Death of the Postcard

LONDON, June 27, 2011 -

- Britons Prefer to Text ‘PS - Wish You
Were Here’

No more holiday afternoons spent
writing postcards - texting is the way to tell family and friends
what a great time you’re having, according to a survey by Cox &
Kings, the luxury touring and href="www.coxandkings.co.uk/">tailor-made holidays
specialist, who asked UK holidaymakers how they keep in touch with
family and friends from their travels.

The immediate gratification of texting updates and photos from
holiday is the preferred method of keeping in touch for 35% of
respondents, whereas only 15% still send postcards by snail mail in
these tech-savvy times. As Brits become more and more comfortable
using their mobiles on holiday, other methods include a mixture of
Facebook and other social media, phone calls and emails.

The age of the postcard is well and truly over for 18-24 year
olds, whose favourite form of keeping in touch with those at home
is by texting and using Facebook. 35-54 year olds overwhelmingly
keep in touch by texting and calling home, but a quarter of those
over 55 years of age are still fans of the good old postcard.

Women are top of the texters, with 40% choosing to text and send
photos of their holidays through their phones. Even though the
majority of men also prefer texting over other forms of
communicating, generally more men than women favour emailing and
posting updates on Facebook to keep in touch.

“With the emergence of smart phones it seems people are
opting to send instant updates and share photos from holiday rather
than send traditional postcards,” said Philip
Hamilton-Grierson, Marketing Director at Cox & Kings. “Our
company is over 250 years old and just as Cox & Kings has
evolved, so we’ve seen our customers move with the times and today
we enjoy receiving their holiday updates and photos through
Facebook as much as by more traditional media.”

Cox & Kings offers a range of luxury tours and private
tailor-made travel to worldwide destinations.

Notes to editors:

• Survey conducted by OnePoll
• For more information please visit href="www.coxandkings.co.uk/">www.coxandkings.co.uk

About Cox & Kings

Cox & Kings is the world’s longest established travel
company. Its history stretches back more than 250 years to 1758
when Richard Cox was appointed regimental agent to the Footguards
(later the Grenadier Guards). The company’s fortunes grew hand in
hand with the British empire and by the early 20th century the
company was acting as agent and banker throughout the armed forces
and as a shipping agent. In 1922 Cox & Co merged with the Henry
S King bank, which had strong connections with India. The bank
became part of Lloyds and the shipping agency grew separately,
evolving into the modern travel company.

Today, built on the high quality service and attention to detail
established by Richard Cox in the 18th century, the company
continues to flourish as an independent tour operator, with
operations in London, the US, Japan, Australia and throughout
India. Cox & Kings organises escorted small-group tours and
private tailor-made travel in the Indian Subcontinent, Latin
America, the Middle East, the Far East, Africa, Europe, Australia,
New Zealand and the South Pacific, and the Caribbean.

OnePoll

OnePoll undertakes a wide range of market research projects,
working on behalf of companies from various sectors within the UK
and around the world.

Our data is used for a host of purposes such as to generate
feedback on a website, new product or service or potential ad
campaign. Stories based on our research are also covered regularly
by the national press, TV and radio broadcasters and online.

For further information, please contact: Johanna Hakala johanna.hakala at leapfrogg.co.uk +44(0)1273-322-845; Lucy Freeborn lucy.freeborn at leapfrogg.co.uk +44(0)1273-322-849