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US online travel slows frantic growth pace
US online consumer travel sales are expected to hit $94 billion in 2007, and will grow at a 17% annual rate before reaching $146 billion in 2010, according to eMarketer’s current report.
In spite of respectable growth, however, that number falls short of the 28% annual growth rate between 2002 and 2006. And fierce competition between online travel agencies and travel suppliers is escalating, according to the report.
“To succeed in the brave new world of online travel, industry players must be willing to reinvent themselves to keep up with consumer, technology and competitive forces,” said Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst and author of the report “U.S. Online Travel: The Threat of Commoditization.”
With internet-savvy youngsters tending to exploit powerful online resources to find travel information and pricing options, travel providers should revise their service model from mass consumption to customization, Mr Grau added.
In the report, eMarketer estimates that in 2007, more than half of all US internet households will book travel online, which equals 41.3 million households.
Travel booking in the U.S. is expected to surpass offline bookings in volume for the first time in 2007, says PhoCusWright Inc.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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