A tale of two selfies
One in four young Australian travellers have admitted that they use social media – especially Instagram – when picking their next holiday destination.
A new survey by travel insurer InsureandGo asked 3,000 Australians about the effect of social media on their travel habits, and discovered that 24 per cent of millennials are influenced by social media when making their decision – with 28 per cent admitting that destinations were picked purely for their selfie potential.
Asia catches millennial travellers’ eye the most on social media, with 33 per cent choosing to travel to the continent after being inspired by the app, whilst Europe (19 per cent) and the US (18 per cent) also proved popular.
“Social media has become a powerful tool for travellers to uncover new and exciting destinations that they may not have previously known about,” commented Jonathan Etkind, head of sales, digital and marketing at InsureandGo. “As more travellers are documenting their holidays through social media, it’s only natural that they’re inspiring others to see new destinations.”
Millennials love of social media does however have a downside; they are much more likely to lose or damage their phone or camera whilst abroad. According to InsureandGo’s research, 28 per cent of millennials have damaged either their phone or camera whilst abroad, double the number of baby boomers (14 per cent).
“There’s nothing worse than having an incident while travelling, such as having your camera or phone lost or damaged and potentially losing those precious holiday shots,” said Etkind. “This is one reason why it’s important that travellers of all ages purchase travel insurance with coverage for cameras and mobile phones. With the right policy and level of cover, travel insurance may be able to reimburse travellers for lost or stolen belongings up to a certain amount.”