Tag Archive for: international tourism

International Tourism, Online Travel Sites, Worst Passwords

Uncertainty looms for international tourism in 2016

International tourismDespite strong grown for the past six years, 2016 may mark a downturn in international tourism. In a recent report the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) predicts that international tourism may only grow at a rate of 4% this year – down nearly half a percent from the 4.4% rate seen in 2015. If that report proves accurate that will mark the slowest growth rate since 2009.

UNWTO does identify some reasons for the lower rate prediction, noting that safety and security are among the biggest concerns for travelers.

2015 saw 1.18 billion people travel internationally, up from 256 million during the height of the global recession in 2009.

Study: online travel sites aren’t just about prices

There’s more to what consumers want on travel websites than just the best price. According to a survey by reservation and ecommerce system supplier Atcore, it’s a combination of factors that most consumers look at when deciding who they’ll go through to book travel.

Those factors come down to price, selection, ability to specify details, easy of use and booking several parts of a trip in one spot. The survey found that most sites are lagging on what they promise – according to survey participants.

47% of those surveyed listed booking multiple parts of a trip, advanced search options and filtering to be “must haves” for them while recommendations and trip suggestions were ranked important by only 7%.

Worst Passwords

Worst PasswordsPassword management company, SplashData, has revealed its worst passwords of 2015. We know this is necessarily news, but it is always fun to read. This data is based on more than two million passwords that were leaked last year. There’s some good news and bad news: we’re getting a bit better about making our passwords longer – but not necessarily better. Here are the top ten worst passwords of 2015 and their ranking compared to 2014:

  1. 123456 (Unchanged)
  2. password (Unchanged)
  3. 12345678 (Up 1)
  4. qwerty (Up 1)
  5. 12345 (Down 2)
  6. 123456789 (Unchanged)
  7. football (Up 3)
  8. 1234 (Down 1)
  9. 1234567 (Up 2)
  10. baseball (Down 2)

It’s worth noting that some very topical passwords rounded out the top 25, including starwars and solo. SplashData notes that, for now, the best defense against hackers or thieves is to create a long and random password that is hard to guess.