Numbers Say Travel’s a Natural on the Internet
Travelers now account for 41% of all consumer spending online, says ComScore Networks, an Internet research firm. That spending amounted to $6.9 billion in the first quarter of this year. In March, 51.2 million Americans accessed Internet travel sites, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, out of a total of 120 million U.S. Internet visitors that month.
The figures show that the bloom is returning to travel, thanks to the approach of spring and summer, traditionally heavy travel seasons, as well as airlines’ continuation of special fares designed to drum up volume. They also show that the travel industry and the Internet have a natural affinity.
Used correctly, the Internet is a blessing for both tour operators and travel agents. (One way you can take advantage of the Internet is to list your current trips with us. The service is free – there’s no hidden costs or gimmicks. Just additional Free exposure. See offer below!! List Trip Calendar or Specials.
Travelers Are Booking, But Late
Travel agents and tour hosts tell us that people are booking trips much closer to departure dates than they were before 9-11. Before then, typical bookings were six to nine months out. These days two to three months out is becoming the norm.
The reason? Post 9-11 jitters caused many people to drop vacation plans, then wait and see how international events panned out. Now, as the U.S. economy picks up and order seems restored to air travel, folks are picking up where they left off.
Also, nervous airlines have relented a little on their insistence that only the furthest-out bookings get good discounts.
Are we the only ones who noticed the irony in the recent travel news item where United Airlines did a blitz marketing campaign among hundreds of Chicago travel agents? The idea, of course, was to pump up sales of United tickets via agents. The airline acknowledges that agents are responsible for 74% of its ticket sales.
Helloooooo! United is at the forefront of airlines that are diligently and actively cutting commissions to travel agents. Was United’s outreach a case of terminal cluelessness or terminal cynicism? Either way, it’s sad how far this once great airline has fallen.
Art, History Tops With Our Visitors
A look at where the 20,000 readers of our online monthly newsletter go first shows that our most heavily trafficked themes are Art, History, and Adventure and Culinary, in that order. We just introduced National Park of the Month in our April issue, so it’s too early to say how readers like it.
Our May issue will focus on the Far West, incorporating history, nature, culture and adventure. Look for a report on an offbeat national park and two surprising museums that contrast the complexities of the Old West.
El Nino might be coming back, the economy’s might still be groggy and war jitters might fill the air, but online sales just keep rolling along. Retail sales over the Internet during the first quarter of 2002 increased 41%, from $8.3 billion during the same period one year ago to $11.6 billion, according to according to BizRate.com, an e-commerce research firm. The number of purchases was up almost 34%, from 68 million to 91 million.
We suspect e-commerce may be bullet-proof no matter what’s going on in the world. When people are “cocooning” or looking to save time and gasoline, online buying is just the thing. When skies are sunny, the Internet still beckons with its increasing familiarity, track record and growing breadth of offerings. Throw in ever faster computers and bandwidth enhancements like DSL and you’ve got a sales outlet that is now way past novel or experimental.
Yes, Banner Ads Are Getting More Frantic
With banner ads down to less than a 1% click-through rate these days, online advertisers are getting more desperate to find a way to beat people over the head. What’s their solution? “Out-of-banner” ads that, in the words of Brian Cavoli, a columnist at Digitrends.net, “essentially take over your screen.” These ads “jump, drive, walk or scream across the page” and “the beautiful thing is that they can't be scrolled off the screen.”
Frankly, we grind our teeth at “creativity” like this, which
insists on a hard-sell type of advertising that turns the vast
majority of people off. The ads that truly work well, no matter
what the technology, are ones that have worthwhile content.
We predict this new generation of gimmick ads will soon rest
alongside their predecessors at the 1%-effective mark.
What’s
better? 35% click-thru rates for our Web Page Ads!!
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