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Do I Need Travel Insurance?
Who doesn't dream of going on a cruise or an exotic location for an extended period of time. The world is a big place, and new vacation spots are opening every month. Countries that used to be offlimits are now booming ports of call. For some,...
Expanding Travelers Horizons
Planning for retirement starts early in many people's lives with
pension plans, IRAs and other financial planning schemes, but it
is not until we near the transition into retirement that serious
thought is given to what form and style this new...
How to Ease Travel Sickness this Summer
Travel sickness, whether brought on when travelling by air, sea or car is a nightmare. If you are unprepared then the resulting mess and smell can affect other people, spreading almost like a virulent virus. On a plane or in the car the smell can...
Planning International Travel for Christmas?
Christmas international travel 475 [shudder]. No really, a little EQ - managing the attitude, and using the ole noggin' can make it almost pleasant! 1. Pack your patience and your Emotional Intelligence. Turn down the emotiong, turn up the...
Should You Purchase Travel Insurance?
The determination of whether you should purchase travel insurance is a determination of whether you want to assume nothing bad can happen during your travels, or whether should something bad happen you can adequately resolve these unforeseen events....
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Online Travel Statistics
The Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) released their annual Travelers’ Use of the Internet study in December 2003. The study shows an increase in the number of people using the internet to research and book travel.
TIA found that 30% of the adult U.S. population (63.8 million) consult the web for travel information. These travelers spend (on average) $300 more on travel, and nearly 40% had an annual household income above $75,000.
Online travelers surf to two or more travel websites, spending an average of 37 minutes. They research and compare prices, check schedules and book trips. The number of people actually booking online increased by 8% over 2002 and grew to 42.2 million people in 2003. Within this group of online travelers, 32 million people made travel arrangements exclusively through the internet (a figure expected to grow according to the TIA).
10 million travelers responded to
email campaigns, causing the TIA to believe that email campaigns are stimulating unplanned travel.
TIA stated that the top 10 travel websites are:
Expedia
Travelocity
Orbitz
Yahoo Travel
Cheap Tickets
Hot Wire
VIPfares
Priceline.com
ITN.net
TravelNow.com
If your business supplies lodging, real estate, shopping, recreation, dining, events or tourist related specialty services, it may be wise to place advertisements with these websites. If you are not making full use of the internet for your marketing campaigns you are missing 30% of your potential market.
As online travelers’ habits become more sophisticated you will find them expecting to find and book everything from one location.
About the Author
MARKETING COORDINATOR and WEBSITE DESIGNER-Radha Khalsa, has extensive experience in the areas of marketing analysis, strategic planning and project management.
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