Study reveals mixed performance from travel websites-,--M.

Study reveals mixed performance from travel websites-,--M.: "
05 April, 2006

Study reveals mixed performance from travel websites



British Airways has topped a checklist of websites in terms of overall performance and availability by Internet performance authority, Keynote.

In a study of travel brands, BA's website loaded in the fastest time, 0.61 seconds, and, along with Travelodge and Travelocity, was available 99 times out of 100 and received a five-star rating

Travelodge was the second fastest to load, taking just 0.72 seconds, with First Choice third at 1.27 seconds.

But Keynote said some brands in the sector took up to ten seconds to load and were too often unavailable.

Among those to struggle were Travelbag which received a two-star rating after being available 96% of the time.

'In the travel sector there's an enormous amount of choice available online and if a user can't access a company's site, or the site takes too long to load, it may well mean business lost to a competitor,' said Keynote vice president and managing director EMEA Haran Sold.

He added that firms should spend more time evaluating the issues and the impact on customers, something too often overlooked.

'Too many companies fail to monitor website performance from the perspective of the average Internet user, an attitude that could prove costly,' he said. "