New study finds 60 percent of people won’t vacation without cellphones
A new study by travel website Expedia has found that travelers now consider their mobile device to be the “single most indispensable” item that they take with them when traveling — rating it higher than their toothbrush, deodorant or drivers license.
The study, which was conducted by Northstar, analyzed data from 9,642 travelers across 19 countries to examine how mobile devices impact travel and work-life balance.
According to Expedia, global travelers admit to being addicted to their cellphones even while on vacation. Not only did the study find that 60 percent of travelers say they never truly “unplug” on vacations, but it also found that they would be unwilling to take a vacation without their cellphone — as more than half of all respondents said they would be “lost” on a trip without their mobile device.
Thirty-five percent of travelers claim to use their cellphones more on vacation than they do when they are at home. More than one half of travelers who are employed said they check on work at least once a day while on vacation. One-quarter of all respondants said they have even paid for in-flight Wi-Fi during a leisure trip to check on work-related items.
The study also revealed which mobile etiquette violations people find to be the most offensive. According to the results, the top five most offensive mobile etiquette violations are:
- Playing music, games or videos without headphones
- Making or taking calls while on speakerphone
- Taking photos or videos of strangers
- Making or taking voice calls while dining at a restaurant or cafe
- Enabling notifications on the loud setting
Contact Caitlin Lilly at clilly@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @caitiesmith