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Travel research outside the Internet already unknown for many

February 21, 2007 | Online Travel

One of the greatest impacts the Internet has had on consumer behavior is the planning and purchase of travel. The impact has been so great that researching or purchasing travel outside of the Internet is already an unknown experience for many consumers.

The rush of travel consumers to the Internet has led to an online travel marketplace estimated at $68 billion – and that is in the US only. Furthermore, in a new report from PhoCusWright Research, this year for the first time online transactions will account for over half of all U.S. travel bookings. To better understand the Internet’s impact on travel planning and purchasing, Burst recently surveyed over 2,100 web users 18 years and older who plan to travel in the next three months about their use of the web as a travel resource.

The Burst study focused on the use of the web as a travel research tool and a means to purchase travel products. The study found that four out of five (79.0%) respondents will use the Internet to plan their upcoming personal travel. There is no difference in the number of men (79.9%) or women (78.1%) who will use the Internet to plan their travel; and similar numbers of all age as well as income segments will use the Internet for trip planning.

Among respondents who will utilize the Internet to plan their upcoming travel, nearly half (47.2%) say the Internet will be their primary travel resource. Among age segments, respondents 25-34 years are most likely to say the Internet will be their primary travel resource (53.2%); and respondents 55 years and older are least likely (41.4%).

Additionally, half (51.8%) of respondents reporting household income (HHI) of $75,000-$99,999, and nearly two-thirds (63.1%) of respondents reporting HHI of $100,000 or more say the Internet will be their primary travel resource.

Get the full story at Burst Media

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