There has been a long held belief within the industry that within the Australian environment, online travel sales have remained significantly below that of other parts of the world, particularly the US of A.

Figures often quoted imply that in the US, online bookings account for some 50 to 60% of all travel bookings, whilst in Australia the corresponding figure is well under half of this.

Whilst a number of suppliers of booking services frequently do quote what seem like absurdly low rates of online accommodation bookings, one does wonder where these numbers originate.

Our personal experience with a small B&B in Tasmania was that some 80% of our bookings were achieved through online services. Whilst it would be reasonable to believe that the rates may be somewhat lower for the larger accommodation businesses and chains, nevertheless casual industry research implies a much higher rate than many of those quoted.

Evidence abounds that online accommodation sales rates are much, much higher. A recently released report on Australia’s accommodation booking trends has revealed that on average, some 40% of all accommodation bookings in Australia were sourced on the internet. This compares with figures well under 20% quoted in some media.

Whilst these figures are able to deliver an insight into the accommodation sector, it has been difficult to gather similarly accurate numbers for the general travel market.

It would be reasonable to assume a lower penetration rate, although it is quite likely that for travel activities of the type most often covered by travel agents, there is likely to be quite a significant variation.

Domestic flight bookings, for instance are likely to have a very high online penetration, particularly now that most of the carriers have introduced financial penalties for telephone bookings to the carriers themselves.

Online bookings for international flights are much more common with high capacity routes than with many of the less popular flights, perhaps since clients feel a little more comfortable about knowing what pricing and service options are likely to be available.

However, for round-the-world and ticketing involving multiple carriers, by far the majority of customers are still visiting their local travel agency.

To date, the travel agent is still the preferred source for bookings of cruises and package holidays. This is probably due to a much lower level of technology support and clarity of choice for such travel options.

However, it would be naive for travel agency owners and managers to believe that this state of affairs will remain indefinitely. Certainly, most consumers already visit the websites of those offering package holidays, even though they’ll still call in to the agency to finalise the booking.

We need to remain aware that many of the organisations running these websites are now beginning to put significant effort into improving the online “bookability” of their sites. Indeed, online sales figures for the US and Europe have already increased significantly.