Since the earliest days of electronic networking, the travel industry has been quick to harness new technologies to deliver services and information to its agents, partners and customers.

Those services have expanded significantly over the last two decades; from the agency-focused videotext screens introduced in the late 1970s, to today's high-velocity networks connecting airline booking systems, and the wealth of customer-facing travel and tourism sites now available on the internet.

For the travel industry, online technologies bring new efficiencies in both the business and consumer markets. An increasing number of online customers seem happy to both browse and buy travel services online. Travel is already the most popular single sector on the internet. It is also the largest and most successful business area of global e-commerce.

That is only the beginning. The accelerating convergence of online technologies, wireless networks and intelligent digital appliances will radically re-define how travel companies deliver and create their services in the next few years.

In the future, customers may come at a travel company from anywhere in the world using one or more of a multitude of online devices - WAP or 3G mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), interactive hotel televisions, in-store and public kiosks, even screens in car dashboards, trains and planes. They will expect the same levels of familiarity, brand experience and service no matter what they use.

The travel industry will need to be able to recognise each customer instantly and deliver a seamless, consistent, personal service - anywhere, anytime and on any device.

The most mobile of industries is about to become more mobile than ever.

Summary

The travel sector already accounts for around a third of all e-commerce revenues on the internet. Access from a personal computer, however, is only part of the internet's future. Mobile phones with internet access, communicating personal digital assistants, interactive television and online public kiosks are just a few of the new digital platforms now emerging as the internet becomes a more pervasive part of our lives. Travel companies must assess what this means for their e-travel strategies and how they are going to deliver e-travel services across multiple platforms in the future. They face market fragmentation as different countries and regions develop new digital infrastructures at different rates. They will need to cope with a plethora of new digital devices, some not yet conceived and they will need to understand which services are best suited to which devices and types of customer. Multi-channel pioneers such as Expedia, Travelocity and Lastminute.com are now learning valuable lessons as they explore the possibilities and the opportunities of the new delivery platforms. They have found that people are using new devices in different ways to traditional internet access from a PC. Though it is still early days, the need for personalisation, consistency, adaptable presentation format, and strong brand experience across every new channel is already becoming clear.