The UK online travel sector is forecast to reach 4.9% market share in January, equalling the best ever month previously set by the travel industry, according to online intelligence service Hitwise.
UK visits to internet travel sites are up 14%, on a year on year analysis, with the first week of January 2005 seeing online traffic to the travel sector claiming 4.71% of all visits in the week ending 8th January, a 22% increase from the previous week.
Monthly data from Hitwise reveals that December 2004 saw a strong performance for the sector, with traffic up 20% from the same period last year. Based on this year-on-year growth Hitwise have predicted the travel sector could reach 2.9% market share in January of this year.
Europe’s second biggest discount airline, easyJet also looks set to do well this month, with online traffic to the site seeing a 20% increase in the first week of January, and the website’s market share increasing from just over 10% to more than 12.2% in the Travel – Transport sector in the same period.
Rival company RyanAir also saw a rise in its websites usage in the first week of January, increasing by 18%, with Hitwise showing a jump from 5.9% to almost 7% market share.
Over the past few years, the popularity of e-shopping has grown substantially, as people are increasingly using it as a means of booking holidays, and buying household items and gifts.
Christmas 2004, saw online shopping hit record numbers with online retailers experiencing a 23% increase in internet traffic from December 2003 (see UK Online Shopping Hit Record Numbers Over Christmas 2004).
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