Nearly 75% of Families use Internet to Plan Summer Vacations, Two-Thirds Haven’t Booked Travel, AOL’s Platform-A Survey Finds

New York, NY – May 29, 2008 – More than seven in ten families plan to travel once school is out this summer, and 75% plan to make an online reservation for a rental car, air travel or lodging, according to a survey sponsored by AOL’s Platform-A Strategic Insights group. The survey also found that nearly two-thirds of families have yet to book their summer travel. Platform-A’s Strategic Insights group provides thought leadership, helping advertisers drive revenue through fact-based insights, strategy expertise, and innovative research projects that measure the effect of online advertising to online and offline results.

“The fact that nearly two-thirds of these families haven’t booked summer travel suggests that marketers still have a tremendous opportunity to reach travelers with their messages,” said Anne Hunter, Vice President of Platform-A’s Strategic Insights group. “Even in the early summer months, advertisers can influence vacation decisions with price-focused offers that will be appealing in the current economic environment.”

The survey of 1,000 families with school-age children found that these families plan to spend at least $1,000 on a one-week vacation in July. The most common destinations are: theme parks (30%), family visits (27%), road trips (22%), camping trips (21%) and other U.S. destinations (19%). Despite the high price of gas, 71% will travel by car because they find it more affordable than flying.

The study also found that 74% of families rely on the Internet for vacation planning, followed by friends and family (47%) and travel books (21%). Of the web-savvy consumers, 72% browse search engines, 58% go to online booking sites, 26% visit consumer testimonial sites, and 19% browse travel information sites.

“Knowing where travelers go online for ideas is powerful information,” Hunter said. “Online retargeting technology makes it easy for travel marketers to reach in-market consumers who’ve been conducting specific research, and then bring them back to their own sites for booking or conversion.”

Platform-A’s Strategic Insights group collaborated with OTX, a top-25 global consumer research and consulting firm, to conduct this survey. OTX gathered data from a sample of 1,000 families with school-aged children (age 6-17). Interviews were collected from April 10 – 14 to assess what American families have in mind for summer travel.

About Platform-A
Platform-A, AOL’s advertising business, offers advertisers best-in-class solutions that leverage AOL's premier consumer brands like AIM, Moviefone, MapQuest, TMZ, AOL.com and more; TACODA's audience insights and behavioral targeting; and Advertising.com's industry-leading reach across multiple networks, including display, mobile, video, search and affiliate. Platform-A also includes Quigo, a leading site and content-targeted advertising business and ADTECH, a leading international online ad-serving business based in Frankfurt, Germany.

About OTX
OTX is a global consumer research and consulting firm that has established itself as a leading provider of online-based research. The company specializes in providing innovative, cutting-edge online technology, products and analysis to the marketing, entertainment and advertising communities. OTX has developed the most innovative products available for online research today – products that work to uncover deeper and more profound consumer insight. Today the company is one of the fastest growing research companies in the United States and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, Miami, Chicago and London, with strategic partners in Japan, Australia, Russia, China, and Mexico.