Internet Usage for Travel and Tourism. The Case of Spain

The importance of Internet for the travel and tourism industry has increased rapidly over the last few years. Understanding how travellers behave is of critical importance to travel suppliers and tourism authorities for formulating appropriate marketing strategies so as to fully exploit the potential of this channel. This study explores the factors influencing Internet usage for travel information and shopping by using representative annual panel data from 2003 to 2007 on the 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities. Our results indicate that the use of Internet for information reasons depends basically on the ICT penetration level in the regions and the demographic characteristics of the population. However, when considering the use of the Internet as a productpurchasing tool, variables related to characteristics of travel are also relevant.