MyTravel Booms as Last Minute Deals Slip

MyTravel group sites see a huge increase in web traffic as travel focus shifts.

MyTravel group web sites, including Mytravel.com and Airtours.co.uk, are topping the online travel sector growth league with a 64% increase in web traffic.

A report from web metrics firm Hitwise appears to confirm a trend towards customers seeking premium packages rather than last minute deals.

MyTravel's market share has increased from 3.1% to 5.1% over the last 12 months. The company is now in foourth place behind Expedia, Thomson and Lasminute.com. Meanwhile, Lastminute's share dropped by 9% (and Expedia's by 11%) and MyTravel explained the change as part of a drift by customers away from cheap, last minute deals on the Internet to quality future bookings. Two thirds of the companies sales are for future bookings, as opposed to just 24% for last minute deals.

Travel inventory on MyTravel includes packages to China and more exotic, planned holidays, that they say other online players are not offering.