cable modem: 9.7
- Fiber / LAN: 0.4
- Other broadband: 0.3

(Statistique Suisse, July 2009)

SPAIN

Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
Usage Patterns
{vivochart}cht=p3&chtt=Percentage of Population
Online&chd=t:71.8,28.2&chs=260x120&chl=71.8%{/vivochart} Total Online
Population ( 02090,0's9) 4in 2009:
Percentage of Populatio n 7O1n.8li%ne in 2009:
Demographics
There were 29,093,984 internet users in Spain (representing 71.8% of the population)
in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats . This was up by 440.0% compared
to 2000.
( Internet World Stats , April 2010)
There were 20,226 million internet users in Spain in February/March 2010,
representing 51.3%
of the population, according to the 'Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de
Comunicacion' - (AIMC) .
In February/March 2010, the majority of internet users in the country were aged
between 25 and
34. Most internet users were from the middle class (45.2%), followed by middle/high
class
(21.8%).
Complete details on statistics on age distribution of internet users in Spain in
February/March
2010 are available below:
- Aged 14-19: 11.2% of users
- Aged 20-24: 11.4% users
- Aged 25-34: 27.8% of users
- Aged 35-44: 23.0% of users
- Aged 45-54: 14.1% of users
- Aged over 55-64: 7.1% of users
- Aged over 65: 5.4% of users
( AIMC , April 2010)
There are an estimated 22.4 million internet users in Spain in 2009, according to
eMarketer .
The country ranks among the top 15 worldwide in number of internet users.
Internet users and penetration in Spain in 2008-2013:
- 2008: 21.0 million (51.9% of the population)
- 2009: 22.4 million (55.3%)
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Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
- 2010: 23.4 million (57.8%)
- 2011: 24.1 million (59.4%)
- 2012: 24.6 million (60.6%)
- 2013: 25.1 million (62.0%)
( eMarketer , June 2009)
59.8% of the population in Spain aged 16 to 74 years old (or more than 20.7 million
persons)
had used the internet in 2009 in the previous three months, according to the Survey
on
Information and Communication Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in
2009 by
the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. The number of internet users increased
6%
compared to 2008.
Frequent users, in other words, those who accessed the internet on a daily basis or at
least
once a week, represented 89.6% of the total internet users. These frequent users,
approximately 18.5 million persons, represented 53.6% of the population,
representing an
increase of 9.5% compared to the previous year.
The Autonomous Communities above the average in Spain for internet use were
Aragón, Illes
Balears, Cantabria, Cataluña, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Foral de Navarra and
País
Vasco.
Comunitat Valenciana exceeded the national average in the indicators referring to
computer
and internet use in the last three months.
Percentage of ICT users by Autonomous Community, 2009 (persons who had used the
internet
in the last 3 months):
National total: 59.8%
- Andalucia: 54.8%
- Aragon: 62.8%
- Asturias (Principado de): 58.1%
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Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
- Balears (Illes): 65.0%
- Canarias: 56.9%
- Cantabria: 60.3%
- Castilla y Leon: 57.4%
- Castilla-La Mancha: 55.3%
- Cataluna: 66.0%
- Comunitat Valenciana: 60.5%
- Extremadura: 49.6%
- Galicia: 49.8%
- Madrid (Comunidad de): 67.8%
- Murcia (Region de): 51.4%
- Navarra (Comunidad Foral de): 65.5%
- Pais Vasco: 62.5%
- Rioja (La): 53.6%
- Ceuta: 49.3%
- Melilla: 53.6%
( Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica , October 2009)
Access
The majority of Spanish internet users in February/March 2010 had home internet
access
(access the internet in the last month), according to the Asociacion para la
Investigacion de
Medios de Comunicacion - AIMC :
- 85.3% had home internet access.
- 22.8% had access to the internet at work.
- 6.7% accessed the internet from University/school.
- 12.5% had access to the internet from other locations.
(Each internet user may have access to the internet from different locations).
( AIMC , April 2010)
The Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de Comunicacion - AIMC provided
information
on internet penetration level in the different Spanish autonomous regions
(Communidades) in
2010 (April 2009 to March 2010):
- Andalucia: 44.5%
- Aragon: 53.2%
- Asturias: 45.8%
- Baleares: 58.1%
