The European travel market is marching relentlessly online in the footsteps of the US travel market, but while the pace may be similar, the diversity in the markets creates important differences. European online leisure/unmanaged business travel as a percentage of the total travel market approaches 25% in 2007, the level achieved in the U.S. in 2004.

Yet the individual markets of Europe, in particular the top five - U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Italy - display the variety of paths online that developing e-commerce economies take. PhoCusWright has undertaken a country-by-country research effort covering these five markets and the European market as a whole, resulting in six new reports.

Cultural, technological, strategic and fiscal forces have shaped the online markets of each of these five largest European countries, and this new set of studies delves into the drivers and the likely effects of these forces. For example:

• In Germany, where Internet access is widespread and online purchasing is well established despite a relative aversion to credit card usage, travel purchase incidence is extremely low among both online buyers and frequent Internet users.
• In the U.K., where Internet access is ubiquitous and online purchasing routine, more than twice as many online buyers and regular Internet users buy travel than in Germany.
• Italy and Spain share similar Web connectivity profiles, but a much higher proportion of regular users of the Internet in Spain purchase travel online than in Italy.

Other highlights and points of differentiation on these markets include:

• In the U.K., online buying patterns and behaviors most closely resemble those of the U.S., but the powerful tour operators have entered the field in force, and a convergence of business models with online travel agencies is heralding a reshaping of the online business model that defined the U.S. market.
• In France, monolithic suppliers, a lack of local low-cost carriers and a relatively small outbound market has tempered the growth of the online segment.
• In Spain and Italy, two of the largest leisure destination draws anywhere, the travel market migration to the Internet has lagged behind that of the U.K., Germany and France. Less broadband access and fewer habitual Internet users are primary factors in the slower online development of these countries' online travel markets, as are local cultural behaviors.

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