Travel with virtual ease - start on the Net
copyright 1999 Wendy McClelland

The popular John Candy movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles has taken on a whole new meaning these days when you consider how much technology, especially the Internet, is influencing our travel experience.
Our cell phones and laptop computers allow us to stay in touch no matter where we travel, and free e-mail accounts mean that anyone can pick up their e-mail wherever they find an Internet connection.

Instead of calling up, or walking into, the local travel agent, many people simply log onto the Internet and reserve flights, cars and hotel suites. The ease with which this can be accomplished promoted huge numbers of people in 1998 to bypass their local travel agent. While many feel confident buying online, others use the Web to simply comparison-shop and then take the results to their travel agent for booking.

A recent survey showed that more than 70 per cent online users visit travel Web sites. While not all are buyers, more and more people are becoming comfortable with purchasing travel items online - comfortable, as in an estimated $3.1 billion dollars in online hotel bookings by 2002.
(Update: 2004 online bookings total $54 billion! Estimate for 2005 is $63 billion, leading to an estimated $91 billion in 2009. Source: JupiterResearch Internet Travel Model, 2004)

There are some comprehensive sites for the traveller, whether you are seeking a tourist destination in the sun or going on a business trip. One of the largest is www.travel.com, which features online a searchable database of over 2.5 million categorized webpages! The site also provides an e-mail notification service to let you know when a flight you're interested in drops below a certain price point. Saves you the time of going back each day!

One of my favorite sites when I'm travelling by car is www.mapquest.com. You just type in the address your trip originates from, and the address you are going to, and the program provides a map and driving instructions. What could be easier?

If you're looking for a getaway, consider www.gorp.com, the Great Outdoors Recreation Pages. This very large site boasts free travel screensavers, wallpapers and contests. It also features great guides to lodging, tours, books and jobs in the outdoor travel business.

The Internet is allowing us to have much more choice available to us when we travel. It truly is becoming a small, small world.

Note: this article was originally published in The Costco Connection magazine March/April 1999.

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