- Canarias: 51.9%
- Cantabrica: 49.8%
- Castilla/Leon: 44.2%
- Castilla/Mancha: 41.3%
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Spain
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- Cataluña: 58.1%
- Comunidad Valenciana: 49.4%
- Extremadura: 38.7%
- Galicia: 41.7%
- Madrid: 58.1%
- Murcia: 38.5%
- Navarra: 52.6%
- Pais Vasco: 54.7%
- La Rioja: 53.7%
( AIMC , April 2010)
54% of Spanish households (or 8.3 million) with at least one member between the
ages of 16
and 74 years old had internet access in 2009, as compared with 51% in the previous
year,
according to the Survey on Information and Communication Technologies Equipment
and Use
in Households in 2009 by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica.
The Autonomous Communities with the highest percentage of dwellings with internet
access
were Comunidad de Madrid (64.3%) and Cataluña (62.7%). In addition, País Vasco,
Comunidad
Foral de Navarra, Illes Balears, Cantabria, Principado de Asturias, Canarias, and
Aragón
showed a rate higher than the average (54.0%).
The main reasons for households not to have internet access were that they did not
believe that
they needed one (39.8% gave this as the reason) and the connection was too
expensive
(31.0%). ( Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica , October 2009)
There were 19,726,429 active internet home users in Spain in June 2009, according to
Nielsen
Online .
This was down by 0.51% compared to the previous month. (
ClickZ
, August 2009)
Gender
56.2% of the online population in Spain in February/March 2010 was male, according
to the
Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de Comunicacion - AIMC. ( AIMC , April
2010)
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Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
The gender digital divide decreased in 2009 in the main indicators analysed including
computer
use, internet use and frequent internet use, according to the Survey on Information
and
Communication Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in 2009 by the
Spanish
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica.
The gender digital divide (percentage difference between men and women) in internet
use
stood at 7.2 in 2009 compared to 7.9 in 2008; while the figure stood at 8.6% in 2009
for frequent
internet use compared to 8.9 in 2008. ( Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica ,
October
2009)
eCommerce
15.7% of the population in Spain aged 16 to 74 years old had made online purchases
in 2009 in
the previous three months, according to the Survey on Information and
Communication
Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in 2009 by the Spanish Instituto
Nacional de
Estadistica. This represented an increase of 2.4 points in the past year.
The form of payment most used by online buyers in the last year was the credit or
debit card
(73.5%). It was followed by means other than the internet (in cash, ordinary bank
transfers,
etc.), with 24.1%.
5.7% of these buyers had had some type of problem with their purchases. The main
problem
was in delayed delivery (37.9% of them), followed by technical errors on the website
at the time
of ordering or at the time of payment (26.7%).
The reason considered to be most important at the time of purchasing online was the
existence
of security regarding legal rights and guarantees (as stated by 84.7% of the buyers).
In this
sense, 62.3% of the online buyers stated that they always read the sales conditions,
while 6.7%
never read them. Other important reasons at the time of purchasing online were the
lower prices
(75.9%) and the easy of use of the website (74.5%). ( Spanish Instituto Nacional de
Estadistica ,
5/9
Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
October 2009)
Online advertising
The Spanish advertising industry has been hard hit by the economic crisis. Total
advertising
spending in Spain was estimated to shrink by 9.2% in 2009, and return to very modest
growth of
3.4% in 2010, according to JPMorgan . Fortunately for Spain's digital marketers, the
internet is
expected to buck this trend and post solid gains of 10% in 2009 and 18% in 2010. (
eMarketer
, June 2009)
Online Travel Market
Travel Planning
The Spanish Institute of Tourism is looking to expand the image of Spain beyond a
destination
for the traditional "sun and beach" holiday by using social media. It has launched a
campaign on
leading social networks including Twitter, Youtube and Facebook under the strapline
