Online (ho, hum) up again

More than 35 million Americans purchased travel online in 2003, five million more than the previous year, according to PhoCusWright. Their Consumer Travel Trends Survey, Sixth Edition, revealed that the US online travel market is not yet near the saturation point. However, the company made the point that competition between channels is more intense than ever for several reasons: consumers are taking fewer trips overall; purchase decisions are more complex; and hybrid (online/offline) shopping is more prevalent. Online travel buyers are as likely to purchase from a supplier, online and offline, as an online agency. Suppliers now represent more than one-third of the airline and nearly one-fourth of the hotel web sites that are most often used for online travel buying, according to PhoCusWright. The report said dynamic packaging options and tools, as well as other segmented marketing approaches, will the keys to future successful marketing approaches. The report also found that more than three-quarters of those who made a combination purchase online created their own air, car and hotel packages by selecting the components separately, rather than choosing more convenient pre-packaged options. However, in what the company called an “open invitation” to up-selling and cross-selling strategies, 59% of those in the survey report said they are interested in purchasing packages online in the future. Report by David Wilkening