Agents losing ground to online: study

Agents losing ground to online: study
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Harvey World Travel, Jetset and Travelworld lost market share to online retailers last year as Flight Centre retained its market leading position.

Research from Roy Morgan showed that almost one in 10 people used Flight Centre to book leisure travel in the 12 months to December, with Wotif and Webjet in second and third spot with 7% and 4% respectively.

But other traditional agencies struggled as the online sector continued to rise, according to the research firm.

HWT captured 2.5% of the market, with Jetset 1.1%.

"Over the years Flight Centre has maintained its position as Australia's leading travel agent," said Jane Ianniello, Roy Morgan Research international director of tourism, travel and leisure. "The agency has a very strong brand presence with 64% of Australians having heard of Flight Centre before and 39% recently seeing or hearing some advertising for the brand.

"Other bricks and mortar agents such as Harvey World Travel, Jetset and Travelworld haven't fared so well and have gradually lost market share to online agencies such as Wotif.com and Webjet. With the increasing penetration of home computers and iPhones, the trend towards using the Internet to book overseas holidays is likely to continue."

The top 10 travel agents used for leisure travel in 2012: Flight Centre 9.8%, Wotif 6.9%, Webjet 4%, HWT 2.5%, Expedia 2.3%, Lastminute 2.1%, Jetstar Holidays 2.1%, Qantas Holidays 1.7%, Escape Travel 1.2%, Jetset 1.1%, Blue Holidays 1%, other 10.7%.

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