iResearch’s recent travel related research found that 66.6% people gather travel information from friends and relatives, which shows potential of word-of-mouth marketing. Other ways people get travel information are shown below:
Recommendations from friends: 66.6%
Travel websites (e.g. ctrip): 45.2%
Search engines: 44.4%
Traditional media (newspaper, magazine, TV): 35.4%
Travel section of portal sites: 33.8%
Social networking sites (like tianya, mop): [...]