More Romanians use mobile devices to plan their holidays

Almost half (47%) of the Romanians who searched information about holiday destinations or flights online and made bookings online in the first nine months of this year used mobile devices, according to local travel portal Vola.ro. Some 38% used mobile phones, and 10% used tablets. By comparison, in the first nine months of last year, only about a quarter of the online holiday research was made via mobile devices (18% on mobile phones, and 7% on tablets). This means that the online holiday research via mobile devices has doubled its share in one year. “The research and acquisitions made via mobile phones no longer represent a niche, but a clear preference when it comes to planning vacations. Moreover, we noticed that the mobile phone is primarily used for research and the average number of searches is even higher than in the case of desktop users,” said Manuela Melinescu, marketing manager Vola.ro. About 64% of those who purchased touristic products chose to pay online by card. Moreover, the Bitcoin also became more popular among Romanians. In just few months after its launch in Vola.ro, 50 Romanians used this virtual currency to buy plane tickets. In this case, the shopping basket also has a bigger value – EUR 420 on average. Vola.ro is the largest online travel agency in Romania, with an estimated turnover of 43 million in 2015. Study: Over half of Romanians book holidays online Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com