"Spain, a
country to share".
While Spain remains the largest destination for UK holidaymakers in terms of the
sheer volume
of visitors it attracts (around 6 million a year), it has been hit by the downturn and the
strength of
the Euro against the pound.
The new Spanish online campaign will offer potential visitors to the country an inside
view of
what it has to offer by getting Spaniards to share their tips on Spain's hidden corners
and best
places to experience its culture and food. ( HOTELMARKETING.COM , February 2010)
Travel Booking
As one of the premier leisure travel destinations in Europe, Spain's economy suffered
from the
decline of both inbound and domestic travel amidst the global recession. The overall
travel
market fell 12% in 2009 according to PhoCusWright's Spanish Online Travel Overview
Fifth
Edition . Online travel sales, however, declined by only
1%, which is somewhat surprising for a market that remains well below the European
average
for online travel penetration. The decline was driven by supplier Web sites, while
online travel
6/9
Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
agencies (OTAs) saw gains in bookings and market share. (
PhoCusWright FYI
, January 2010)
By 2011, Spain is expected to represent 7% of the European market, unchanged
compared to
2008 level, according to PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth
Edition . ( Ph
oCusWright FYI 09/12/09
, December 2009)
Travel and accommodation are the main type of goods and services bought online by
people
aged 16 to 74 years old in Spain in 2008, according to the Instituto Nacional de
Estadística
(INE) de España . 12% booked
travel online in the last 2 months, while 7% booked tickets for shows/events. INE
reported on
data from Eurostat. (
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) de España
, May 2009)
Travel Industry Online Developments
Expedia, Inc. is ready with the launch of its Spanish website, Expedia.es. The
development
marks the company's first Spanish-language Expedia-branded site, and its ninth
Expedia point
of sale in Europe, bringing the international total to 13. ( EyeforTravel , May 2007)
Broadband Access
51.3% of Spanish households (or almost 7.9 million households) had a broadband
internet
connection (ADSL, cable network, etc.) in 2009, according to the Survey on
Information and
Communication Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in 2009 by the
Spanish
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. This represents an increase of approximately
1,135,000
households compared to the previous year.
7/9
Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
The main forms of broadband internet connection were by ADSL line (which 74.9% of
households with internet access had) and cable network (16.9%). ( Spanish Instituto
Nacional
de Estadistica , October
2009)
Interactive TV and Mobile Devices
Mobile phones and wireless devices
Only 3.7% of the Spanish population has browsed the internet on their mobile phone
but those
consumers who have done so are spending 30% more than the average Spanish
mobile user.
And of the operators vying for that business in Spain, Vodafone is leading the pack.
The
findings come from data supplied exclusively to telecoms.com from Kantar
Worldpanel's
ComTech survey.
The latest data shows that Vodafone has the highest percentage of customers using
the most
advanced services, consistently above the average, 7% of the firm's Spanish
customers have
used their phones for internet browsing and downloading and sending picture, 8 %
have used it
to play games, while 11% have used their phone to make videos. Music has proven
the most
popular service among the carrier's customers, with 15% of them using their phone to
listen to
music.
( Telecoms.com , June 2010)
The main equipment used by Spanish households for connecting to the internet in
2009 were
desktop computers (76.2% of households), laptops (50.8%) and mobile phones
(11.3%),
according to the Survey on Information and Communication Technologies Equipment
and Use
in Households in 2009 by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. Nonetheless,
the
access via other types of device such as electronic organisers, PDAs, television or
videoconsole
has increased. Among them, worth noting was the increase in the connection by
videoconsole,
which rose from 3.9% in 2008 to 7.3% in 2009. ( Spanish Instituto Nacional de
Estadistica ,
8/9
Spain
Last Updated Friday, 02 July 2010 15:57
October 2009)

