Six in ten e-shoppers book their holidays directly online

This year, nearly six in ten e-shoppers booked their trips and holidays directly online. Trips and accommodations are most frequently bought online. Approximately 6 million e-shoppers were active on the Internet in 2009, i.e. 51 percent of Internet users.

Online buying

Sharp increase online holiday bookings

Booking holidays online is becoming more widely accepted in all strata of society. The majority of e-shoppers (nearly 60 percent) have booked a holiday or holiday accommodation online in 2009, as against more than one third in 2005. In the period 2005-2009, buying online was booming. This applied to all sorts of goods and services, but in particular to holidays, trips and accommodations. Online sale of event tickets has also risen dramatically from 22 percent in 2005 to 44 percent in 2009.

Online sale of trips, holidays and accommodations

Providers of overnight accommodation and travel agencies pioneers in e-commerce

Travel agencies and providers of overnight accommodations benefit most by e-commerce. In these branches, online buying is widely accepted. Two thirds of companies active in these branches received bookings through the Internet or other electronic networks in 2008. This tallies with the fact that e-shoppers tend to book holidays online. More than half of insurance companies also sell their products and services online.

Branches active in e-commerce, 2008

Bas de Groot