Despite a year marked by continuous change and fierce competition in the online travel industry, consumers continue to regard Travelocity
as the most popular place to shop for travel online, according to the fifth edition of the PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey.

“Consumers continue to rely on Travelocity for the best options when shopping for all of their travel needs,” said Sam Gilliland
, CEO Travelocity. “And while we certainly appreciate and value that trust, I can assure long-time members as well as newcomers to the site, that we will continue to challenge ourselves as a team, developing standards that will consistently set the pace for the rest of the industry.”

According to PhoCusWright, an independent travel intelligence company:

? Fifty-nine percent of online travelers cite Travelocity as the top travel site for air purchases - the nearest competitor garnered 36 percent

? Thirty-four percent of online travelers list Travelocity as the top travel site for researching hotel reservations - like air, Travelocity, leads the pack in this category as well
The PhoCusWright survey also concluded that 30 million Americans bought travel online last year, up from six million when the survey was first conducted in 1998. Online travel buyers now represent 15 percent of the travel population.

Conducted annually, the PhoCusWright
survey takes an in-depth look at the customer experience of shopping for travel online. The survey was conducted by telephone among a random sample of Americans across the country. More than 10,000 individuals were contacted to obtain a sample of 500 “online travelers”—Americans who have flown via commercial carrier in the last year and used the Internet in the last month.

Related stories on ITN:

(20/01/2003) Travelocity Named World`s Leading Travel Web Site

(29/10/2002) Travelocity Scoops Top Honour Named `Best travel website` at British Travel Awards 2002

(07/06/2002) CRTL Research Says Expedia and Travelocity Lead the Way

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