A research study examining the social media habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers (airlines, car rental, cruise line, hotel, online travel agency and resorts / gaming segments). Includes insights about channel presence, social audience, brand share of voice, connection frequency, negative branding presence, engagement levels and website and cross-integration depth.

1. Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers November 2009 Travel Technology Consulting Amadeus Americas

2. Social media is now part of daily life Social media is now part of everyone’s daily life

3. Key social media channels attract a substantial and growing global audience Consumers have instant access to information and are more connected than ever 17M+ uniques 2,681% growth 300M+ uniques 97% growth 8M+ uniques 320% growth 346M+ uniques 100M+ uniques 45% growth 100M+ uniques 32% growth 147M+ uniques 91% growth Source: ComScore Metrics 2008, 2009; Note MySpace, YouTube and LinkedIn data are U.S. only

5. Socially generated content is helping to shape consumer purchase decisions 50% - first stage of buying cycle 66% - point of purchase 21% of blog readers say blogs help them decide on a product or service Sources: Opinion Research Group, April 15, 2009 and BuzzLogic Study, March 2009

6. Consumers especially seek out social media when determining travel options Travel, recreation or leisure is the most popular category of products/services investigated online (80%) Travel related interests are in the top 5 key categories for blog readers (12%) Sources: Opinion Research Group, April 15, 2009 and BuzzLogic Study, March 2009

7. Over 3 million travelers are seeking U.S. Travel Suppliers through these key social media channels Flickr Photo by Victoria Peckham, June 10, 2006 Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

8. How are these travel brands engaging with their social audience?

11. The average U.S. Travel Supplier is present in just over half of key social media channels

12. Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009 Nearly all travel segments participate in every channel with the exception of virtual worlds and iPhone applications U.S. Travel Suppliers primary presence exists within LinkedIn and Facebook at (27%) followed by Twitter (14%)

13. Employee networking, marketing & sales orientations dominate U.S. Travel Supplier key social channel usage

14. Cruise Lines lead the product usage / sales orientation followed by OTAs and Resorts / Gaming segments within marketing focused channels U.S. Travel Suppliers primarily use Blogs, iPhone applications and Twitter to drive product usage and sales Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

15. Nearly a third of U.S. Travel Supplier social channels have been inactive for over 6 months

16. Some of the most inactive U.S. Travel Supplier social channels include MySpace (72%) and Twitter (44%) U.S. Travel Suppliers most recent social media adoption occurred within iPhone (86%) followed by Twitter (60%) Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

17. Two-thirds of U.S. Travel Supplier have social media channels with low engagement levels

18. YouTube and Facebook Fan Pages are equally lacking in social conversation levels Online Travel Agencies and Cruise Lines have the highest engagement levels amongst U.S. Travel Suppliers Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

19. Twitter drives 84% of the U.S. Travel Supplier social audience

20. Airlines and OTAs attract the highest social audience share within their key social media channels Twitter is the largest source of U.S. Travel Suppliers’ social audience; 10% have individual audiences exceeding 100K to 1 million followers Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

21. The average U.S. Travel Supplier maintains low brand share of voice levels within social media

22. Status Updates are the largest primary source of brand name mentions for Airlines and Online Travel Agencies Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009 Brand name mentions are primarily thru status updates and photos for 82% of U.S. Travel Suppliers

23. Facebook Groups are the largest source of negative branding for nearly all U.S. Travel Suppliers

24. Brandjacking or “posing” by third parties is more prevalent within Blogs, MySpace and YouTube Airlines are the most negatively branded within Facebook Groups; the largest number of groups for a single air carrier is 13 Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

25. Less than a third of U.S Travel Suppliers are integrating their social media channels

26. Cruise Lines and Airlines are cross-integrating their social footprint better than their industry peers When U.S. Travel Suppliers feature social media on their Home Page, it is most likely a Blog and / or Twitter channel Source: Understanding the Social Media Habits of U.S. Travel Suppliers, 4Q,2009

33. Most U.S. Travel Suppliers are not tapping into the full potential of an integrated Social Web

34. Top Airlines need a strategy or they will get left behind Travel Suppliers need an integrated social strategy, or risk being left behind Flickr Photo by Zach Stern, May 21, 2009

35. SOCIAL should now be part of your DNA at every customer touch point Post-Trip Inspire Pre-Trip Book Travel Shop Integrated SOCIAL Marketing Socialize Your Customer Touch Points

38. Get a total view of your social landscape Flickr Photo by Digital Breakout, October 17, 2009 Learn More: C. Michelle Batten - Travel Technology Consultant, Social Business [email_address] @iMediaMichelle