That fear is unfounded, according to the IATA panelists. They said that not one single incident of such fraud was reported last year. The secure encryption facility built into the two main Net browsers made credit card use over the Net a lot safer than most everyday uses. People without home computers are almost 1.5 times more likely than home computer owners to obtain outside Internet access through public libraries or community centers. Growth Online is emerging as a unique marketing environment in which traditional advertising and direct marketing merge.
Travel is the number one spending segment for the online consumer market.
This is driven by a combination of a high price point and relative frequency of purchases. Travel purchases will continue to grow dramatically in the next few years, making this product segment likely to remain the number one category in online consumer spending through the year 2002. A wide range of travel sites are now generating online revenues. These sites provide a booking engine to one or more computer reservation systems that allow booking of air, lodging and car rental, and travel-content from one or more sources. These sites have become high-profile destination sites in their own right and are now responsible for most of the revenue being produced.