Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Internet Influence on Travel

At the 2009 Educational Travel Conference, travel and marketing experts told attendees that 8 of 10 Americans purchase their airline tickets via the Internet. Likewise, 1 of 2 lodging sales is made electronically. When it comes to comparison shopping, 88 percent of us use the Web to find the lowest prices. And Americans have very little travel loyalty. When choosing an air carrier, 56 percent of us have no preferences for one carrier over another. Similarly, 51 percent of Americans don't care whether we stay with Hilton or Marriott.

One out of five Americans has visited a blog to read what others have to say about their travel experience. And one out of three members of the younger generation write about their travel experience on the Web. We're more interested than ever in family travel with 38 percent of Americans saying they have traveled with their children or grandchildren. We also like to celebrate special occasions by packing a bag. Almost 70 percent of us have planned a vacation to celebrate a milestone such as an anniversary or birthday (anything divisible by five). More than 2 million Americans have visited the Disney Web site since the January launch of free birthday entrance to its theme parks.

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