Australia is the Favourite Holiday Spot of Americans, Italians and the British

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, and LONDON—18 February 2004—If money were no object, Americans, Italians and the British would pack their bags and head to Australia for their holiday, according to surveys conducted recently by HI Europe, a London-based market research firm, and Harris Interactive^®, its US-based parent company.

"That the land down under came out on top is no small achievement," stated George Terhanian, President of HI Europe. "Spain is the only other country to join Australia on the American, Italian, and British top-ten lists."

Additional Key Findings:

• New Zealand, Egypt, France, Japan and Maldives appeared on the top-ten lists of two of three countries.
• Canada, Barbados, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Cuba, Greece, and Mexico rated among the top-ten in one of three countries.
• Italy and Great Britain placed second and third, respectively, after Australia on the US top-ten list.
• The British named the US (2^nd) and Italy (5^th) to their top-ten list.
• Among Italians, the US was runner-up to Australia but Great Britain did not make the cut.

"These findings, albeit fascinating, should by no means encourage Australia’s Minister of Travel and Tourism to begin preparing for an enormous influx of vacationers," Terhanian concluded. "Money is almost always an object."

"If you could spend a vacation/holiday in any country in the world (other than the country in which you live), and you would not have to worry about the cost, what one country would you choose?"

Base: All Adults*

* See methodology statements below for individual country respondent bases.

This HI Europe survey was conducted online within Italy between October 6^th and October 13^th, 2003 among 839 Italians, aged 18 and older. Figures for age, sex, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability sample.

This HI Europe survey was conducted online within Great Britain between October 6^th and October 13^th, 2003 among 1,296 Britons, aged 18 and older. Figures for age, sex, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability sample.

The Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between July 14 and 20, 2003 among a nationwide cross section of 2,215 adults (ages 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online survey is not a probability sample.

HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) is a market research and consulting firm known for its expertise in strategic business and consumer research, particularly in the IT and telecom industries. HI Europe plays a major role in solving its clients' complex business problems through thoughtful application of innovative methodologies and sophisticated technologies, focusing on those that are Internet-based. Headquartered in London, HI Europe is a subsidiary of US-based Harris Interactive^®, one of the world’s largest market research companies, known for its pioneering use of the Internet to conduct scientifically accurate market research.

About Harris Interactive^®

Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll^®, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries—London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan—as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market- and opinion-research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online^SM and be invited to participate in future online surveys, visit www.harrispollonline.com.

Carole Holland
HI Europe
+44 (0) 20-8263-5268
cholland@hieurope.com

Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
USA 585-214-7316
nwong@harrisinteractive.com