A scouring of blogs and message boards across Australia found that Aussies were surprised how much they enjoyed New Zealand, particularly its scenery and adventure activities.  And despite a few gripes about insects and gentle mocking of Kiwis’ “eccents,” Australians have taken to New Zealand with gusto.

“This goes to show that despite the traditional ribbing of New Zealand by Australians, they’re coming around to what we have to offer as a destination.  We seem to be winning in the all-important category of word-of-mouth advertising,” said Tony Boyte, research director for Nielsen’s New Zealand online division.

Queenstown was by far the most talked-about tourist destination among Australian bloggers, followed by Milford Sound and Fiordland.  Skiing and snowboarding were the most popular activities in terms of blogs and message boards, followed by surfing and windsurfing, hiking, visiting wineries and bungee jumping.

One-third of those surveyed said that they used OTAs to book airline tickets, while 17 percent said that they booked hotels and package tours.  Another 14 percent used OTAs for train travel.  More Indians used OTAs for their air travel bookings than web sites for airlines.  The strongest players in this growing market are Yatra, MakeMyTrip and Travel Guru.

More than two-thirds (77%) of Internet-connected Indians said that they use OTAs to search for airline information, 65 percent for train information and 59 percent for hotel information.

“This is a sign of increasing popularity and awareness amongst consumers of the online booking mode, and though they don’t make bookings currently, it won’t be long before they convert,” said Vatsala Pant, Director, Consumer Research at The Nielsen Company.

So what are the key factors that drive consumers to OTAs? Brand awareness is the most important driver, according to those surveyed, followed by brand personality and price.   Having attractive promotional offers and relationships with many airlines were some of the more important contributors to brand equity.

“Having good awareness is a necessity to succeed in the OTA segment. Playing a price game will not take the image of the brand very far,” said Pant.

Meanwhile, those who haven’t yet used OTAs said that the key factors keeping them from booking were that “the rates offered are not the cheapest as claimed by the agents” (33%) and that cancellation/modification procedures were “very tedious” (24%).

The Nielsen India Online Travel Agent Study was carried out in four metro areas and three mini metros and surveyed 842 adults age 20-55.

According to Nielsen Online, 78% of adult online consumers in the U.S. made a purchase via the Web within the previous six months.

Travel-related transactions were most common, with 38% of adult online consumers making at least one travel purchase on the Web in the previous six months.

Large percentages of online consumers also went online to manage their credit card accounts (36%) and conduct personal banking transactions (35%).

Nielsen’s findings are based on data from @Plan, a quarterly survey of approximately 36,000 U.S. Internet users age 18 and older.

In October, eBay and Amazon were the top two online retailers, drawing 49.2 million and 48.3 million unique visitors, respectively.  Wal-Mart, Target, and Netflix rounded out the top five.

“The challenge for retailers is no longer how to lure shoppers online, but how to differentiate their brand among all others,” Nachi Lolla, research director, commerce, Nielsen Online, noted.  “Heading into this competitive holiday shopping season, selection, price, and customer service are the key areas in which retailers can shine.”

View the full press release.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings on Digital Media Wire and in Brandweek and BizReport.com.

According to a survey conducted by Nielsen, six in 10 Chinese plan to travel between September 29 and October 5 for Golden Week, while just 42% of Chinese reported making plans to travel this past February for Chinese New Year celebrations. 

More than half of those surveyed by Nielsen said they plan to travel within China, while about 10% were considering an overseas trip.  One-third of the respondents, surveyed between September 22 and 23, had not yet decided how to spend the holiday week.

Among those planning to travel internationally, Hong Kong was the most popular destination — with half of those traveling abroad claimed to be visiting the city.  Singapore (29%) and Macau (26%) were the second and third most popular destinations.  France (16%) and Taiwan (14%) also made Nielsen’s list of top holiday travel destinations.  

Within China, Dalian (20%) and Beijing were the most popular destinations, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen’s survey interviewed 2,000 Chinese Internet users nationwide.

View the full press release.

According to the Nielsen India Outbound Travel Monitor 2008, most international travelers from India are well-educated urbanites.  Countries in Asia — Singapore (24% of Indians), Dubai, Australia, and Malaysia (17% of Indians, respectively) — are the most popular destinations for India’s new travel elite. 

Overall, Asian destinations account for 72% of international leisure trips and 63% of business trips originating in India, Nielsen reported.  In comparison, travel to Europe accounts for just 18% of Indian travelers’ business trips and 14% of pleasure trips.

Of those Indians who travel internationally, 64% named sightseeing as the main purpose of their trip, while 47% reported they travel abroad to explore new countries.  Another 25% of those surveyed said they travel abroad to relieve stress, to have a good time, or to visit family and friends.

The Nielsen Indian Outbound Travel Monitor conducts face-to-face interviews with 2,000 men and women, ages 18 and older, who have traveled outside of India in the last twelve months.

View the full press release.

Learn more about Indian consumers in Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.

According to a 16-market survey conducted by Nielsen after the Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies, consumers throughout the world are increasingly interested in traveling to mainland China. 

Forty-five percent of those surveyed after the Opening ceremony said they intended to travel to mainland China at some point.  Following the Closing Ceremony, that percentage increased to 51%.  For 80% of the respondents, who had never visited mainland China, it would their first trip to the country.

Meanwhile, respondents who said they had no interest in visiting mainland China dropped from one-third, after the Opening Ceremony, to one-quarter, following the Closing Ceremony. 

Interest in visiting mainland China was highest in neighboring Hong Kong (86%), Singapore (86%), and India (80%).  Large percentages of repondents in Mexico (72%), Taiwan (69%), South Africa (69%) and South Korea (66%) also expressed desire to travel to China.

Positive impressions of China, generated by global Olympics TV coverage, may account for the surging interest in travel to the country, Grace Pan, head of leisure and travel research, Nielsen China, noted. 

“According to the World Tourism Organization, China will be the world’s largest tourist destination by 2020 receiving 137 million overseas tourists in 2020, and in the meantime and generating 100 million outbound tourists of their own,” Pan said.  “With the Beijing Olympics generating such strong interest in China, they may well reach these numbers earlier than anticipated.”

View the full press release.

Read China Daily’s coverage of Nielsen’s findings.

Based on a sample of 2,000 respondents across 10 cities in India and updated annually, the Indian Outbound Travel Monitor will explore the behavior and considerations of Indian travelers when planning for, during, and after a trip abroad. 

The Monitor, which will track travelers’ destination preferences and travel decision-making processes, aims to help tourism professionals identify and optimize growth opportunities in India.

The Indian outbound travel market has expanded by nearly 10% annually since 1996 — from 3.5 million trips in 1996 to 8.3 million trips in 2006, according to PATA.

View the full press release.