I'm happy to help out but there are some fairly personal information on this survey Amy where is the guarantee of confidentiality?

Why do you need our zip codes?

Agree with LSky - I didn't get past the first page. This forum is still anonymous, that survey is asking too many personal questions.

I'm not taking that. What does my age and income have to do with my favorite place in Europe. I'd love to help you out but I won't be taking that survey.

Well I won't be taking the survey either due to the above comments about all the personal questions. Sorry, Amy.

I agree with the previous posters. It's always unsettling to be asked such specific questions that can be perceived as completely superfluous. Are you going to categorize our favorite places by our sex, our location, our age?

Why age and income ?

Age and income do play a role. At my age, the attraction of a city because of its nightlife is irrelevant--just speaking for myself but thinking that it may apply to my age category more so than to a younger one.

Income has also its role. A locale can be wonderful to one person and off-putting to the other because of the cost (Switzerland and Norway come to mind).

I completed the survey.

When it asks questions, it doesn't give you the option to answer correctly. So, I check I want to go to France. Then "where in next 12 months"..There is a list of places I have been to and don't intend to return to and I have to check that I am going there and or that I hope( as if I have never been)to go there, such as Champagne region or Alsace. So it was a waste of time as my answers do correctly reflect my reality. I want to go back to lots of places, like Stockholm, but it assues you have never been there. This survey tool needs to be redone.

Survey was pretty limited, in my opinion.

Well guys I had to give up after about page 8. What absolute nonsense, far too many things to click and goodness knows why you needed 2 massive pages to analyse the Lake district (being asked about the quality of food was the point where I realised this is the work of a Troll).

Look, I've been to virtually all the european countries that you have listed (and a good number you forgot to add). Please get a proper marketeer to develop a tool in future.

Tried to do the survery and agave up. I see 3 problems with the survey.

1) It is MUCH too long. this may be a function of the places I have been and want to go - but it takes forever.

2) When I say I want to go somewhere it doesn't give anyplace to put in that it is a repeat visit - it assumes all visits are first ones. Some places I want to go I have already been at least a dozen times. so the number of days for a visit doesn't make sense. I think you need 6 or 7 days to see anytng of London - but I will happily gof or 2 or 3 to catchup on new things since I have been ulitple times before.

3)I had trouble with IE - getting message that script ws running too slowly and would crash computer. Also, many times when I wuold click on a dot it wouldn;t hold - but would disappear.

17% took 12 minutes. What do you think doing the whole thing will take?

I completed the survey also.

I completed the survey, I didn't find the demographic questions intrusive but rather necessary to qualify the responses, I'm sure, and it was optional to provide your screen name and email.

I passed

There are some problems with the survey. One is that where there is a listing of countries we wish to visit, Slovakia is not listed; I do not see why any European country is excluded from the wish list.

Bordeaux is listed as an area to visit in France, but not the Dordogne, which is a major tourist destination. Moreover, there is no option to enter an alternative if one is going to a specific area, e.g. the Auvergne, and of course the Dordogne.

Done.

I complelted the survey.

My biggest complaint was with number of recommended nights. My choices are 1-3, 5-7, etc.

There are a number of places I'd put in a one or two night category, and another group I'd put in a 3-5 night category, plus a few that I'd suggest longer than 5 nights. My results won't differentiate the very short stay from the middle. They all end up in 1-3 nights because 5-7 is just longer than I'd recommend for most people.

Same comments as NYtraveler. Also, I was maybe 25% done and got that script running slowly comment and then the whole screen went blank. I guess that means all my answers up to then were lost.

ditto what nytraveler said

too long, somewhat inconsistent re. list of countries. serbia and montenegro got listed, but none of the Baltic states. I think Portugal is also missing

and too long when you have visited more than 2, 3 countries
maybe it should be boiled down to each one's top 3 destinations

that the home town of the Alhambra in Spain became a Carribean island is just a joke on the sideline.. GRAnada, not GREnada, folks

Agree with Michael . Finished!

I didn't worry about personal info - they are not more personal as other surveys I've taken, although there those questions come in the end.

I've completed about 20% and closed, this survey is too long, takes up too much time, sorry.

And why is it Belarus is not on your list? I was there, but can't comment.

