Britain is set to see a dramatic increase in the number of hotel reservations made on the Internet during the coming year. Savvy tourists are abandoning traditional shopping channels in favor of the Net when booking hotel rooms, hostels and vacation rentals. 2003 is likely to show a significant rise in online bookings thanks to recent changes in European travel shopping habits and Internet technologies.
Holidaymakers throughout Europe are showing a greater preference for booking travel online. Recent studies have identified budget airlines as being a major cause of this shift in buyer behavior. European budget carriers, which include EasyJet, Ryanair, Buzz, Virgin Express, Bmibaby and MyTravelLite now account for approximately 8 million passengers a year. Nearly all of these airlines use the Internet to minimize overheads. In an effort to reduce distribution costs, passengers are encouraged to book online. Approximately 90% of European budget airline bookings now come from the Internet. This is a boon to online lodging suppliers. A traveler who shops on the Net for his airline ticket has a strong tendency to make a hotel reservation the same way.
The UK lodging industry receives the majority of reservations from neighboring European countries. According to research conducted last year, the overall number of Europeans shopping online has shown a steady increase. During the final quarter of 2002, Europeans spent an estimated $15.77 billion on goods and services online. Research conducted by GartnerG2 states that this figure is 74.7 percent more than the preceding year. The online hotel reservation sector is expected to reap high returns due to this growth in European e-purchases. Travelers are beginning to enjoy the level of flexibility and control offered by the Internet and would rather invest an evening in surfing for the right hotel rather than entrust their holiday plans to traditional travel agents.
London is the best-positioned market within the UK to take advantage of these changes in the hotel reservation marketplace. The city is popular as both a leisure destination and a center for trade and commerce. It attracts a large number of travelers with very diverse lodging needs. This translates into many lucrative niche consumer travel groups.
Many hospitality professionals are setting up niche third-party websites that target each of these customer segments (e.g. budget accommodation for student travelers, long stay apartments, disability-friendly hotels). These niche websites lure customers by offering a good selection of inventory that best suits their target clientele, competitive rates, helpful information and secure online real-time reservation capabilities….
Britain is set to see a dramatic increase in the number of hotel reservations made on the Internet during the coming year. Savvy tourists are abandoning traditional shopping channels in favor of the Net when booking hotel rooms, hostels and vacation rentals. 2003 is likely to show a significant rise in online bookings thanks to recent changes in European travel shopping habits and Internet technologies.
Holidaymakers throughout Europe are showing a greater preference for booking travel online. Recent studies have identified budget airlines as being a major cause of this shift in buyer behavior. European budget carriers, which include EasyJet, Ryanair, Buzz, Virgin Express, Bmibaby and MyTravelLite now account for approximately 8 million passengers a year. Nearly all of these airlines use the Internet to minimize overheads. In an effort to reduce distribution costs, passengers are encouraged to book online. Approximately 90% of European budget airline bookings now come from the Internet. This is a boon to online lodging suppliers. A traveler who shops on the Net for his airline ticket has a strong tendency to make a hotel reservation the same way.
The UK lodging industry receives the majority of reservations from neighboring European countries. According to research conducted last year, the overall number of Europeans shopping online has shown a steady increase. During the final quarter of 2002, Europeans spent an estimated $15.77 billion on goods and services online. Research conducted by GartnerG2 states that this figure is 74.7 percent more than the preceding year. The online hotel reservation sector is expected to reap high returns due to this growth in European e-purchases. Travelers are beginning to enjoy the level of flexibility and control offered by the Internet and would rather invest an evening in surfing for the right hotel rather than entrust their holiday plans to traditional travel agents.
London is the best-positioned market within the UK to take advantage of these changes in the hotel reservation marketplace. The city is popular as both a leisure destination and a center for trade and commerce. It attracts a large number of travelers with very diverse lodging needs. This translates into many lucrative niche consumer travel groups.
Many hospitality professionals are setting up niche third-party websites that target each of these customer segments (e.g. budget accommodation for student travelers, long stay apartments, disability-friendly hotels). These niche websites lure customers by offering a good selection of inventory that best suits their target clientele, competitive rates, helpful information and secure online real-time reservation capabilities.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
