Forecast looks good for online bookings
For the first time, Europeans will buy more goods and services online this winter than Americans. According to industry experts, travel will remain high on the agenda.
According to research conducted by GartnerG2, Europeans will spend $15.77 billion online in the last quarter of 2002 – 74.7 percent more than the same period last year. Just behind them are the North Americans, who will spend $15.66 billion. Between them, these regions will account for 82.3 percent of online sales globally in the fourth quarter.
GartnerG2 business analyst, Gill Mander told TravelMole that sectors receiving increased bookings around Christmas would be travel, entertainment tickets, clothing and toy merchandise industries. She said that travel would remain high all year and continue to grow, because it was a type of booking suited to the internet.
Cheapflights.com chief executive, David Soskins, said his company was feeling positive. “The activity on our website has increased leaps and bounds, firstly because travel is a killer application on the internet, secondly websites and technology are improving, and thirdly British internet users are getting more savvy.”
Mr Soskins said that Cheapflights was now recording one million unique users per month. Particulalry strong growth was for package holidays. He said: “Our package bookings are several hundred percent higher than they were last year. Before it was the no-frills carriers that had the best websites, but now holiday companies are improving their sites, and bookings are increasing accordingly.” He said that package bookings now accounted for ten percent of those made through Cheapflights.
GartnerG2 is a research service that provides information to business strategists on global industries. The company surveyed up to 6,000 people per country to ask how much they intended to spend on the internet this winter.
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