ITALY

Italy
Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:26
Usage Patterns
{vivochart}cht=p3&chtt=Percentage of Population
Online&chd=t:51.7,48.3&chs=260x120&chl=51.7%{/vivochart} Total Online
Population ( 03000,0's2) 6in 2009
Percentage of Populatio n 5O1n.7li%ne in 2009
Demographics
There were 30,026,400 internet users in Italy (representing 51.7% of the population)
in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats . This was up by 127.5% compared
to 2000.
( Internet World Stats , April 2010)
There are an estimated 26.4 million internet users in Italy in 2009, according to
eMarketer . The
country ranks among the top 15 worldwide in number of internet users.
Internet users and penetration in Italy in 2008-2013:
- 2008: 25.3 million (43.5% of the population)
- 2009: 26.4 million (45.4%)
- 2010: 27.5 million (47.3%)
- 2011: 28.5 million (49.1%)
- 2012: 29.5 million (50.9%)
- 2013: 30.3 million (52.3%)
( eMarketer , June 2009)
Access
There were 18,089,093 active internet home users in Italy in June 2009, according to
Nielsen
Online .
This was up by 1.80% compared to the previous month. (
ClickZ
, August 2009)
eCommerce
Online advertising
Online advertising in Italy is rising steadily, despite the gloomy financial climate.
Online ad
spending was estimated to reach €730 million ($1.07 billion) in 2009, up 14.9% on its
2008
value of €630 million ($930 million), according to the "This Year, Next Year Worldwide
Winter
2008" study by GroupM . But the Internet will still account for just a tiny fraction
(7.5%) of total
1/2
Italy
Last Updated Friday, 18 June 2010 16:26
ad spending in Italy, according to GroupM. ( eMarketer , June 2009)
Online Travel Market
Travel Booking
In spite of the current economic crisis, the online travel market is one of the most
active
segments of the Italian travel industry and will continue to grow in 2010 at a rate of
9%,
outperforming the overall market according to PhoCusWright's Italian Online Travel
Overview
Fifth Edition .
Air traffic and, surprisingly, rail remain the most outstanding sectors for online sales in
Italy. On
the other hand, tour operators and hotels lag behind. Tour operators were hit hard by
the
economic crisis and H1N1 in 2009 and are still hesitant to make the move online. The
hotel
industry which remains highly fragmented, geographically dispersed and largely
independently
managed, is also reticent to adopt online distribution en masse. Overall, the traditional
travel
agencies still hold most of the market share, but online travel agencies have started
collaborating with them directly.
Italians have been slow to embrace online travel purchases for diverse reasons:
broadband
penetration is low and still relatively expensive; they are by nature hesitant to release
personal
information over the internet; traditional offline players have powerful ties and still sell
the vast
majority of travel related products; tour operators have been cautious about
challenging
conventional distribution channels; credit card usage is still relatively low and most
credit cards
have limited spending margins per month and the country's population is aging
rapidly, resulting
in slower adoption of the Internet than other markets.
Online penetration is expected to reach a full 20% by 2011. Italy will continue to lag
behind
more mature markets but the figure represents a significant milestone for Italian
online travel.
Curiously, mobile phone penetration in Italy is the highest in Europe. If the usage of
smartphones takes off, online travel penetration could receive an enormous boost. (
PhoCusWri
ght FYI ,
March 2010)
By 2011, Italy is expected to represent 4% of the European market, unchanged
compared to
2008 level, according to PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth
Edition . ( Ph
oCusWright FYI 09/12/09
, December 2009)
2/2

SWEDEN

Sweden
Last Updated Monday, 21 June 2010 09:21
Usage Patterns
{vivochart}cht=p3&chtt=Percentage of Population
Online&chd=t:89.2,10.8&chs=260x120&chl=89.2%{/vivochart} Total Online
Population ( 080,08's6) in 2009:
Percentage of Populatio n 8O9n.2li%ne in 2009:
Demographics
There were 8,085,500 internet users in Sweden (representing 89.2% of the population)
in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats . This was up by 99.7% compared
to 2000. (
Internet World Stats
, April 2010)
Broadband Access
Digital Britain may be celebrating the push for every home to have 2Mbps broadband
by 2012
but the Swedish government has promised much more to its citizens. The Swedish
government
has announced a roll out 100Mbps broadband to 90% of its population by 2020, with
40%
having it by 2015.
A strategy statement posted on the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and
Communications
website said that it is important that Swedish businesses
and households in all parts of the country are able to benefit from the opportunities
that access
to powerful broadband gives in order to change traditional working methods, enable
development of new services and business models and new patterns of behaviour.
The statement also added that all households and businesses should also have good
opportunities to use electronic public services with broadband access. As more and
more
services in society become digital, everyone must be given the opportunity to be
connected.
Everyday life should run smoothly. It is, in essence, a matter of democracy and rights.
However, it seems the country is facing similar problems to the UK with reaching out
to rural
areas. ( ITPRO , November 2009)