There are some problems with the survey, not sure how useful it will be, actually, although I answered it all.

There isn't anything personal on it, I don't understand those comments. The ages are three big groups, for example, and income is in categories. These are typical of any social science survey, as is geography. I used to work in marketing research and surveys without any demographic information are fairly worthless for most purposes.

I finished the survey in less than 5 minutes. I would rather answer an online survey than a telephone survey. I did not think the questions were too personal.

Nice to know Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are countries!

16 minutes to complete the entire survey. Dont think the script running is fully a Fodors issue. Check your settings on your computer for security.

Seems most of the complaints of the survey is that it doesnt ask you the questions you want to answer. I'd suggest that Fodors is seeking information They want, for either marketing or site development.

I doubt they're seeking survey participants to please the participants, which on this site is an impossible task for many!

I'm ok with the personal info, and I understand the reasoning.

The "my ideal length of stay" is too subjective - you should put more parameters. I would stay anywhere in Europe for a month if I had the time and the money.

Survey is way too long for someone whose been to a lot of places in Europe within the last 24 months.

done it! some of the qs are a bit clunky, i agree.

and it's a shame that no-one at fodors can spell 'Granada" [the one in spain - i assume they weren't referring to the island in the west Indies}.

I filled it out, but when choosing a hotel, good recommendations from fellow Fodorites is pretty important - and it's not even one of the options to choose.

Not intrusive at all for me. I compelted the survey.

HELP--I completed [Sorry Amy]

I think I visited too many countries in the past 24 months--I was only 40% completed with the survey and had spent more than 20 minutes on it when I got the slow script notice and then everything went blank---UGH Deborah

Bunch of unhappy campers, here. This was a simple survey, not a tax form. I am not sure how the information will be used, but the survey was quick and easy. I did pass on followups, however. I was afraid it might lead to sales pitches from advertisers.

I completed it, as best I could. Odd selection of places in each country I thought. I couldn't answer questions on some of the countries I've been to since the area wasn't listed.
No option for European members to add using their own car for visits.

Hi Amy,

Suggestion for improvement:

"Don't recommend" isn't the same as "not applicable".

Yep - major problem is indeed "Don't recommend" - not at all the same as "not applicable".
Some of the questions just don't apply to the destination - for example, there's really no nightlife to recommend in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland (my most recent trip).

I grudgingly completed it

I completed it but not with accurate income about my location.

Also, I agree with the survey questions. It doesn't offer enough choices.

accurate info about my location.

Income I answered correctly because I feel that income does make a difference in travel styles and views.
Age also but my zip code.

Done. 15 minutes, and that included time on the phone with the vet.

FWIW, I fudged on the income number, mostly because it varies greatly from year to year, but I gave my correct age and zip code. Who cares.

I had the same problem as GinaTo and others.

For example, we rarely "do" nightline so I really can't fairly comment. I pushed the Not applicable/Don't recommend button but that could imply the nightlife is rubbish, when I really have no idea at all.

So, my responses aren't accurate and no one else's will be either.

I did complete the survey but wondered if it had been piloted first. I would not have a high level of confidence in the results.

Amy
I started to take the survey, but I became concerned that a lot of the information will target advertisers, hotels, rental car agences, airlines etc. to know exactly how to target me for advertising based upon what they will find out from the survey.

If you can guarantee 100% no information will be shared or exchanged with anyone I think more would take the survery. Otherwise it is too suspiciously aimed at getting information for advertising purposes.

I took it. Quick and simple.

I took the survey. It took about 12-13 minutes. As a designer of surveys in a past life, I found the survey easy to take but too long.

Is it this simple? I didn't give my name or e-mail address. Will any information be passed on-- no.

"Will any information be passed on-- no." How do you know? And do you know how much info can be derived from your zip code??? I could probably go along with sex and a broad age range, but income and zip code are out.

I completed it 21 times to make up for the people that pulled out.

Done - no big deal.

The survey did not take into account the fact that some travelers use FF miles for flights and/or rewards for accommodations and that can affect the overall budget.

Call me, we can talk.

I completed it 21 times to make up for the people that pulled out.>>

lol cold - we've missed you.

