Travolution@ITT - Part 10 - A bright start

The second day begins with high relevancy for the online travel industry – a session from Opodo and another on the thorny issue of search and the emerging social side of the web.

Opodo’s man in Oman, Chris Rowe, who is standing in for the boss Simon Vincent, is unveiling a heap of brand new research on the European online marketplace.

He forecasts that the UK will have 25% of travel products booked online by 2010, though this is way behind the US, with an estimated 50%.

Once again the phenomenal rise of the internet seems a bit bewildering for some in the audience.

Some delegates sit open mouthed at the statistics in the research, while there is an obvious and sharp intake of breath (perhaps from Sue Biggs at Kuoni?) when Rowe reveals 78% of those questioned said price was the dominant factor in their online purchase.

Understandably, Rowe manages to shoehorn a plug in for Opodo’s online dynamic packaging service which has launched – right on cue – today.

[Conference photos on Flickr]

Kevin May, editor, Travolution