Trends Report – June 2001: An in-depth study from the analysts at PhocusWright explains how the online travel business grew during this time.
Lorraine Sileo, VP of Information Services for PhoCusWright, Inc., the Stamford, Connecticut-based research group, recently announced large Internet usage gains and other findings from the 2001 PhocusWright Travel Consumer Trends survey of American online travel consumers.
PhoCusWright's analysis comes from data provided by travel websites, private interviews with industry leaders, and phone surveys conducted with 500 frequent traveling adults culled from a pool of 10,000 diverse Internet users.
Their statistics show that 27 million Internet users in America were behind the modest surge in 2001 spending, up from only 11 million users tracked in 1999. Online travel sales, despite the drop in travel confidence after the events of September 11th, accounted for 41% of air ticket purchases, compared to 26% of consumers who used a travel agent, and 26% who bought directly from suppliers. Although 91% of Internet users visited travel websites, only about one-third consummated a purchase online.
In a surprising change from the 2000 survey, when airline supplier sites attracted over 50% of all online travel purchasers, 90% of travel purchasers now say that low price was the major factor in choosing a site to buy from.
In another surprise — indicating a growing trust of the Internet —
66% of cruisers indicated they would buy a cruise online and 60% of vacation package buyers agreed, saying they would be online purchasers in the near future.
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