The annual PhoCusWright Travel Consumer Trends Survey reveals the behavior of �online travelers� - a segment of the U.S. adult population who have used the Web in the last month and traveled by commercial air in the last year. For the first time ever, more �online travelers� book their trips on the Internet than by using a traditional travel agency or calling a supplier.

When asked �how do you usually buy your personal travel?,� 41% of respondents go online versus 26% who use a travel agency and 26% who call a supplier. Last year, using travel agencies was the leading method for 39% of respondents, and online ranked last at 27%.

This phenomenal growth in �online travelers� who usually buy their travel online is the result of consumers� increased desire for low price. Almost 60% say price is the single most important attribute when making personal travel arrangements; and 53% believe online travel agencies offer the best prices. Travelers are more price-sensitive than ever; an additional 8% of online travelers say price was more most important after Sept. 11 than before.

�Online travel is still the e-commerce killer app, despite a very battered market,� said Philip C. Wolf, PhoCusWright president and CEO. �While consumers continue to look for low air fares, more and more are going online for hotels, vacations and cruises.�

As in previous years, this PhoCusWright survey was conducted by telephone among a random sample of Americans. More than 10,000 were contacted to obtain a sample of 501 �online travelers.� Unlike much e-commerce research, this is a fully representative, scientific random-sample survey whose results can be projected with confidence to the nation�s adult population.

Fieldwork was done by ICR-International Communications Research of Media, Penna., a leading research house whose clients include many major U.S. corporations.

Other findings include:

• Ninety percent of online travel buyers say that low price was a �major factor� in choosing a site to buy travel 
• Although 55% of online travel buyers said that destination information was a �major factor� in choosing a travel site, only 7% said that destination pictures/videos were important 
• Ninety-one percent of online travelers have �looked� at travel Web sites, up from 84% last year 
• Half of those who visited travel Web sites, i.e., looked online, then bought offline 
• Thirty percent of respondents said that the Internet has actually influenced their decision to buy - that is, they bought a travel product after they learned about it online
• Of those people, one-third bought that product online all the time, one-third offline all the time, and one-third bought it online sometimes/offline sometimes 
• The majority of cruise and vacation travelers are interested in buying online - 66% of cruisers said they would buy a cruise online, 60% of vacation package buyers said they would buy that product online in the future.