Survey: Free WiFi more important to millennials on vacation than anything else, including price of lodging

LONDON — Don’t ever underestimate the value of free Wi-Fi. A new survey finds that teens and young adults on vacation care more about complimentary access to the internet than they do anything else — including the actual price of a trip itself.

Researchers at Aviva, a UK-based travel insurer, interviewed 2,000 British travelers, finding that 40 percent of vacationers aged 16 to 24 put wireless internet at the top of their “deal breakers” list when it came to staying at a hotel.

WiFi symbol in nature
A new study finds that having access to complimentary wifi is more important to millennials than the price of lodging while on vacation.

Other common accommodation concerns included price (38 percent), the presence of a swimming pool (32 percent), and walking distance to shops and bars (28 percent).

Ninety percent of millennials indicated that they posted on social media about their travels, compared to 64 percent of the general population.

A large number of respondents also said they posted on social media before even arriving at their destination. Namely, 13 percent said they posted as soon as they left their house, while 20 percent posted an update at the airport.

“With mobile phone roaming charges now officially abolished, it could be that posting to social media while on vacation becomes even more common — particularly among the younger generation who we’ve found are the most prolific users of social media while on holiday,” says Adam Beckett, propositions director at Aviva, in a company news release.

Among millennials, it would seem as if reading while on vacation (under a quarter of respondents) has given way to posting selfies and pictures on social media (nearly a third).

This younger cohort is the least likely to buy vacation insurance, but they are very likely to read their policy thoroughly, should they indeed make the purchase.

The survey’s report, published in June, is available to download as a PDF by clicking here.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *