According to Internet Security Systems, Internet users love holiday and travel websites. This is underlined by the fact the company has found that over the past twelve months, the growth in the number travel websites has soared by 25 per cent.

Further evidence of this online travel boom comes from a recently published paper by Forrester Research* which found that one in three of the euros, pounds, or kronor that European consumers spend online goes towards leisure trip bookings. The report also estimated that online travel spending will grow by 133 per cent to almost euro 77 billion in 2011.

Interestingly, the research conducted by ISS has found that over half of the world’s travel websites are located in the USA - 60.4 per cent. Germany follows in second place with 12.9 per cent and Great Britain in third with only 5 per cent of all travel websites hosted there.

Top 5 countries worldwide that host travel websites:

USA             60.4 %

Germany       12.9 %

Great Britain       5.0 %

Austria           4.2 %

Canada       2.9 %
Other             14.5 %

Top 5 European countries that host travel websites (measured according to the share of travel websites hosted worldwide):

Germany       12.9 %

Great Britain       5.0 %

Austria           4.2 %

4.    The Netherlands 1.3 %

5.    France             1.2 %

“As the uptake of broadband increases, more and more travel operators will move to online operations and offer Internet users special deals,” said James Rendell, security technology specialist at Internet Security Systems. “Before booking a holiday online, users should try to find out more about the online booking service itself and make sure it is a from a reputable company.”

“In addition to this, online users need to be on guard and be wary of phishers and their scams - especially during the holiday season. Email users in particular should always be vigilant and caution should be taken when going through emails,” added Rendell.  “An example of phishing is when a person receives an email that informs them that he or she has won a trip. The email lures the recipient to a modified site through an integrated web link within the body of text and they are then requested to provide certain personal information in order to gain their prize.  This is where the user falls victim to the phishers trap.” 

“As the frequency of travel-related sites and the volume of Internet holiday bookings are both increasing,” added Rendell, “so too can we expect these websites and users to become greater targets for the phishers.  To reinforce users’ efforts to avert the phishers, organisations should also stay ahead of these threats through implementing robust security policies and controls.”

As part of ISS’ Proventia product offering, the company’s web content filtering database is central to ISS’ Proventia Webfilter product, which ISS offers organisations the ability to optimise Internet access for employees and to prevent any kind of non work-related Internet use.  In this way, businesses can also ensure employee productivity is increased and legal liability through use of illegal private “surf trips” or “holiday shopping” at the workplace is reduced.
——-