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Online travel and the slumping economy

April 14, 2008 | Online Travel

Forrester Research's Henry Harteveldt keynoted TravelCom'08 in Chicago last week with a presentation titled �Successfully Navigating Uncharted Waters.� The confluence of a shaky economy and slowing online growth has marketers stumbling for answers.

The annual Travel Com Conference, produced by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), featured top-level executives from Forrester Research, consumer brands like Travelocity and Priceline, plus GDS companies and software providers � all providing their unique perspective on the state of the online travel industry, and more importantly, where we�re headed.

Henry Harteveldt, vice president & principal analyst of Forrester Research, keynoted the conference with a presentation titled �Successfully Navigating Uncharted Waters.� The confluence of a shaky economy and slowing online growth has marketers stumbling for answers. The online travel industry has reached a point where 80% of travelers are online and growth for online bookings, which currently stands at $112 billion, has virtually stalled � with only single-digit gains. Satisfaction with online bookings is decreasing as only 49% of online bookers feel it�s enjoyable to book a trip online, down from 53% last year. 24% of people feel it�s more convenient to research travel offline, versus 20% last year. Also, growth in online travel spending is expected to be greatest among the Generation X and Y generations, not the traditional boomer and senior populations that are prevalent in the group travel industry.

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