RUSSIA

Russia
Last Updated Monday, 21 June 2010 09:15
Usage Patterns
{vivochart}cht=p3&chtt=Percentage of Population
Online&chd=t:32.3,67.7&chs=260x120&chl=32.3%{/vivochart} Total Online
Population ( 04050,2's5) 0in 2009:
Percentage of Populatio n 3O2n.3li%ne in 2009:
Demographics
There were 45,250,000 internet users in Russia (representing 32.3% of the population)
in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats . This was up by 1,359.7%
compared to
2000. ( Internet World Stats , April 2010)
61.9 million people will use the internet in Russia by 2013, according to eMarketer .
This would
be up from 45.8 million in 2009.
Internet users in Russia 2008-2013:
- 2008: 41.0 million
- 2009: 45.8 million
- 2010: 50.6 million
- 2011: 54.9 million
- 2012: 58.7 million
- 2013: 61.9 million
( eMarketer at , May 2009)
Social Networking and UGC
Russia has the world's most engaged social networking audience, with visitors
spending 6.6
hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month, according to a comScore study.
Social networking has become a popular online pastime not only in mature internet
markets like
North America, but also in developing, high-growth internet markets such as Russia,
according
to comScore Europe. In a country as geographically large as Russia, social networking
represents a way of connecting people from one corner of the country to the other.
The highly
engaged behaviour of social networkers in Russia offers significant opportunity for
marketers
and advertisers seeking to reach these audiences.
Of the 31.9 million people who accessed the internet in Russia in April 2009, 18.9
million visited
at least one social networking site, representing 59% of the total online population.
The most
popular of these sites was Russian-based Vkontakte.ru with 14.3 million visitors,
followed by
Odnoklassniki.ru (7.8 million visitors), Mail.ru - My World (6.3 million visitors) and
Fotostrana.ru
1/2
Russia
Last Updated Monday, 21 June 2010 09:15
(1.6 million visitors). Facebook.com attracted 616,000 Russian visitors, up 277%
versus a year
ago. ( comScore , June 2009)
Interactive TV & Mobile Devices
Mobile Phones & Wireless Access
Russians bought 450,000 fewer mobile phones in 2008 than in 2007, 3.3 million fewer
than
anticipated. In 2008 Russians bought approximately 32 million mobile phones,
according to
Mobile Research Group cited by Kommersant.
One of the main reasons for the sudden drop in sales are recent difficulties in
obtaining bank
loans for the purchase of mobile phones in Russia. The change in sales was so
significant
precisely because about a quarter of mobiles in Russia were previously bought on
credit.
The weakening of the rouble and the economic downturn were other factors in the
sharp drop in
demand. In some parts of Russia demand fell by 70%. According to a forecast by
Research
Group, in 2009 sales of mobile phones in Russia will drop by 25-30% to around 24
million
devices. ( ICT Russia , January 2009)
2/2

ESTONIA
Estonia

Usage Patterns

Total Online Population (000's) in 2009 888

68.3
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 888,100 internet users in Estonia (representing 68.3% of the population) in
December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 142.3% compared
to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
Lithuania

Usage Patterns

Total Online Population (000's) in 2009 2103

59.2
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 2,103,471 internet users in Lithuania (representing 59.2% of the
population) in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by
834.9% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
58.1% of persons aged 16 to 74-years-old in Lithuania used the internet in the first
quarter of 2009, up from 53.1% in the first quarter of 2008, according to Statistics
Lithuania.
Breakdown by age, first quarter 2009 (use in the last 3 months):
- 16-24: 94.1%
- 25-34: 79.7%
- 35-44: 66.2%
- 45-54: 49.5%
- 55-64: 24.8%
- 65-74: 7.6%
(Statistics Lithuania, October 2009)

Access
54.7% households in Lithuania had internet access at home in the first quarter of
2009, according to Statistics Lithuania. This was up from 47.1% in the first quarter of
2008.
Households with internet access 2005-2008 (1st quarter data):
- 2005: 14.4%
- 2006: 31.7%
- 2007: 40.3%
- 2008: 47.1%
- 2009: 54.7%

In the first quarter of 2009, 54.7% of households used the internet at home:
- In urban areas: 61.5% (63.8% in largest cities and 57.8% in other towns)
- In rural areas: 40.8%
(Statistics Lithuania, October 2009)
Latvia

