Research found that almost 40 percent of all types of travel purchased in Europe will be booked online, by the end of 2008. The findings are part of a major study conducted by PhoCusWright across five major European markets in summer 2006.

The PhoCusWright study revealed that transaction volume will more than double the proportion of 2005, according to preliminary findings to be presented at The PhoCusWright Travel Conference, 25-27 September 2006, Hôtel Le Plaza, Brussels, Belgium.

Over the next three years, online corporate bookings will grow at twice the rate of online leisure/unmanaged business travel. By 2008, one out of every five euros of corporate travel spent will be transacted online, up from one out of every 20 in 2005. Nevertheless, the percentage of leisure/unmanaged business travel booked online is and will continue to be significantly greater than that of managed corporate travel.

For travel, tourism and hospitality suppliers, sellers and marketers, these findings are significant as the online transaction marketplace begins to match traditional marketplace activity in size. Strategic and infrastructure implications for thousands of companies along the travel industry value chain across European markets are significant as the industry prepares for this powerful, customer-driven change.

Other findings in the study will be shared with attendees at the Brussels conference. A research brief titled Online Travel in Europe: Key Findings will be presented at the event; it summarizes data on the European online travel market -- suppliers and intermediaries -- as a percent of the total travel market and growth rate by country.

PhoCusWright analysts will also debut newly released research findings on business imperatives that are essential for planning and budgeting for next year and beyond. The sessions are titled: Business Strategies & Trends, What's New In Travel Technology and What You Need To Know About Where To Go which will cover market-by-market characteristics, differences and similarities.

A complete conference program, list of speakers and press credentials are available at www.phocuswright.com/events