One third of global travel booking online by next year, says report

As new research suggests that one third of travel booking will be conducted online by next year, a separate study has suggested that Hotels.com offers the best customer experience.

By the end of 2012, travelers will book one third of the world's travel sales using the internet, according to information released last week by analyst PhoCusWright, although in some regions that benchmark has already been passed.

Unsurprisingly, online booking is most prevalent in the US and Europe, which represent more than three quarters of all online sales, said PhoCusWright.

However, online booking is expected to boom in Asia Pacific and Latin America, said the company, with the combined online share of US and Europe falling to 73 percent next year and continuing to decline.

With websites now a critical method of travel booking, the competition to provide the best experience for the traveler is hotting up.

Earlier this month, independent research analyst Keynote Systems announced the results of a competitive study looking at nine US hotel reservation websites, which took into account both customer experience and technical quality such as speed and reliability.

The study reveals that Hotels.com topped the list in terms of overall customer experience, with users describing it as the most convenient, friendly and helpful (shared with Expedia), as well as being most "flexible & accommodating to customer requests."

For the most fun experience, Orbitz.com topped the ranking, while Marriott.com was the most reliable (technically) and Sheraton.com was the fastest to use.

http://www.phocuswright.com

http://www.keynote.com