In 2025, respondents were asked about their use of both ‘collaborative/sharing economy’ and 'non-collaborative economy' in the arranging of transport, accommodation, and other services online.
The ‘collaborative/sharing economy’, is based on person to person shared resources, like a room, a service, reselling, a skill, or a car, between private individuals via a digital platform, such as Airbnb, CouchSurfing, RoomShare, LiftShare, etc. and is covered in the chapter Sharing Economy.
This chapter focusses on the ‘non-collaborative economy' which involves the arranging of accommodation, transport, or other services on a digital platform from a commercial enterprise such as a hotel, travel agency, etc. rather than from a private provider.
Note: The data presented in this release relates to individuals aged 16 years and over who used the internet in the three months prior to completing the survey.
At an overall level, over six in ten (61%) of internet users arranged transport online on a digital platform online from a transport enterprise (local bus, train, flight ticket, taxi ride, etc.), a decrease of five percentage points on 2024. This also includes short-term rentals of vehicles or bikes and transport tickets bought from tour operators together with a holiday package.
Almost half (48%) had booked accommodation online with a hotel, travel agent, booking website or app such as trivago, booking.com, etc., down three percentage points on 2024. Note that holiday accommodation bought from a tour operator is also included.
Analysis by deprivation quintile shows that people living in more advantaged areas were more likely to have booked a transport/accommodation service online in this way.
Over seven in ten (72%) of people living in very affluent areas had booked a transport service(s) of some form (taxi, flight, etc.) from a transport enterprise in the three months prior to completing the survey, compared with just half (50%) of internet users living in disadvantaged areas.
Meanwhile, six in ten (60%) of people living in very affluent areas had booked accommodation online in the previous three months from a commercial provider such as a hotel, travel agency etc., compared with just 38% of people living in very disadvantaged areas.
Almost six in ten (57%) internet users had booked tickets to concerts, cultural, and other events online.
Females (60%) were more likely than males (54%) to book tickets to events including concerts, cinema, sports events, etc.
Analysis by sex/age group shows that younger females aged 16 to 29 years were most likely to book tickets for concerts, etc. online at 70% compared with 46% of males of similar age. In 2025, three in ten (30%) females aged 75 years and over booked tickets to concerts, events, etc. online compared with 17% of males of similar age.
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