As the online travel market continues to mature and growth slows from the extreme pace seen in earlier phases, competition for online travel shoppers is intensifying. The flagging economy means that travelers will be even more careful when deciding how to spend their hard-earned travel dollars. This could potentially increase searching and shopping behaviors, but may shrink the overall travel-bookings pie.
Bookings, however, are no longer the whole story. There are numerous new entrants to the online travel space that offer travelers a wealth of tools designed to enhance the search and shopping processes. Travel 2.0 has introduced sites dedicated to travel reviews, social networking, search and rich media.