EyeForTravel reports that an online survey initiated by UK's Thomson and First Choice has indicated that an "overwhelming 80% of respondents" expect to take a holiday in 2010; similar numbers said the recession will not lead them to change their holiday plans.

About half the people surveyed plan to spend the same amount of money as they did this year; 24% plan to spend more. Of those people who said the recession had changed their holiday plans this year, about 6% said they had considered package holidays this year so as to offer extra security in case an airline collapsed. But that figure more than doubles to 13% for 2010.

46% said they would use the recession to book five-star hotels at three- or four-star prices. Travelers may be traveling farther next year as well – more than 23% said they look to buy a longer flight for the same price as one nearer to home. The proportion of people saying they would consider booking all-inclusive holidays jumps from 10% to 16% for next year.

One downside for UK travelers in 2010 is the Air Passenger Duty tax increases planned by the British government which will come in two stages - from November 2009. These will increase the tax on long haul flights – typically 12 hours or more - from £40 to £80.

While we have been emphasizing the increasing importance of offering online reservations both on your website as well as through distribution channels such as Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Travelocity, etc., this new study from the well-known Ypartnership makes it clear how important online reservations are to running a successful inn. (CEO Peter Yesawich is recently spoke at the PAII conference in Atlanta, and is well known to many innkeepers).

As reported in Hotel Marketing.com:

"While the percentage of leisure travelers who report making reservations online has grown more than thirty-seven percent (37%) since the year 2000, “Consumers’ search behavior has changed in recent years as people have become more familiar with search technology and the number of travel planning/purchasing sites has grown exponentially,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership.

"According to the just-released National Travel MONITOR(SM), fully sixty-six percent (66%) of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35% in 2000), while fifty-six percent (56%) now report making reservations online. The nationally representative survey of 1,590 active travelers was conducted during the months of February and March, 2009, and is co-authored annually by Ypartnership and Yankelovich, Inc.

"Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first (34%) when considering vacation destination alternatives. The Web sites of specific countries or destination boards are visited next (23%), followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity (22%). Only one percent (1%) of travelers commence their search for a vacation destination by visiting a blog.

"Search patterns for selecting an airline or lodging accommodation are understandably different. Consumers who are searching for these travel services first visit the Web sites of online travel agencies (42% and 31%, respectively). Brand-specific sites (41%) follow closely when leisure travelers are selecting an airline, yet significantly less so when they select lodging (21%). Meta search engines that compare fares are visited first by over one-out-of-ten travelers (13%) when selecting an airline."

If the only way prospective guests can book a room at your property is by telephoning or emailing you, there is absolutely no question that you are losing reservations every single day. Adding the RezOvation Booking Engine or Webervations to your website will increase your occupancy immediately, and at no risk, so please contact Sales@RezOvation.com or call (866) 565-1800 for details. Participating in BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations is now easier than ever, thanks to seamless links for both RezOvation and Webervations customers, and gets you in front of those 22% of travelers who head to the big online travel agencies mentioned above.