I think the personal information is relevant for the reasons previously stated: some places are better for people with more money to spend, some MIGHT be more relevant for certain age groups (though I didn't really get that taking the survey).

I finished it in about 15 min. But I skipped a lot of questions. I figured if I really liked a place clicking the highly recommend was relevant but I didn't click a response to every single question.

I do think the survey could have been designed better. It is hard to make up surveys that can have the answers compiled relatively easily and still get good, relevant information. There were plenty of questions where I wish I could have made a comment.

Is this like the books, if I am quoted will I get a free keyboard?

Done.

Since I did not give my email address, I better not receive any special advertisements regarding my travel plans in the next 24 months. I'll be on the look out.

More conspiracy theories by some. Fodor's already has all the information on everyone, including zip codes. Whatever one thinks about this survey, it is optional, not mandatory. Just do what you feel comfortible doing-no problem.

I did it but had fun making everything up.

"Don't Recommend" and "Not Applicable" grouped together almost made me quit the survey. They are totally different and should have separate places to check off. As I mentioned earlier, this survey tool needs to be redone.

I did it, but found the problems many did in not including places within a country I might want to visit, and/or not including an alternative to "want to go there someday" when I have already visited the country, and may or may not want to return.

Also it only mentions Hotels, when many of us prefer apartments or other alternatives.

What nukesafe said. There are some places in the world I have no interest in visiting!

I completed it; it took me 25 minutes but would have taken less if the computer hadn't hung up a couple of times.

"Pulled out" of where, Colduphere? Or should I ask "whom" instead of "where"???

BC

I agree with those who say the number of nights to allocate was too restrictive. Where did 4 go?

I think 3-5 would have been the second most popular category but it just wasn't there.

waaaaaaay too long.

great survey if you've only checked off one or two places visited. otherwise Waaaaaay toooo looooong (and boring) if you're asked to comment on more than 2 destinations!

I completed the survey but did not mark beyond the first set of check boxes for the cities. Way too long and boring to answer every little detail.

Too long if you have visited more than a couple countries. You are eliminating the people who travel the most when they actually would be the most helpful ones to give opinions. I'm just not going to spend more than ten minutes on a survey.

I've been to at least six countries in the past two years, but not necessarily to the areas in each country that you are asking about.

I completed it, and interestingly, being from Australasia, it didn't ask me for a zip code... I made up the income, because I don't have a household income, I'm a student that travels with others. I agree with the fact that this gets way too boring! I felt sorry for anyone that had been to loads of regions in more than four countries, it begins to drag after about the 10th 7-question section for a region. I think that this was targeted at a specific demographic and didn't account for things like backpacking or tour-group travel very well. I've definitely answered more engaging surveys!! This one is rather dull!

ok, I took it, and I found it absurd. As others have said above, the survey is too rigid and doesn't allow correct answers.

At the beginning of the survey, I noted that I live in Germany. Then the survey persisted in asking me when I book my flights to Switzerland. hmmm. I don't; I take the train.

I also noted that I've been to Innsbruck, Austria. However, I only go there to go shopping, so can't really comment on the other aspects of the survery questions.

I also noted that I've been to Interlaken, Switzerland. However, I far FAR prefer the car-free villages above Interlaken and would never ever recommend a stay in Interlaken itself. However, I wasn't given that choice.

Overall a poorly designed survey.

s

I tried to complete it, but it took me 20 minutes till I reached 30 % of if.Too long!
In the last 24 months I visited many countries , so there are too many questions here!
I think that the questions about "regarding your visit to.., would you recommend the following" should be general questions about what are your interests. For example, if I am not interested on beaches in general or nightlife , I would not recommend them for any place I visit. So, maybe it was better to ask first about what you are interested on and only after then, to ask: from the places you visited, what is most recommended for history, for art, etc?

I found the survey a bit frustrating. It asked which places I wanted to go, but I have already been to some and really enjoyed them. I chose not to check those - it does not mean that those places are not great. I would highly recommend some of the places I have already been, but it sort of looks like I'm not interested in them, as I don't want to go there.

Also, it makes a lot of assumptions about travel. I hope to fly with DH, while he is traveling for work, so we would stay in his work hotels- not my choices.

