One in four Australians have booked a holiday after getting ‘FOMO’ (Fear of Missing Out) after seeing a friend’s travel photos on social media.
According to the 2015 survey, of 4100+ Australian’s:
- Ø Generation Y is most likely to turn their social media scrolling into action, with more than one in three (37%) people aged 18 to 34 years admitting they have booked a trip after getting social media envy. Of those, 29% went to the same destination as their social media friend and 57% went “somewhere even better”.
- Ø For Generation X, one in five (20%) Aussies aged 34 to 54 years have booked a trip after getting FOMO, with 30% going to the same destination as their social media friend and 51% visiting “somewhere even better”.
- Ø As for the Baby Boomers (aged 54+), one in ten (10%) have booked a trip after getting social media envy. Of those, 34% booked a trip to the same destination as their social media friend, 44% booked a trip to “somewhere even better”.
lastminute.com.au spokesperson, Louise Ryan, says there is no denying how powerful inspirational images on social media can be at triggering wanderlust, in particular for those people aged 18 to 34 years (Gen Y), and who are also the most frequent users of social media according to the research.
“Gen Y’s are also very likely to login to social media while travelling, with 88% of those aged 18 to 34 years checking-in, compared to 70% of those aged 35 to 54 years, and 47% of people aged 54+”.
“Of those, Gen Y spend the most amount of holiday time on social media, with 56% of respondents spending half an hour a day or more, tweeting, instagramming or catching up on Facebook.
“Today, people don’t wait to listen to friends’ holiday stories on their return, instead, we live and follow their journey in real-time. We wish we were in the holiday snaps of cityscapes, tropical turquoise waters, cocktails at sunsets, discovering another culture or tasting delicious local delicacies.
“Personally, I’ve found browsing social media a fantastic way to discover new places. I am inspired by my friends’ adventures, and like many others, it inspires me to seek a last minute travel deal to the destinations on my ever-growing bucket list”.
Louise Ryan
lastminute.com.au favourite FOMO worthy social media destinations:
1. New York City #livingeverylastminute
2. The W Retreat and Spa #HappyMonday
3. Paris #wanderlust
4. Ubud, Indonesia #fromwhereyoudratherbe
5. Hunter Valley, NSW #wine time
