Majority of business bookings now online, says survey
Poll of 100 companies shows 50 per cent barrier has been broken
Businesses are making more travel reservations online than they are on the telephone, according to a survey of 100 companies around the world.
According to the research by the web-based travel system provider GetThere, published in today’s edition of The Times, online bookings outnumber those mad by telephone by 53 per cent to 47 per cent. The newspaper points out that GetThere is an “interested party” but adds that the report is based on the responses of some 100 companies, each of which spends millions of pounds annually on travel products.
Average airfares booked online were 15 per cent lower than those made over the phone, and 60 per cent said it had taken less than a year from starting to use the internet to the situation where the majority of bookings were made online.
Jeff Palmer, president of GetThere, told The Times’ Tony Dawe: “People in the industry have been waiting for the 50 per cent barrier to be broken and this year’s survey is the strongest evidence of the trend to booking corporate travel online. The cost savings that companies have reported should provide further motivation to book online.”
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