Aussies booking holidays online: study
Internet-savvy Australin travellers are booking their overseas flights online more than ever before, a study by an online travel company has found.
Sponsored Links
Statistics from Zuji July to September 2006 report found the use of e-tickets - tickets that are stored electronically rather than being printed on paper - has risen 26 per cent in the past 12 months.
Fifty-four per cent of Australians booked their international flights online during the quarter, up from 28 per cent the same time last year.
Only two per cent of international tickets were issued as e-tickets in Australia in the corresponding period in 2004.
Zuji general manager Peter Smith said Australian travellers were finally moving away from paper tickets, a trend identified in last year's report as being "stubbornly hard to budge".
"We have to budge because there's still a call by IATA (International Air Transport Association) that we are supposed to be fully, 100 per cent e-ticketed by the end of 2007," he said.
"Whether we get there that's hard to see ... but once you've tried it you won't go back."
Australians were also booking their flights & accommodation well in advance, with 60 per cent of flights & accommodation purchased a month or more before travel - jumping 16 per cent from last year.
Most Australians (25 per cent) booked their holidays between one and two months before their big adventure.
Accommodation reservations were also being booked ahead, with 48 per cent of travellers booking a month or more before - up 19 per cent.
Mr Smith said Australian travellers generally were becoming increasingly savvy when purchasing travel & accommodation online.
"They know that booking at the eleventh hour often results in some sort of compromise - whether it be a price increase, unavailable travel dates or your favourite hotel being booked out," he said.
He said about 80 per cent of travel & accommodation requirements could be made online, generally at a cheaper rate.
Australians' top five international destinations recorded for the quarter were Bangkok, London, Singapore, Auckland and Hong Kong.
Last year they were Auckland, Singapore, Bangkok, London and Hong Kong.
The travel report tracks online travel booking trends in the Asia Pacific.
Sydney was the only Australian city that featured in the top 10 flight destinations for travellers from Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan and Korea.
