Online Booking Poised to Remain on a Roll

While the number of international travelers using the Internet appears to have reached a plateau, those who plan and book trips or vacations online continues to climb rapidly, according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).

The annual report, this year issued jointly with TIA co-sponsor and contributor USDM, shows that the Internet continues to grow as a dominant channel for both reaching and transacting with today´s travel consumers.

In fact, while growth in the number of adult travelers using the Internet for any purpose has slowed, the number of online travelers who used the Internet to actually plan and book trips grew significantly this past year.

“People are turning to the Internet to plan and book their trips in greater numbers than ever before and it´s become increasingly obvious that the way we sell and distribute travel has changed forever,” said Dr. Suzanne Cook, TIA´s Senior Vice President of Research.

According to the poll, more than nine out of 10 online travel planners said they used the Internet to plan a personal trip last year, while a quarter planned business trips online.