According to the results of a new international survey, Chinese, Taiwanese and Thai travellers are the most addicted to their smartphones. Smartphones have also leapfrogged over long-standing necessities such as a toothbrush, deodorant and driver's license to be considered the single most indispensable travel companion.
The report, prepared by Expedia and Egencia, shows that 60 percent of travellers from around the world said that they will not go on a vacation without their mobile phones, while a full 35 percent said they use their phones more while on vacation, than they do at home.
China and Taiwan topped the list of the countries that are most attached to their mobile devices where 94 percent of the respondents considered their phones as important travel companion. The two countries are followed for Thai respondents with 91 percent.
At the other end of the spectrum, travellers from Germany, Norway and Sweden showed the least amount of dependence on their smartphones while on the road. For the report, more than 9,640 travellers across 19 countries were polled.
'We have found that travelers are using mobile devices at every stage of the travel process, from researching and booking trips to capturing and sharing the travel experience,' Aman Bhutani, president for Brand Expedia Group, said.
Bhutani added that because a traveller can use the device to read work email and stay connected to the office, it also improves the quality of the vacation. Survey results also showed that 60 percent of travellers will check their work emails while on vacation, with Indian travellers more likely than other nationalities to mix work with pleasure.
Although smartphones are playing an increasingly valuable role in travel, respondents do have their limits, as there are certain indiscretions that were deemed more offensive than others. For travellers, the biggest violations of mobile etiquettes are playing music or videos without headphones and making calls on speakerphone at 58 percent and 57 percent, respectively.
Taking photos of strangers, making calls at a restaurant and enabling notifications on the loud setting round out the top five grievances.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
