It finally happened in 2007: Online travel agencies, as an industry sector, hit single-digit growth rates for domestic gross travel bookings. This occurred despite a surge for some online travel agencies toward the end of the year. There has been substantial industry speculation that the year-end bump in business could be part of an extended trend as the U.S. economy slips into a recession, travel demand slackens, and suppliers turn to major online distributors to help boost occupancy rates and load factors. However, the current downturn in domestic travel demand does not necessarily favor online intermediaries, and its impact will be limited to those agencies that can sufficiently capitalize on the opportunity.