I think the survey will give you info that is far more limited in meaning than you realize and I wouldn't recommend using it to help with advertising.

I completed it. There is not get out answer for a lot of questions. So makes no real sense.
I do not earn my money in dollars… besides which dollars were they?????
The questions about zones in various countries are odd. You have not suggested visiting say Galicia in Spain, or even Drenthe in The Netherlands.
Miss spelt Granada. You spelt it the same way as the Caribbean Island. (Grenada).
What you make out of issuing the results god knows, as it really will not represent anything useful…Is this for the American news network called FoxNews?

I didn't get past the question about income. Sorry, not your business.

Right, Melnq8. That's as far as I got also.

Along with Bilbo and NYTrav, at about page 10 or so I just gave up, the sheer number questions were WAY too much. Am I doing a helpful survey or taking the SAT?

dave

I do think that's one of the first surveys I saw that didn't have a "Prefer not to say" on the income. Like a lot of people, I lied.

Then noticed that it was very, very specific about what cities I've been to... as long as they wanted to know. But favorites weren't on it, nor did they care about most of my countries. But as to where I live... if it wasn't the USA, it was "other" and a place to actually type something. Although I suspect that checking "other" already round filed the rest of my answers.

Tried after about 30 minutes I was 15% coplete got tired.
Foks who travel a bunch will have real problems completing this. I certainly did.

Like others, gave up after realizing I was going to have to answer the same questions over and over.

Income band is necessary I think....so that Fodors can recommend accommodations according to your planned budget, with the knowledge about one's annual income in the background.

<<iris1745on Jan 13, 12 at 2:17pm
Is it this simple? I didn't give my name or e-mail address. Will any information be passed on-- no.>>

All they need iris is your email address which they have. I predict all of us will start to see our email inbox pile up with ads that coincide with trips we plan to take in the next year.

AmyD, any thoughts?

iris - meant to add all that the editors have to do is gather the information and sell it to advertisers. That is what happens when you are at a shopping mall and you fill out something for a free trip to Hawaii or a new car. Plus Fodors also has our real names and email addresses to sell as well.

If Amy can confirm this is not true I will happily stand corrected.

Amy, I'm sorry... I have to agree with most of the others. The survey was really poorly designed. It took way too much time for those of us who travel extensively. I found myself wishing I had not clicked some of the places I've been in the last two years (eg 90 minutes in Budva vs. months in Provence), as I was barely qualified to offer any input on Budva... and nor can it possibly be compared to places like London or Provence.

The list of places in each country really wasn't consistent at all and there seemed strange inclusions and omissions.

I think the idea of a survey was a good one to identify favorite places, but I don't think you've got a properly-designed tool to reach any valid conclusions.

In the future, you should test a survey like this with real travelers before launching it on a broader audience.

I'd be interested in your thoughts about what we've had to say about the survey.

Kathy

I wasn't troubled by the demograpic information. But the survey itself was a mess.

It was much too time consuming if you've visited multiple countries.
Don't remember/don't recommend in the same box will make the survey useless to marketers and would-be visitors.

I gave up, too.

skip the zip code - I entered 00000 anyway. If you want marketing demographics, the survey is WAY too long. If you want guidelines for editorial content, why do you need to know anything more specific than state or region?

The detail of the questions -- and the redundancies -- make it unmanageably long. I'll bet less than 20% of those who begin it will finish. The more you've traveled, the longer it gets and the less you feel like answering.

Suggest you streamline with "drop-out" and ranking info. For example, once you've said where you've been, drop those out from the "where would you like to go" options. And instead of the long list of aspects with Lots-Some-None choices, why not just ask which three things (food, romance, walking around) were most important and which 3 least applicable.

Sorry -- why not ask us what it is you're actually trying to find out and we might be able to suggest how to ask the questions.

Now I think about it, income isn't very useful information for this survey. People with higher incomes may chose to sleep and even eat cheaply, either because they actually prefer B&Bs and guesthouses to big hotels, or in order to travel for longer. And people with lower incomes may save for a long time to manage a "splurge" trip. It would make more sense to ask whether the responder is generally a budget, mid-range or higher-end traveler, and even that may vary according to the trip - whether by location or occasion.

good point thursdaysd. Our income, or whatever it's been over the years, hasn't changed how we choose to spend money while traveling. We still stay at the same hotels, eat the same sort of places. I think it's a false assumption that how much money you have is an indicator of how much you want to spend on any particular item. Some of the wealthiest people I know are also some of the most frugal. And not just on travel. Which probably explains in part why they're some of the wealthiest.

