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To: Ex-INTCfan who wrote (38090)	4/16/1998 9:08:00 AM
From: Boplicity	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Digital Economy: Internet Traffic Rapidly Increasing By GLEN JOHNSON .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON, DC (April 16) - More Americans are using and conducting business over the Internet, a new Commerce Department study has found, and few places is the trend more apparent than in the airline reservations business. Using new services that let them act as their own travel agent, increasing numbers of fliers are going on-line to check flight times and air fares and to buy their own tickets. In 1996, Internet users booked $276 million worth of travel business on-line - 90 percent of which was for airplane tickets, according to the study released Wednesday. In 1997, the volume tripled to $827 million, with airline tickets again constituting the bulk of the business. By 2000, the Commerce Department predicts, on-line travel sales could total $5 billion. That is expected to trail only Internet sales of computer products and books. Operators of on-line travel services say their product is perfectly tailored for point-and-click devotees. ''The Internet - with its pictures, its ability to provide video clips, to offer ratings of different hotels - is really the perfect service for those travelers who want to be in control of their destiny,'' said James Marsicano, vice president and general manager of Sabre Interactive. The company operates easySabre and Travelocity, two of the most popular Internet reservations services. But travel agents say they won't soon die out, noting that even with the explosive growth in Internet sales, on-line reservations are projected to account for no more than 8 percent of airline tickets sales by 2000. ''Certainly the Internet has exploded in terms of its use by all segments of the population, but the fact remains that there is no way a machine is going to replace the peace of mind that travelers get from working with another human being,'' said James Ashurst, spokesman for the American Society of Travel Agents. Another possible impediment to growth is the lingering fear among some Internet users about the security of using their credit card over the World Wide Web. The Commerce Department study, called ''The Emerging Digital Economy,'' found that information technology - including business on the Internet - is growing twice as fast as the overall economy. The industry employs 7.4 million workers, some of whom earn among the nation's highest average salaries. Meanwhile, Internet traffic has doubled every 100 days and Internet commerce among business will likely surpass $300 billion by 2002, the report said. Travel reservations have boomed as vacationers discovered they could go on-line and get highway directions, recommended itineraries, photos of hotels and other information such as the local weather. The airline ticket services link computer users to the same reservation systems used by travel agents and airline reservations agents. Travelocity, for example, has a free service letting users search for the three lowest fares on the travel dates they request. It and other services, including Preview Travel on America Online or Expedia from Microsoft, can send users an e-mail when a discount fare appears on a route they've requested. Airlines benefit, too. They pay none or only half the standard 8 percent commission on tickets booked over the Internet and they can cut their personnel costs. They also can dump unused seats at the last minute by sending e-mails offering special ''cyberfares.'' ''Any time you can take a human being out of the equation, you know what happens there: Bits and bytes don't go on vacation, take sick days,'' said Marsicano. Not to be outdone, travel agents are using the Internet themselves. Some have set up their own Web sites, while others also use e-mail to tell clients about travel specials. The American Society of Travel Agents, the world's largest travel trade association, recently launched a ''trip request'' service. Internet users can go to ASTA's Web site, outline where they want to go and when, and member travel agents then bid on the business by suggesting different itineraries. ''It's a great way for consumers who want to use the Internet more to not lose the services of a professional travel agent,'' Ashurst said.