the online travel market | France

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The online travel market is defined by L The website is a collection of sites that allow travel bookings to be made on the Internet Their offer has become more diversified over time: not only do these sites allow comparison of flight prices so as to be able to choose the cheapest and most optimal itinerary, but they also compare hotels and car rental sites and, more recently, package prices (hotel flights; cruise flights, etc.)

Among the actors of online travel are the sites of hotels or airlines that have their own online sites , physical agency networks that are increasingly using e-commerce and the pure players which are 100% online booking sites as well as the platforms for seasonal rentals between individuals . Price comparators also play a key role in e-tourism, where consumers are looking for the best price

On a global level, online travel is experiencing extremely dynamic growth with the increased use of the internet and the breakthrough of e-commerce. Consumers' desire to find the best value for money also represents a real growth driver for the Internet, which appears to be the best tool to do so. However, with Covid-19, the sector is expected to experience a significant drop in activity but the catch-up is expected to be by 2023 with a CAGR for e-tourism of 11.24% between 2020 and 2023 .

Today, internet represents 46% of total travel sales in France, with a net increase in turnover over the last few years.

In France, as in other countries, the e-commerce is an opportunity and a technical and commercial development contribution for the merchants rather than a competitor who would serve their services . As FEVAD confirms, "The Internet allows them to use new tools, to offer a new vision of products to consumers and a 24-hour access to their portal. On the user side, 86% of French people today have access to the Internet and 67% say they will have made at least one purchase on platforms in 2017"

Finally, the players are looking for diversification and are proposing a more and more personalized follow-up to seduce the customers of traditional travel agencies