The high frequency of checking rates at airline sites may contribute to airlines being the top sites where respondents have booked travel. Although visitors confirmed they are surfing for deals, discount promoters may be disappointed to learn that discount packages are booked online least often. This does not seem likely to change in the near future. Like Internet users in general, the demographics of visitors to travel Web sites skew slightly upscale. Most travel site surfers are between the ages of 25-54.
Males are slightly more likely than females to visit airline sites or car rental sites.
Booking travel online, regardless of type of site visited, is heavily skewed male. 70 Percent of Surfers Visit Travel Sites NPD Research surveyed 6,000 people during the summer and found that 70 percent of Web surfers visit a travel related site. The study found that the amount of traffic to travel related Web sites had doubled since a survey in 1996. Half of those polled said they had gone online to check travel rates and of those, nearly 50 percent went on to buy tickets online. The ease of checking airline rates online is a large factor in the surge of traffic to travel Web sites over the last year.