Has e-commerce past its prime or just resting? Business and stock market expectations have not been fulfilled. However, in some sectors such as the travel and tourism industry online transactions are continuously increasing, despite its tough economic problems and fewer travelers. This industry is the leading application in the B2C (business-to-consumer) arena. Whereas in other industries there is a stronger hold to traditional processes, the tourism industry is witnessing an acceptance of e-commerce to the extent that the structure of the industry is changing. The net is used not only for information gathering; there is an acceptance of ordering services over the Internet. A new type of user is emerging, who seems to accept to become his own travel agent and to build his travel package.
In 2002 the US online travel market increased by 45% up to 27 Bn. U$, accounting for 14.4% of the total travel market; and in Europe the online travel increased by 67%, making up 3.6 % of the total market (according to the Danish Center for Regional and Tourism Research, www.crt.dk). In the same year 32 % of US travelers have used the Internet to book travel arrangements (see www.nua.com/surveys/). And [9] forecasts that by 2007 30% of all B2C transaction in the European German speaking countries will be done via the Internet. However, other market research institutes publish other, both higher and lower, numbers. These statistics have the problem that they are based on varying, either broad or narrow, definitions: either distinguishi