AS the internet cafe celebrates its 10th anniversary, research shows how invaluable it has become for travellers. Far from getting away from it all, today’s wired generation stay in touch. The study from search engine Yahoo! shows that 69 per cent of young Britons regularly use e-mail while travelling. And forget escaping to far away places: 86 per cent admit they wouldn’t leave home without their mobile.
The remarkable growth in technology in the past decade has seen iPods or MP3 players replace short-wave radios, and notebooks give way to laptops.
One in five travellers sends an e-mail within the first day of arriving at a destination. More e-mails are sent home to friends (42 per cent) than family (35 per cent). Nine per cent of travellers e-mail the office.
Yahoo! Mail has joined up with Rough Guides and STA Travel to launch an internet cafe award, to mark the opening of Cafe Cyberia in London in 1994.
Eva Pascoe, co-founder of Cafe Cyberia, said: “Internet cafes have come a long way. Travellers can now e-mail friends for the price of a cup of coffee regardless of where they are in the world.”
Jon Wayth from Yahoo! Mail said: “Travelling is no longer about totally removing yourself from home, friends and family. E-mail and the estimated 20,000 internet cafes have made this communication phenomenon possible.”
The Times (London, England)
Saturday, April 3, 2004
Author: Steve Keenan
