More Americans 'set to book flights online'

The number of Americans booking flights and other travel arrangements online is set to overtake those doing the same offline, according to a new report.

About 54 per cent of all travel bookings in the US will take place on the internet next year, the study by research firm PhoCusWright revealed.

This will be the first time that internet bookings have surpassed more traditional methods, indicating the strength of the online medium for retail, said the report.

And this is a trend that appears to be dominated by the US.

"While the US represented just one-third of total online and offline travel bookings of the combined North America, western Europe and Asia Pacific markets in 2005, the US share of online bookings was over 60 per cent of all online bookings," commented PhoCusWright.

Bargain-hunting Britons tend to search more for travel-related items such as flights and accommodation on the web than many other retail products, according to a Google survey reported by the Independent today.

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