I skipped the romance part...silly.
Romance while hiking?

People who travel the most can offer better opinions?

Snort.

it is long and i gave up... ashamed of myself

I slogged through it to the bitter end. This was a highly flawed survey and forced me to put in information that was blatantly inaccurate ("hope to go someday" - why no "doesn't interest me" or "been there and once was enough")

IMO, given how badly this survey was done, the next time they want to survey Fodorites, email a representative sample (regulars, newbies, Americans living in the U.S., expats, non-Americans etc) and ask them to take it and give their feedback. Use that feedback to improve the survey and THEN launch it on the greater Fodorite community.

Best suggestion yet, FoFo.

"Don't Recommend" and "Not Applicable" should have been two separate categories. Happy Travels!

>Nice to know Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are countries!

Yes, they technically are.

Amy,

Are you beginning to get the message that many/most of us do not think the survey is well constructed? It might help if you could post an explanation on what specific information or trends Fodor's staff hopes extract from the data you are collecting.

It is not at all clear to this member.

Yes, it's not a great survey, finished it though

Terrible survey. Flawed on so many levels. What about it is "Best of Europe?" It doesn't even list all European countries. Really, really amateurish. No way I'm wasting time on this.

Just the worst gawdammm thing I have ever seen. Junior kindergartenish. Insulting. Beneath me. Do they not know who I am? Please go away.

Bad. Take her crayons away.

BAD SURVEY! I have also designed surveys and I would not put this one out without testing it on people who are not involved in designing it. Or maybe WE are the test subjects? Any results from this survey will be inaccurate if not totally misleading because of the different meanings people will assume from the wording of the questions. It needs a complete do-over.

In the list of places I have visited in Italy, it left out Emilia-Romangna (Bologna, Parma, Modena) and Lazio (except for Rome), Umbria (Orvieto, Assisi, Gubbio, Perugia) and the Veneto, Lombardy, etc. And since I have not visited Tuscany in the last 24 months, I did not get to discuss places I would recommend.

I assumed the countries I want to visit were places I have not visited yet, so my answer and the answers of those who listed all the places they want to visit again are not compatible. So the answers to that question cannot be used.


Not recommended and not applicable are two very different things. I don't recommend visiting Florence and Rome in the summer, but that question is certainly applicable!! So what do you do with the results?

As for age and income, of course that is relevant. Older people will have different likes than younger ones. Higher income people will likely find different locations more appealing than others. And, no, Fodor's isn't going to use any identifying information. They use the age, income and location to identify which groups of people like what.

I completed it as payback for my use of the site. The main problem was with the "where do you plan to go" etc with no option for "interested but have been already" etc.

Agree not a brilliant survey - bad wording and vague. Completed it however. Didn't take that long.

I still want to know what they plan to do with the information?

They'll use the info on their web pages to tell newbies what places people like best. They will tell their advertisers which groups of people like which things, so ads can be targeted to them. They might issue a press release for Travel sections of newspapers and magazines which gives them PR for being the originators of the survey. They will tell travel agents the results. They can put the results in their travel books, and feature a section on Fodorites' picks.

That's some of the things they can do with it, nanabee.

That is, IF they redo this and get it right the next time.

From Fodors.com's privacy policy:

"A user's personally identifying information will not be sold or rented to any other party without prior consent."

http://www.fodors.com/about/privacy/index.cfm

Jean; You have it so right.All these conspirancies thories are interesting.

That's good to hear Jean. Thanks.

A lot of information is used to sell to marketing firms iris. I just was curious if that is the reason why they asked so many personal questions like income, age, where you travel, for what purpose, what kind of hotels, restaurants, airlines you use, etc.

I might have completed it if there had been an option to save my progress and then continue later. As it was I got interrupted about 17 percent into it and was not about to go into it again.

I too got interrupted but returned.

