‘Half of UK outbound trips booked online’

Half of all overseas travel from the UK, or part of the trip, is now booked online, according to an influential report.

And 44% of all airline trips from the UK are rated as low cost or low fare, reflecting the influence of no-frills carriers on the travel sector.

The findings emerged from a meeting of world tourism experts at the 14th World Travel Monitor Forum organised by IPK International, producers of the World Travel Monitor survey.

The forum found that the UK outbound travel market, up 2% in trip volume so far this year, leads the low-cost/low-fare sector by a wide margin. The 44% level compares with 26% out of Germany.

“The British are also among the most enthusiastic online travellers, since 50% of all outbound trips (or, at least part of their trips) are now booked through the internet – nearly double the 27% German share,” IPK said.

The research company said the growing use of the internet for online travel booking, has had a “largely positive” impact on the industry, helping to reduce seasonality and opening up new secondary destinations.

But consumers are demanding more and more control when making their travel arrangements, and new mobile devices are facilitating new booking opportunities as well as stimulating consumer interaction.

“More than ever before, suppliers must adapt their products to meet the changing needs of the marketplace, and destinations must enhance their brands to differentiate themselves from the growing competition,” IPK said.

The company found that outbound travel rose by around 4% worldwide, in terms of trip volume, over the first eight months of 2006, representing the third year of sustained growth. This trend is forecast to continue in 2007, albeit at a slightly slower rate, driven in large part by a continuing increase in, and spread of, demand for budget airline travel in virtually all regions around the world.

IPK said: “The sustained growth of outbound travel demand can be attributed to a number of factors, not least the continuing healthy global economy, an increasing immunity to negative factors such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters, and the robust growth being enjoyed by air transport sector.

“This is largely due to the rise in low-cost/low-fare airline travel, up 15% in trip volume in Europe alone from January through August 2006 – and now accounting for more than one-third of total international airline trips made by Europeans. This goes a long way to explaining the continued strong boom in short city breaks in 2006, which have now overtaken touring trips to become the second most popular type of holidays after sun and beach.”

European outbound trips should increase by close to 3% in 2006 – led by Italy, Spain and Norway, which have recorded more than double the average growth for the region – with other markets, such as Russia and Scandinavia also achieving above average rates.

But the respective growth for Asian outbound travel will be as high as 9%. Outbound travel demand from India is running at more than 30% above last year’s level, and South Korea, Malaysia and China have also registered double-digit increases in outbound trip volume this year.

Contrary to popular opinion, China is a high-yield market, IPK said.

The Chinese rank second only to the Japanese worldwide when it comes to spending per trip – although a large part of their expenditure is admittedly on shopping – averaging EUR1,882 per capita in 2005 as against EUR1,891 for Japanese outbound travellers.

US outbound travel market was up 4% in the first eight months of 2006 and is set to continue not least because some 30% of Americans now hold passports.

Report by Phil Davies