Forecast Report

US Online Leisure Travel Forecast, 2009 To 2014: The Plateau Is In Sight

With Few New Bookers In Sight, Travel eBusiness Must Better Engage Current Travelers

January 25th, 2010
Henry Harteveldt, null
Henry Harteveldt
With contributors:
Carrie Johnson , Vikram Sehgal , Kate van Geldern

Summary

The 2009 to 2014 outlook for US online leisure and unmanaged business travel sales is, to put it kindly, mixed. The era of double-digit growth among US online leisure travel Bookers and sales is fading in our rear-view mirror. Between 2009 and 2014, Forrester expects that online sales will remain below those estimated in our 2008 forecast. We also believe that the number of US leisure travel Bookers will grow by just 3.5% during the next five years, while online leisure and unmanaged travel sales will grow 7%. As we enter a period of evolution and refinement in travel eBusiness, travel eBusiness professionals should focus on ways to shift more low-margin, tactical offline activities to the Web, develop applications that will help convert more Lookers to Bookers, and explore international expansion, which remains solidly in growth mode.

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