While the economy is shaky, airlines are axing seats, and airfares aren’t falling all that fast, but there’s still good news. According to PhoCusWright’s U.S. Online Travel Overview Wright Edition (Web site: www.phocuswright.com), “the overall U.S. travel market is expected to increase by 4 percent and 2 percent in 2008, and 2009, respectively.”
The research firm says these are the slowest growth rates since 2003. That’s when the post-September 11 market plummeted by 8 percent. Saying, “the travel industry is no stranger to crisis,” PhoCusWright expects things to improve in 2010, not all that far down the line.
The brightest spot in this scenario remains the online travel market, says the company. “Though the glow is dimming…online travel sales will continue to increase at more than twice the rate of the market as a whole, as millions more people shop for and buy their trips online each year.”
Why is online so relatively robust? PhoCusWright concludes it has a lot to do with the perception that online prices are the lowest. Ease of use and increased employment of mobile devices don’t hurt either.
© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler
