Women on Their Way Survey Finds Women Turn to Social Media While Traveling

PARSIPPANY, NJ–(Marketwire – October 5, 2010) –  Women on Their Way by Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), the hospitality industry’s longest-running branded program dedicated entirely to female travelers, today released a survey revealing that nearly half of women surveyed access social media while traveling.

Hot on the (stiletto) heels of summer travel season, Women on their Way commissioned the survey, conducted by Vision Critical, which polled 500 women between the ages of 18-50 on how they use social media when they travel. The women surveyed have a social media account and have had an overnight trip in the past 12 months.

Key findings from the survey include:

• Almost half (46 percent) of women use social media during their trip and half access it through their smartphones.
• Of those respondents who use social media during their trip, the majority (81 percent) are on a leisure vacation. Three in every four women are on family visits and a quarter are on girlfriend getaways.
• Facebook is the social media site of choice for the connected traveler. Almost two-in-five women provide status updates or commentary during their trip on Facebook and well over half (57 percent) share photos or videos.
• Younger respondents are more ‘plugged in’ and are more likely to be using social media during their trip. More than half of those under the age of 35 are using social media while on their trip, almost two-thirds share photos or videos and 46 percent update their status or provide commentary.
• Most respondents commented that the biggest reason they use social media when they travel was to stay in touch with friends and family while traveling and share their experience with others.

“It is evident women, myself included, are becoming more engaged online while traveling,” said Alyson Johnson, vice president, Corporate Communications, Wyndham Worldwide. “Through blogs, expert advice, and an interactive Facebook page, Women on their Way embraces women in the online community and encourages them to interact and connect with other like-minded women about their travel experiences.”

To provide women with access to the social media outlet of their choice while traveling, almost all of the company’s approximately 6,000 domestic hotels, which includes properties under well-known brands like Days Inn®, Microtel Inn & Suites® and Wingate by Wyndham®, offer complimentary Wi-Fi.

Tell us what you think. Join the conversation on the Women on their Way Facebook page. And for more information regarding the results of the survey, visit: http://www.womenontheirway.com/whats-hot/2010/10/social-media-when-we-travel.html.

About Women on Their Way
Women on Their Way is an online resource for business and leisure travelers to find everything they need to plan and book their next trip. The website, www.WomenOnTheirWay.com, includes expert advice on destinations, hotels, timeshare resorts and vacation rentals, plus special deals and packages.

Women on Their Way is the hospitality industry’s longest-running branded program entirely dedicated to female travelers. Since the program’s launch in 1995, Wyndham has supported women travelers as they’ve emerged from a niche market to a formidable force, listening and responding to women’s feedback, which has resulted in a better hotel experience for all travelers, including the addition of various amenities to hotel rooms such as coffee makers, full-length mirrors and healthier room service menus.

While once a single hotel chain program, Wyndham Worldwide expanded the program across all brands and businesses offering over 87,000 hotels, vacation rentals and resorts in 100 countries.

About Wyndham Worldwide
As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses nearly 7,200 hotels and approximately 607,000 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals offers leisure travelers, including its 3.8 million members, access to over 80,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 155 vacation ownership resorts serving over 820,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 25,000 employees globally.

For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit the Company’s website at www.wyndhamworldwide.com.

About Vision Critical®
Vision Critical is a global research and technology firm that creates software and services solutions for over 600 clients, including one-in-four of the world’s top 100 brands. The company has offices across North America, Europe and Australia as well as a Global Partner Program that provides other research companies and consultants with access to top-of-the-line technology. Its Sparq™ product is the most widely adopted community panel platform on the planet.

METHODOLOGY

From September 7^th to September 10^th, 2010, Vision Critical conducted an online survey among a sample of 502 adult American women, aged 18 – 50, who are Springboard America panel members. Respondents had to have taken at least one overnight trip in the past 12 months, either for business or pleasure and to be a member of at least one social media site. Individuals were actively sampled according to Census data. The full dataset (including those who did not qualify) has been statistically weighted according to the most current age, region, and education Census data to ensure a representative sample. The margin of error is ±4.4%, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

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