Ahh planning a trip, it’s exciting right? Dreaming of a destination, booking a hotel, making dinner reservations, packing; 

It is so exciting that it’s all we can talk about before the trip, and capturing photos and sharing them consumes us during the trip. When we finally get home? That’s right, telling everybody stories from our trip.

Sound familiar? Well listen to this ...

According to Accor, Asia Pacific’s second Social Media Monitor, travelers are spending as much time researching, planning, and yakking about their travels as they do enjoying the actual holiday. Say what???

I know what you're thinking, this is due to Millennials and social media. True and false.

The survey discovered that 70 percent of travelers across Asia Pacific now use social media when they travel. And on average, travelers are spending 2.8 hours per day on social media platforms. Age range: 28 percent are 35-44.

TripAdvisor surveyed 50,000 of their users and found that 91 percent use their smartphones while on vacation.

It makes senseâ€"your cellphone is a valuable resource on the road. You can use it for navigation, checking work emails, looking at the weather forecast, and of course sharing your trip with others via social media.

An InterContinental Hotels survey of more than 10,000 travelers across 13 countries, found that 40 percent of travelers worldwide agree that their smartphone is the most important item that they take on vacation. I mean what else would be that important, your spouse?

The Accor survey dug deep to find out what these users are doing on their phones. According to the survey, Facebook is the most used site before, during, and after their stay. Whatsap, Wechat, and Instagram are also popular sites both during and after vacay.

We’ve all seen it ... you're out to dinner in Florence and the person next to you is taking pictures of their pumpkin ravioli before they dive into it.  That solo traveler taking selfies while zip-lining through the lush jungles of Costa Rica, or the youngster on their first journey away from home, seeking comfort by whatsapping a friend. All of this phone time adds up, and sadly, it’s the equivalent to the time you spend enjoying your trip.

As a property owner, you might want to start reminding your guests to stop and smell the brunch buffet sans Instagramming every five seconds. Or, you could use this behavior to your advantage like this hotel did.

Whatever you do, don’t wait to optimize for mobile. You could be missing out on connecting with guests at every stage of their trip. Check out this free eBook for on the mobile optimization.

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