The Online Travel Market

More than one in five members of the adult population of Great Britain now have Internet access either at home or at work. The profile of users is changing rapidly, and coming much more closely into line with the profile of the general public, as more women, and more people over 55 are going online. This is more than an occasional hobby - over half of all those with access use the Internet more than once a week.

One-third of those with Internet access say that they generally use it for travel information or booking - more than use it 'to pass the time', for hobbies, or to pick up free software. At present, most people look rather than book, and 11% of the entire British adult population have used the Internet to get information on leisure travel, compared to 3% who have actually booked overseas travel this way.

Overall, however, 25% of Internet users have already bought something over the Net. More say that they will do so, once the sites are made more attractive and easier to use. (Fears over the safety of transactions are receding rapidly.) Nearly three in five of those who are already online or planning to get connected within the next 12 months say they would consider buying flights or holidays - more than for any other type of product or service.

MORI's online travel tracking study, to be launched this summer, will monitor these trends, and track the impact of the growing number of travel sites on the web.

Technical details

All data are drawn from MORI Omnibus studies, which interview a representative quota sample of around 2,000 British adults aged 15+, face-to-face, in-home. All data were collected between February-March 1999, and some have previously been released on behalf of Hewlett Packard. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population.