Online travel bookings set for take off

UK travel companies must invest in the internet as online bookings are set to explode in the next four years.

According to figures released by Forrester Research today, 14 per cent of travel sales will be made via the internet by 2005, bolstering sales to £3.7bn. This is compared to £592m worth of sales made over the internet in 2000, when 1.6 million users booked flights online. In just four years, Forrester predicts this figure could balloon to 5.7 million travellers hitting the net. The report, The UK Online Travel Dogfight, which surveyed 35 companies, predicts that businesses will have to make a number of changes to the way in which they target their customer base to gain from a relatively untouched sales channel. Forrester breaks the online shopper down into three categories including 'hardshells', which make up only three per cent of online travellers but account for 20 per cent of holiday expenditure. 'Softshells', which total 56 per cent of the market, spend the least on travel while 'backpacks'seek out cheap fares via the internet. As the market for online trading in this sector intensifies, the report states that fewer suppliers and agents will be able endure the inevitable competition unless they define a workable strategy of the best to reach each category of customer.