The sharing or peer-to-peer economy is failing to have any significant impact on the travel habits of UK holidaymakers, reveals the World Travel Market London 2017 Industry Report released today (Monday 6 November) at WTM London.
Furthermore, the influence of the sector has not grown during the past few years, despite the efforts by brands such as Uber and Airbnb to become more mainstream.
The latest edition of the report found that 12% of the 1,000 travellers polled have booked accommodation or travel / transport via a peer-to-peer website during the past year.
Of those who have booked accommodation, 86% said they would do so again. But for those who’ve used peer-to-peer for transportation, only 38% would repeat the experience.
The future for sharing accommodation is also subdued, the report finds. When asked, around one-third of travellers (31%) said they would consider it as an option. However, around two-thirds (62%) have no interest in the sharing economy for accommodation or transportation.
WTM London first asked UK holidaymakers about the sharing economy in the 2014 report. At the time, only 9% of the population has booked accommodation through peer-to-peer sites, 86% of whom said they would do so again.
In 2015, the question was expanded to include peer-to-peer transport by including Uber in the list and the proportion of users from the sample dropped to 3%.
The following year 12% said they had used Airbnb and 6% took an Uber. The findings for 2017 are similar.
In contrast, the industry has become more negative about the sharing economy’s impact on their business. Four in ten (38%) of the travel professionals polled for this year’s report said its influence was negative, compared with 32% in 2016.
WTM London’s Paul Nelson said: “When we first asked British holidaymakers about shared economy in 2014 the sector was quite new in the UK and we expected the proportion of Brits considering sharing economy options to increase.
“That has not happened, yet. The satisfaction levels from existing users is strong, but the big names in the sector need to think more about how to persuade the majority of British travellers that they have something to offer.”
-ends-
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises five leading B2B events across four continents generating more than $7bn of industry deals. The events are;
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 51,500 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL – London every November generating around £2.8 billion of travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/. Next event: 6-8 Nov 2017 – London.
International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) now in its 20th edition, is the meeting place for the global B2B golf travel community. More than 600 golf tourism suppliers join 350 pre-qualified buyers and 100 international press for four days of unmissable pre-scheduled appointments, exclusive networking opportunities and invaluable industry and trend updates. Taking place in a different destination every year, IGTM brings together 1,400 golf tourism professionals from over 65 countries. http://igtm.wtm.com/. Next event: 11-14 Dec 2017 – Cannes.
WTM Latin America now in its fifth edition attracts about 9,000 unique senior executives. The event generates US$ 370 million of new business. Taking place in Sao Paulo Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 7,000 unique visitors attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news. http://latinamerica.wtm.com/. Next event: 3-5 April 2018 – Sao Paulo.
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nearly 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/. Next event: 18-20 April 2018 – Cape Town.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2017 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, agreeing deals worth US$2.5bn over the four days. The 24th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, making it the largest ATM in its 24-year history. www.arabiantravelmarketwtm.com Next event 22-25 April 2018 – Dubai.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face to face through data and digital tools at over 500 events a year, in more than 30 countries, attracting more than 7m participants.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.
More information, please contact:
Paul Nelson – WTM Portfolio PR Manager
E.: paul.nelson@reedexpo.co.uk
T: +44 (0)20 8910 7032/ M: +44 (0)79 1955 5510
Natalia Hartmann – WTM Portfolio PR Executive