The latest report on online travel in Europe shows the industry set to show a slight growth for 2009. A projected figure of 0.6% growth has been announced in the soon to be released European Online Travel Overview Edition 5 from research group PhoCusWright.

The figures are in stark contrast to the overall European travel industry which is expected to see a decline of close to 10% for this year.

Online travel companies generally have lower overheads due to a smaller wage budget and therefore have managed to stay afloat in the recession far easier than traditional operators. However, even with the relative stability for the online sector in 2009 this represents a large drop compared to previous years where double digit growth was seen as mandatory.

The trend is expected to continue for the next several years as supplier websites are forecasted to keep falling, especially within the hotel industry where comparative sights have become increasingly popular.

Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s) have been pushed by increased demand from individual travelers while traditional, dedicated businesses have been hit hard by the recession which has resulted in large scale corporate cutbacks. The European corporate travel market is facing a forecasted decline of somewhere in the vicinity of 17% in the next couple of years, significantly greater than the overall industry as slashed budgets and lower transaction volume impacts are beginning to have a trickle-down effect.