New research has revealed that one in ten people use Google Street View to help choose their holiday destination, and a further 56% would use the service when moving to a new house or area. New research from one of the leading coupon code and discount sites has revealed that a third of Americans use Google Street View before choosing their holiday destination in contrast to just 9% of Brits…
New research has revealed that one in ten people use Google Street View to help choose their holiday destination, and a further 56% would use the service when moving to a new house or area.
New research from one of the leading coupon code and discount sites has revealed that a third of Americans use Google Street View before choosing their holiday destination in contrast to just 9% of Brits. The study also revealed that more than half of these would use the service to look at a new house or area before moving.
CouponCodes4U.com wanted to explore the ways in which people save on everything including holidays; as a result they polled 6,286 Americans and 1,287 Brits to find out.
When asked the question “how do you decide where you will go on holiday?” a third of Americans, 34%, admitted that they had previously used the internet service Google Street View to check out the destination before deciding. When asked why, 21% said that it gave them a good idea as to whether they would like it whilst a further 42% admitted that they thought they would be able to tell if it was “good value for money” based on location and surroundings.
Just over half, 51%, said that they would often compare destinations and prices before they made a decision. 1 in 10 said that they would wait for a last minute deal before booking a holiday, as this would make it cheaper.
A quarter, 26%, of the respondents said that they often returned to the same holiday destination more than once. When asked to stipulate why, over half, 51%, said that they knew that they wouldn’t be disappointed after having already been there before. Almost two thirds, 62%, of Americans admitted that always go on holiday in the States.
In contrast just 9% of Brits admitted using the service for their holidays, of these over half admitted that it wouldn’t be the deciding factor and was merely a way of getting an idea of where they were going. Just fewer than three quarters of Brits said that they thought that the weather was the most important factor in deciding where to go on holiday.
When CouponCodes4U.com asked what else Americans used the Google Street View service for, 56% said that they would use it to check out an area before moving. A further 9% said that their opinions based on Google Street View would be the deciding factor when moving house.
1 in 5 Americans admitted that they often used Google Street View to look at the houses of celebrities. A further 16% confessed that they have looked at their own house just to see if they could see themselves.
Brits said that they used the service mainly for looking at their own home, with two fifths of Brits admitting this. A quarter, 26%, used the service “for fun” with 72% of these purposely looking for “funny points of interest”.
Mark Pearson, chairman of CouponCodes4U.com said: “Google is such a huge brand now that it comes as no surprise to me that it has become so trusted that members of the public will use it whilst making such huge decisions. I think using the service to check out the area where you may be moving to is no bad thing, however I don’t think it should ever be the deciding factor. Pictures, whether online or not, can often be misleading.
“I think that Google Street View is most definitely a service for the public to use and have a bit of fun with, so it comes as no surprise to me that a fifth of Americans have tried to find celebrities houses or even that Brits look for their own house the most.”
He concluded; “Google Street View can most definitely be a good way to pick a holiday destination, although I don’t think anyone should ever base their decision purely on what they have seen on the site. Customer reviews are always a good place to start, as they will have had experience of the destination. I also think that looking at what you get for your money is a good place to start, along with looking at many different holiday companies; and, of course, the odd discount is no bad thing!”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