Main gripe was that Umbria wasn't mentioned as an area in Italy.

Now, cold, be nice.

Of course, if Fodors had better programmers, they wouldn't bother asking for zip codes, they'd simply use the responders' IP addresses. Have you noticed that Google knows where you are?

I did do it .. curiosity .. but I don't know that I was sharing full plans in any way.

I could have filled in a few more desired trips but stuck to just a couple locations, so I was done fairly quickly. I left some things blank and the survey let me continue (more sign of a poor survey).

How that survey could be used for designing trip planning tools, I sure can't imagine.

I just took the survey, mostly out of curiosity from all these comments. It took me 6 minutes, FWIW.

As for giving out personal information, I don't think what they asked was a big deal at all. If you think about it, many posters post way more personal info on the boards than what the survey asks for.

I had been working on it for about 10 minutes and I was less than 25% of the way through.

The "demographic" questions are for marketing and analysis.
Like maybe more women want to go to Paris and Men prefer Munich.

Maybe people with lower incomes like London and higher income like Luxembourg or Switzerland (I just made that up, ok?). They are also looking to see if they got a wide variety of responses...i.e. if there was adequate representation for old and young. etc.

It is JUST a second level of analysis beside the answers you provide. Young folks may like Spain, middle age like Norway, and seniors prefer Russia.

Zip code is just to get a variety of responses.

That's my take...I did data analysis for marketing.

Like many, I found some shortcomings with the survey...they assumed I had one trip to Europe planned..I have two..within a month. But it was not too long.

Should I be offended? I checked off all the places I wanted to visit and the survey said "Thank you - Goodbye". I guess I'm not interested in going to the places in Europe that are going in the "Best of Europe" category.

I quit in the middle because I lied about my income and they kept on asking me the same question. I thought I was in a nusring home.

I also gave up because it was too long - thought of starting again, and reducing the places I'd been to, but that defeats the object of the survey.

I think the survey should differentiate between "not applicable" and "Don't recommend" . There's obviously a world of difference.

Took the time to complete with the hope I'd be shown some type of "View others results" at the end. Come on Fodors, you can at least give folks some basic analytics in exchange for taking the time to fill this out. A bar graph, pie chart of most visited countries, someting...

Odd that they insist on knowing whether it's a good use of my time, since I did it only as a favor to Fodor's out of gratitude. A "good use" in terms of karma? Or warm feeling of having done my duty? Will we find out when we arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Starts to turn into a philosophical question for which they -- inexplicably -- leave no rumination space.

Please fix the "previous" button. I wanted to change something but could only click on next.

Should I be offended? I checked off all the places I wanted to visit and the survey said "Thank you - Goodbye". I guess I'm not interested in going to the places in Europe that are going in the "Best of Europe" category

toedtoes - It didn't ask me any questions about most of the places I'd checked. I had the the distinct impression too that they'd already decided what was best and wasn't too interested in hearing more. I couldn't really figure out why, if they could figure out already *which* places were worthy- they being the experts and all- how come they'd need us to tell them *why* they were right and to what degree.

From the comments on this thread, I think what they were looking for the most is information on past visits. Since I haven't been to Europe yet, I wasn't in their preferred demographic. Nothing new - I'm NEVER in the preferred demographic for any surveys. Guess I'm too much an independent thinker.

I am glad to hear that you are in my company.

That was a looooooooong survey.

I don't agree that the "don't recommend / doesn't apply" are in the same category. That will really skew things.

I fell asleep in the midd

Colduphere:"I completed it 21 times to make up for the people that pulled out"

Is that commonly done in Canada?

got halfway through and got a script error, too long to start over

Colduphere:"I completed it 21 times to make up for the people that pulled out"

He is the Questionnaireus Interruptus Savior.

I find it fascinating that, after 124 mostly negative reponses, Amy D has still not replied.

Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone who has taken the survey and for your feedback thus far.

We value your privacy and all of the information collected from this survey will be kept anonymous. The demographic questions (ages, income, etc.) are there to help us present the results of the survey in a way that is meaningful to our users -- all of you! You also have the option of providing your email address at the end of the survey solely so that the Fodor's team may contact you with questions about your opinions expressed in this survey.

Best,

Amy_D