Official: Research Shows Brits Are "Dopey"

In parlance that doesn't mean they are druggies but rather they are either stupid or something worse...

So where do we learn this from? no greater authority than HIM! research a UK based company. I checked their website and so far I have not found that they have any travel specific clients. Although their roster reads like a who's who of retail brands and outlets. From Pepsico to HM Post Office. A lot of beverage and CTN players are listed on their client page.

Anyway back to their research - at today's Advantage Retail Consortium conference their CEO Mike Greene - who I am sure is a nice chap - told delegates that 25% of people don’t know where they are when they go away!!!!

Almost a million book flights or hotels to the wrong destination each year and 1.6 million take away the wrong currency. This is based on UK research where with a population of 60+ million this represents a large amount. I am assuming that the UK is the source of the data. Currently it is estimated that about 125% of all Brits leave the country each year. So this number is somewhat worrying because it is likely increasing as more people move to self service via the web.

OK so hands up those who have ever booked the wrong date/time or destination. Hmmm that would be a lot of us (YES the professor included!).

Greene said this was an opportunity for agents as so many consumers had trouble booking holidays and getting currency on their own. Other statistics from Greene’s research showed that 77% of people plan to travel as much as last year and 72% intend to spend as much.

So does this mean that only Brits are the ones that make mistakes? Far from it - I am sure that despite their interest in bonking on holiday (see my earlier post) the Brits are no worse than any other nation at making mistakes in booking irrespective of the channel used.

So if Brits are Dopey - who is Happy? Who is Sleepy? I can speculate on who is Grumpy too.....

Cheers