Online Travel Spending to Peak $128 Billion in the U.S. by 2011

Jupiter Research finds that $128 billion in travel will be sold online in the United States in 2011. According to a new report by Jupiter Research, “US Travel Forecast, 2006 to 2011,” as much as 38 percent of travel revenue will be made online in 2011.

“Online travel revenue will continue to grow strongly from $85 billion in 2006,” said Diane Clarkson, analyst at Jupiter Research and lead author of the report. “Factors that will spur online spending are greater consumer wallet share, increasingly sophisticated products available online, and improved online compliance in business travel.”

Higher fares and an increase in people flying have driven total air revenue to $138 billion in 2006, with $49 billion of that spent online.

Jupiter Research forecasts that this figure will grow to $72 billion in 2011. Additionally, hotels will continue to see a shift to online sales as more travelers shift from hotels’ telephone reservations to their websites.