Online sales soar
ONLINE travel sales in western Europe rocketed by more than 40% during 2003 – with another significant jump expected this year, according to new research.
The UK again led the way by capturing a 39% share, unchanged from 2002, followed by Germany with 21% and France 11%. Total sales in the region hit £7.4 billion, a 43% rise, and accounted for 5.2% of the worldwide market.
The data, compiled by the Denmark-based Centre for Regional and Tourism Research, said the trend would continue at pace.
In his report, senior researcher Carl H Marcussen said: “We predict the western Europe online travel market could grow by 29% to this year and by 2006 could be worth £13.4 billion.”
Predictably, air travel was again the main driver although its share dropped slightly from 59.2% in 2002 to 57.6%. Hotel bookings increased from 14.4% to a little under 16% with packages accounting for 13.3%, a slight increase on 2002.
The report said one of the trends was a slowing down of the no frills share.
“The advent of no frills airlines, not least in the UK, was an important driver behind the increase in the UK online travel market,” it said.
“But as they reach a ceiling in terms of the percentage of seats sold online they can no longer expand their online sales as quickly as they had been.”
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