Since Jupiter MMXI started measuring Internet behaviour in Europe in October 1999, travel websites have been very popular destinations for people accessing the Internet from home. An analysis of the last six months of data from November 2000 to April 2001 shows the number of unique visitors to travel sites from home increased by nearly a million in the three biggest markets of the UK, France and Germany.

Europeans visit travel websites not only to find late cheap deals, but also to research their holidays in advance. Jupiter MMXI’s data indicates that there are clear seasonal trends in surfing behaviour on travel sites. For instance, in the UK and Germany the peaks in usage are in July and January and February. In France, peaks are seen in July and March. During both peaks people in these countries spent more time on travel sites than other popular categories including retail and news and information sites.

Websites offering information and tickets, especially for air and rail travel are particularly popular across Europe. For example, in the UK Easyjet.com, Britishairways.com, Railtrack.co.uk and Thetrainline.com have all established themselves amongst the top ten travel sites. However, Lastminute.com, Thomascook.co.uk, Expedia.co.uk and Ebookers.com also have strong positions. Lastminute.com is popular amongst most Europeans being the only site to appear in the top ten in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain.

In Germany, France, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland the national train operators SNCF.fr, Bahn.de, SJ.se Trenitalia.it, and SBB.ch are the most popular travel destinations.

According to Nick Jones, Travel Analyst, "With providers of all modes of transport now active online, it is no surprise that European consumers are using the Internet for information about timetables and destinations. It is also clear that consumers are comfortable purchasing lower price travel products, such as air tickets online. However, in the more mature Nordic markets, consumers are researching and buying more expensive travel purchases. European online travel operators must now persuade people to make bigger, more important travel purchases online. To maximise this opportunity, package operators must escape the brochure mentality that has left consumers sifting through poor quality information on their websites. Consumers need to feel that they are packaging their own dream vacation. Allowing people to easily gather, compare and share information about the elements of package holidays will be crucial."