The travel sector accounts for 47% of all online spending in Australia, according to the latest Nielsen Online Retail Monitor.
The monitor revealed that online spending was highest in the travel sector, with the average purchase amounting to $1,168 during a 30-day period in the second quarter of this year. Around one third of online shoppers purchased travel products or services.
Travel purchases made offline were heavily influenced by online research, with more than two thirds of those purchasing accommodation offline making the decision based on research undertaken on the internet.
Nielsen said travel retailers’ websites were the most influential source of information underpinning a travel purchase.
“For consumers looking to purchase travel products and services, the internet is clearly regarded as an ideal medium for researching products and destinations, checking availability, and comparing products and pricing,” said director of market research at Nielsen’s Online Division in Australia, Melanie Ingrey.
Australian airline Qantas topped the list of most popular travel websites with a unique audience of close to 1.9 million in the past month, well ahead of the next closest site, Virgin, with a unique audience of 1.25 million.
Qantas also had the highest reach for travel sites, with more than one in 10 Australian Internet users visiting the Qantas website in the past month.
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