subject: Booking Luxury Breaks On The World Wide Web [print this page] Last year more than half of internet users booked their holiday online and more than half of them did it at work. The industry is booming and it's little wonder. Searching by price, date or location, plotting your plans on a map or typing it all into a comparison site, booking our own holidays has become a national past time. Highstreet agencies are moving online and lower overheads mean more new agencies starting up than ever before.
Better broadband connections, cheaper computers and mobile internet means only 9% of internet users still choose to book on the high street. The industry is worth billions and sites like Lastminute.com and Expedia are household names, but according to the holiday makers, price is not the bottom dollar.
According to the forums, the benefits are convenience, freedom and trust. In the past hotels were booked on the ratings travel operators gave them, now it's about how they treat the people, not the VIPs. Not only is the customer now the agent, but they're also the critic and photographs, blog posts, amateur videos of building sites under balconies and the 911 on the buffet are all out there to be found.
And DIY has a big impact on the price. Which? magazine recently reported price differences of up to 500 between brochure and online quotes... with the same operator. Competition is so tight the value added extras like free nights, breakfasts and transfers are becoming standard and if you want no frills sun it's probably cheaper to have a week on The Med than the south coast of England.
The most popular trips online are beach holidays, closely followed by long haul jaunts to the Far East. The internet isn't just a trendy tool for the 20-30 age group, it's a guarantee that you will never again be palmed off with the last two places on an all inclusive in Tenerife. Online bookings allow spontaneity, impulsiveness and above all the sense freedom a traveller is always seeking.
