Travelers Underutilize Technology When Trip Planning, Missing Opportunities to Save Time and Money According to Go City Consumer Survey

The survey also revealed that travelers prioritize affordability when selecting a destination with overspending ranked as the #1 pain point as they plan trips for 2025

NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Go City, the world's leading sightseeing and attraction pass brand, today released a trip planning consumer survey conducted in collaboration with Talker Research. The survey, which polled 2,000 frequent travelers—U.S. residents who travel at least three times per year—revealed affordability concerns among other pain points for travelers, the influence of social media and AI-powered travel tools when making decisions, as well as generational sightseeing trends.

Findings from this survey support Go City's decision to invest in a cutting-edge Trip Planning tool. The Trip Planning tool enables travelers to create custom-built itineraries based on trip duration, attractions of interests, geographic location, hours of operation, and more within seconds. Ideal for planners as well as those who travel spontaneously, the tool solves a need for travelers who want to save both time and money.

"Travel brands are inherently customer-centric, continuously evolving to enhance the travel journey. Because of this, consumers now have more tools at their fingertips than ever before," said Judy Gauthier, Chief Commercial Officer at Go City. "Tools like Go City's Trip Planner not only simplify travel planning and optimize value, but they also ease budget concerns and reduce planning stress, alleviating the top pain points for travelers. Based on customer service feedback and data-driven insights we've collected, travelers want to save on sights, discover more, and plan with ease."

Top Pain Points for Travelers
Nearly half (44%) of frequent travelers indicated that the number one pain point when it comes to trip planning is overspending. Although the majority of travelers (51%) prioritize selecting a destination based on how affordable it is, approximately a quarter of travelers (28%) will visit a destination if they find a good deal such as below market flights or hotel promos and packages.

The importance of affordability of a destination is underscored by a more than ten percent difference between affordability (51%) and other deciding factors for selecting a destination:

• The variety of experiences, culture, and history the destination has to offer (42%)
• Ease of travel to the destination (38%)
• Ease of travel within a destination (32%)

The top three expenses that travelers feel they're overspending on are lodging accommodations (21%), transportation (20%), and meals (17%). This is supported by the fact respondents reported spending the most on lodging accommodations and the least on shopping, for both domestic and international trips.

Additional pain points for travelers are packing (26%), planning (23%), missing scheduled trains, flights, and/or buses (21%), and ensuring that everyone's wants and needs are satisfied by the itinerary (17%).

Time Spent on Trip Planning Is Sky High
According to the survey, trip planning is one of the most time-consuming aspects of travel, with the average American spending approximately 17 hours 42 minutes on research, price comparisons, bookings, and more. Nearly a quarter (22%) of this time (3 hours 54 minutes) is spent on researching and booking experiences, cultural, and historic excursions, however, some travelers (16%) spend more than seven hours—up to 21 hours—planning this.

Experiences, cultural, and historic excursions are the single most time-consuming travel planning activity, more so than researching and comparative shopping for flights, lodging accommodations, car rentals, etc., and booking food and beverage reservations.

Influence of Social Media and AI-Powered Travel Tools
While the majority of travelers across all age groups use search engines (60%) and online travel agencies (54%) to plan their travels, social media platforms (33%) and online forums and review sites (24%) are also common trip planning tools. Social media is used by the majority (51%) of Generation Z to plan their travels.

Across all generations and age groups, social media serves as sources of inspiration with nearly a quarter (22%) of travelers inspired to go to a destination based on what they see on social media. The least used tools to plan travel are AI-powered (15%).

"The fact that eighty-five percent of survey respondents reported that they do not use AI-powered travel tools to plan trips tells us that travelers haven't quite realized the benefits of AI across various areas of their life—like travel. By underutilizing technology like AI-powered travel tools, travelers are missing opportunities to save time and money," said Gauthier.

Generational Sightseeing Trends
Generation Z, Millennials, and Generation X all reported that the expensive cost of tickets is the top reason they haven't visited more attractions and landmarks in their own backyard. On average, a quarter of respondents cited expensive ticket costs as a barrier for visiting more attractions and landmarks in their home city.

Other barriers include waiting in long lines and being in crowded places (20%) and not knowing which attractions are "worth it" (17%). This has contributed to the majority of Americans (51%) visiting up to three local attractions and landmarks in their home city, an average of 4.4 attractions and landmarks per person. Generation Z has visited less than this, while Generation X and the Silent Generation have visited more than the average of 4.4 attractions and landmarks.

Popular attractions and landmarks that respondents have never visited included U.S. national parks like Grand Canyon, local aquariums and museums, and most notably, the iconic Statue of Liberty.

About Go City
Go City—the world's leading sightseeing and attraction pass brand with 60% of global market share—is transforming the way people experience the world's greatest destinations. All delivered digitally, Go City enable travelers to save on sights, discover more, and plan with ease by unlocking access to more than 1,500 attractions in 25+ destinations across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania for up to 50% off compared to the cost of purchasing individual attraction tickets.

The All-Inclusive Pass offers an unlimited number of free, one-time entries to attractions and activities throughout the duration of the pass, while the Explorer Pass offers free, one-time entry to a chosen number of attractions and activities for a 60-day period. Both passes include easy entry, skip the line at select attractions, additional discounts at cafes, gift shops, and more. With Go City, passholders have the flexibility and freedom to choose what attractions, tours, and experiences they want, when they want them.

For more information, visit www.gocity.com or download the Go City app from the App Store or Google Play. 

Contact Information: 
Go City
Anjelica Magee
press@gocity.com

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