The Evolution of Online Travel [INFOGRAPHIC]

By Lauren Hockenson 2012-02-21 10:31:22 UTC

These days, it's hard to imagine booking travel without leaving the comfort of your computer chair. But booking flights electronically is actually a relatively new invention, despite its ubiquitous presence nowadays. In fact, electronic reservations were not available outside airline terminals until the mid-1970s, when access was limited to licensed travel agents and only provided for a few domestic airlines.

Since the rise of online travel in the mid-1990s, it seems that there's an endless well of ways to get your travel fix. From classic travel aggregators to especially luxe vacation packages at a discount, the selections available online make it easy to book nearly any sort of trip at any time. And that turns into plenty of bookings: It's projected that within the year 2012, there will be 98.3 million bookings on the Internet, which translates into major profit for online travel companies.

In the infographic below, you'll see the progression of online travel, from its roots in old electronic booking systems to the newest and shiniest deals websites. Plus, get an inside look at how users behave while on online travel sites — and where they love to go.

Do you ever book offline anymore, or is online booking always the way to go? Let us know in the comments below.

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