Online travel growth to slow
Although US online leisure/unmanaged business travel market growth continues to outpace the total travel market, the days of lightning-fast online growth are gone for good, says PhoCusWright.
The share of US travel booked online will increase to 40 percent by 2013, growing just one percentage point over five years.
"Yet despite the slowing overall growth trend, online penetration continues to vary significantly by segment," says the site.
Only two segments were expected to book half or more of their sales online in 2011: air (50 percent) and rail (54 percent).
"At the other end of the spectrum, online bookings were projected to comprise only 11 percent of cruise and 5 percent of traditional vacation packages. Both segments rely heavily on traditional travel agencies for distribution," the site predicts.
With the US online market at a stage of maturity, in the short term, rail and hotel and lodging are the only segments expected to gain significant share in online penetration.
By 2013, 56 percent of Amtrak’s tickets will be booked on Amtrak.com, and one-third of hotel and lodging will be booked online, up from 29 percent in 2009.
By David Wilkening
David
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