More and more, a trend is emerging when it comes to planning trips or vacations. Two Internet sites in particular, Facebook and Twitter are rocketing in popularity for gathering trip information. This phenomenon is due mainly to the fact that consumers are becoming more and more weary of Internet travel sites in terms of impartiality and of the information being released.
When Internet sites such as TripAdvisor or Yelp publish comments on a particular travel destination, Internet users and future travelers alike don’t necessarily buy into all the hyped-up comments and gushing testimonials found there. Savvy consumers are very aware that such comments often come from anonymous sources or even the owners of the destination itself! If comments are particularly negative, it may be coming from a direct competitor. There may even be secret deals going on between merchants and the Internet site in the form of kickbacks.
Enter Facebook and Twitter. With the ever-growing popularity of such Internet sites, comments left by users on the quality of a hotel, a restaurant, an airline or a travel destination, can generally be asserted as impartial. They come from our friends.
The trend is growing by leaps and bounds. So much so, that many companies and agencies are now setting up their own Facebook pages or using Twitter to attract more business.