Usage Patterns

1,37
Total Online Population (000's) in 2009
0
61.4
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 1,369,600 internet users in Latvia (representing 61.4% of the population)
in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 813.1%
compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)

SLOVACK REP
Slovak Republic
Usage Patterns

3,56
Total Online Population (000's) in 2009
7
65.3
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 3,566,500 internet users in Slovakia (representing 65.3% of the
population) in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by
448.7% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)

Last Updated on Monday, 21 June 2010 09:16

HUNGARY

Usage Patterns

5,87
Total Online Population (000's) in 2009
3
59.3
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 5,873,100 internet users in Hungary (representing 59.3% of the
population) in September 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by
721.4% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)

POLAND
Poland

Usage Patterns

Total Online Population (000's) in 20,02

2009: 0
Percentage of Population Online 52.0
in 2009: %
Demographics
The prices of internet access in Poland are 39% lower on average when compared to
other European countries and the US, according to the recent report prepared by the
Office of Electronic Communications (UKE). The average cost of an internet
connection in Poland is lower in all speed variants ranging from 1Mb/s to 20 Mb/s.

According to OECD data, in October 2009, the average cost of internet access in
nominal prices totalled to €20.4 per month in Poland, which was the second-lowest
charge after South Korea (€19.2). Luxembourg and Turkey had the most expensive
connections, of €86.1 and €75.7 a month, respectively.

(PMR Ltd, June 2010)

There were 20,020,362 internet users in Poland (representing 52.0% of the
population) in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by
615% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)
eCommerce
The Polish Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to improve the regulations pertaining to
e-commerce in Poland, according to the Deputy Minister who explained that around
10% of Poles shop online, whereas e-customers in the EU account for 7% on average.
The EU directive concerning common rules for the internal market has, therefore, to
be implemented. The directive is intended to simplify the procedures and alleviate the
formalities pertaining to services in all EU states.

E-commerce representatives consider lack of trust to be the greatest obstacle to

online trade. Only 12% of EU e-customers believe that shopping online is safe. Other
barriers to e-commerce development include substantial commissions on electronic
payments. (PMR Ltd - IT & Telecoms in Central & Eastern Europe, August 2009)
Online shopping is gaining in popularity in Poland because of the recession, according
to Rzeczpospolita. Poles have started to buy products such as food and holiday trips
over the internet, which had not previously been associated with shopping of this kind.

Around 3% of Polish customers purchase household products online and 1.5% buy
food via the internet, according to a report prepared by GfK Polonia. In total 10% of
Polish customers shop online and around 16 million Poles have access to the internet.

Eric McCloskey, of the Boston Consulting Group, quoted that Poles have started to
save money as the recession continues and tend, therefore, to shop via e-stores,
where the prices are up to 20% lower than those of standard outlets. (PMR Ltd, July
2009)
Poles spent PLN4.5 billion (€1 billion) on shopping via the internet in 2008, according
to Dariusz Bogdan, the deputy Minister of Economic Affairs. The average e-transaction
was worth PLN850 (€190.60). (PMR Ltd, June 2009)
Poles spent PLN11 billion (€2.5 billion) on online shopping in 2008, 36.4% more than
the previous year. according to a report prepared by the Stowarzyszenie Marketingu
Bezposredniego (Direct Marketing Association, SMB), quoted in Rzeczpospolita.

e-Commerce holds a 2% share of Polish retail market value, and its growth rate has
outperformed other channels, by way of comparison, in 2008 sales of traditional stores
increased by 13%. The auction portals account for the most substantial proportion of
online retail sales. The turnover generated by internet auctions was PLN6.5 billion
(€1.5 billion). (PMR Ltd, April 2009)

Czech Republic
Usage Patterns

Total Online Population (000's) in 2009 6028

59.0
Percentage of Population Online in 2009
%
Demographics
There were 6,027,700 internet users in the Czech Republic (representing 59.0% of the
population) in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by
502.8% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)

In the second quarter of 2008, 4,760,900 individuals aged 16 years old and older used
the Internet in the last 3 months in the Czech Republic (or 54% of the population),
according to Czech Statistical Office's Use of ICT by Households and Individuals in
2008 Survey.

Internet usage by age group as a % of total number of individuals in this age group in
the second quarter of 2008:
- 16-24: 90.3%
- 25-34: 73.9%
- 35-44: 69.4%
- 45-54: 56.2%
- 55-64: 32.6%
- 65-74: 9.7%
- 75+: 1.6%
(Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)
Access
In the second quarter of 2008, 1,800,300 households (or 41.7% of total household in
the country) had access to the internet in Czech Republic, according to Czech
Statistical Office's use of ICT by Households and Individuals in 2008 Survey. This was
up from 32.0% in 2007.
Place of internet use by internet users aged 16 and older in the last 3 months, for the
second quarter of 2008:
- At home: 83.5%
- At work: 38.7%
- At school, place of education: 17.3%
- At family/friend's house: 12.7%
- At other locations: 4.8%
(Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)
Gender
58.0% of males aged 16 years old and older and 50.3% of females have used the
internet in the last 3 months in the second quarter of 2008 in the Czech Republic,
according to Czech Statistical Office's Use of ICT by Households and Individuals in
2008 Survey. This was up from 48.8% and 41.5% respectively in 2007. (Czech
Statistical Office, February 2009)

eCommerce
In the second quarter of 2008, 21.0% of individuals aged 16 or older in the Czech
Republic purchased goods or services over the internet in the last 12 months (up from
15.3% in 2007), according to Czech Statistical Office's Use of ICT by Households and
Individuals in 2008 Survey. The percentage reached 24.5% among males and 17.7%
among females.
Share of individuals purchasing over the internet by age group, in the second quarter
of 2008:
- 16-24: 35.0%
- 25-34: 35.6%
- 35-44: 26.0%
- 45-54: 18.7%
- 55-64: 9.6%
- 65+: 1.4%
(Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)

Online Travel Market

Travel Planning
44.3% of individuals aged 16 and older in the Czech Republic looked for information
and services related to travel and accommodation in the second quarter of 2008,
according to Czech Statistical Office Use of ICT by Households and Individuals in 2008
Survey.

Activities on the internet in the last 3 months - information search and online services
among individuals aged 16 and older in the second quarter of 2008:
- Finding information about goods and services: 76.9% (76.7% among males / 77.1%
among females)
- Reading, downloading online newspapers, magazines: 56.1% (60.3% / 51.6%)
- Looking for information and services related to travel and accommodation: 44.3%
(41.8% / 47.0%)
- Downloading software: 14.4% (21.2% / 7.0%)
- Reading blogs: 14.4% (15.7% / 13.0%)
(Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)

Travel Booking
23.7% of individuals aged 16 years old and older in the Czech Republic
bought/ordered plane tickets and/or other travel and accommodation services in the
second quarter of 2008, according to Czech Statistical Office's Use of ICT by
Households and Individuals in 2008.
Percentage of individuals aged 16 years old and older who bought/ordered services
over the internet for private purposes in the second quarter of 2008:
- Tickets: 28.2% (30.0% among males / 25.9% among females)
- Plane tickets: 8.5% (8.2% / 8.8%)
- Other services in travel and accommodation: 15.2% (15.6% / 14.6%)
- Photo services: 7.6% (8.1% / 6.9%)
(Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)

Broadband Access
In the second quarter of 2008, 79.4% of households with internet access in Czech
Republic had broadband access, according to Czech Statistical Office's Use of ICT by
Households and Individuals in 2008 Survey. (Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)
Interactive TV & Mobile Devices
Mobile Phones & Wireless Access
23.8% of internet users aged 16 and older in the Czech Republic in the second quarter
of 2008, according to Czech Statistical Office's Use of ICT by Households and
Individuals in 2008 Survey.
Use of wireless connection to the internet, in the second quarter of 2008 among
Internet users aged 16 older:
- Total: 23.8%
- Wireless connection (wi-fi) of portable computer (notebook): 12.1%
- Wireless connection (wi-fi) of palmtop: 0.3%
- Narrowband connection via mobile phone (GPRS): 4.5%
- Broadband connection via mobile phone (UMTS, CDMA, EDGE): 9.0%
(Czech Statistical Office, February 2009)