The Travel Industry

The survey, published by NUA Internet surveys (www.nua.ie) showed that among 1,200 US adults, there was a strong correlation between those who used the Internet and those who were frequent travelers. 53 percent of travelers use the Internet compared to 45 percent of US adults. Of those that purchased a travel item online in the last year, half, 8.2 million, were frequent fliers (NUA, Online).

The survey also showed that 16.5 million used the Internet to make reservations in 1999, in 1998 that figure was 6.7 million and in 1997 it was 5.4 million. Just over 35 million people used the Internet to research their travel plans and then subsequently bought tickets offline last year. 52.2 million use the Internet to plan their travel.

Of particular interest for this proposed project is the fact that the survey concluded that the typical online traveler is young, college-educated and in receipt of a salary in excess of $ 75,000. 51 percent buy from company sites-sites that sell directly from airlines and hotels, while 39 percent prefer to buy from portal sites such as Priceline.com, Travelocity and Expedia. 45 percent of those who purchased last year intend to make more purchases online t

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tract loyal bookers than online suppliers are, as agencies can provide many different travel products. Disloyal bookers are more likely to use supplier sites, as these often feature discounts and special offers. Forrester counsels suppliers to join forces with similar companies in different travel categories so their customers can book all of their travel requirements at one site. Small agencies are advised to find niche markets or face acquisition. Similar findings were reported by the Gartner Group that revealed, among other things, their projections that the value of the global Internet travel market will increase six fold by the end of 2001. Three quarters of Internet users visit travel sites to research timetables, flight options, prices and special deals. This represents a 400 percent increase from 1998. Sixteen percent of Internet users, 8 times more than in 1998, booked and paid for air tickets online. Those who did not purchase travel tickets online said they needed to speak to a customer representative about special requirements or they found the booking and payment process too rigid for their needs. Almost 30 percent of respondents found online payment procedures too complicated, and over 70 percent of those surv
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2362
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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