Colombian Online Travel Sector Grows 25 Percent in the Past Year

Latin America - español

Despegar-Decolar Sites Ranks as Top Online Travel Destination

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Aug 11, 2011, 01:25 ET

BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest results from a study on the online travel market in Colombia. The study found that in the past year visitation to the Travel category increased 25 percent to reach 3.2 million unique visitors in Colombia, as more online users utilized the web to research and purchase travel. Despegar-Decolar Sites led as the top travel destination in Colombia reaching 453,000 unique visitors in June, followed by Expedia Inc. and Avianca.com.

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"Nearly 1 in 4 online users in Colombia visited a travel site in June," said Alejandro Fosk, comScore senior vice president for Latin America. "Travel sites have witnessed rapid visitor growth in the past year as more consumers embrace the online channel for their travel needs while brands continue to improve the user experience by upgrading site features. Given that more mature online markets around the globe see upwards of half of their online population frequenting travel sites, there is much potential for continued growth in Colombia's online travel sector."

Travel Sites See Growth across Sector

More than 13 million people age 15 and older in Colombia visited the Internet from a home or work location in June. 3.2 million Internet users – or nearly one quarter of the total online audience – visited the Travel category during the month, an increase of 25 percent from the previous year. Among the various Online Travel subcategories, Travel – Information sites attracted the largest audience with nearly 1.7 million visitors (up 13 percent from the previous year), while Online Travel Agents achieved the strongest gains, climbing 78 percent to 1.1 million visitors. The Airline category reached 931,000 visitors in June, an increase of 16 percent from the previous year, while Hotels/Resorts grew 28 percent to 687,000 visitors.


Travel Category and Subcategories by Total Unique Visitors (000) June 2011 vs. June 2010 *Total Colombian Internet Audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix**
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Jun-2010	Jun-2011	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	11,287	13,179	17
Travel	2,585	3,228	25
Travel - Information	1,470	1,666	13
Online Travel Agents	603	1,070	78
Airlines	805	931	16
Hotels/Resorts	537	687	28
Ground/Cruise	151	162	7
Transactions	49	73	47
Car Rental	25	31	24
*Excludes visits from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs

Most-Visited Travel Sites in Colombia

The average category visitor in Colombia spent 15.3 minutes on Travel sites in June. Online Travel Agent brand Despegar-Decolar Sites ranked as the #1 travel destination with 453,000 unique visitors followed by Expedia Inc. with 430,000 visitors. Airline sites Avianca.com (412,000 visitors), Aires.aero (372,000 visitors) and CopaAir.com (199,000 visitors) secured the remainder of the top five spots in the ranking. Of the top 10 most-visited Travel websites, users spent the greatest amount of time on Aires.aero (12.5 minutes) and Avianca.com (11.1 minutes).


Top Travel Sites by Total Unique Visitors (000) June 2011 *Total Colombian Internet Audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix**
	Total Unique Visitors (000)	Average Minutes per Visitor
Total Internet : Total Audience	13,179	1,507.6
Travel	3,228	15.3
Despegar-Decolar Sites	453	8.4
Expedia Inc	430	3.1
Avianca.com	412	11.1
Aires.aero	372	12.5
CopaAir.com	199	8.6
Viajeros.com	155	2.0
TravelAdNetwork	140	2.2
Hoteles4you.com	131	0.7
Colombia.travel	128	2.3
Lufthansa	117	2.4
*Excludes visits from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs

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SOURCE comScore, Inc.