'Terrorist-related' travel gloom belies annual growth

23 per cent decline since terror attack versus 44 per cent year-on-year growth...

Online travel firms have been hit by the declining interest in international travel since the terror attacks in the US on 11 September. Nielsen/NetRatings revealed that online spending in September fell 23 per cent on August's levels. However, the results still show strong year-on-year growth, with September's spend up 44 per cent on September 2000. The month-on-month fall may also be partly attributable to a general drop-off in travel during autumn months compared to the peak period of August. During September a quarter of all online spending was travel-related - accounting for £760m of a total online spend of £3.2bn.