Colombia

There were 22,538,000 internet users in Colombia (representing 50.4% of the population) in June 2011, according to Internet World Stats. (Internet World Stats, August 2011)

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More than 13 million people age 15 and older in Colombia visited the internet from a home or work location in June 2011, according to comScore. (comScore, August 2011)

Online travel market

Travel planning

3.2 million internet users in Colombia (or nearly 1 in 4 online users) visited the Travel category in June 2011, an increase of 25% from the previous year, according to a comScore study on the online travel market in Colombia.

Travel sites have witnessed rapid visitor growth in the past year as more consumers embrace the online channel for their travel needs while brands continue to improve the user experience by upgrading site features. Given that more mature online markets around the globe see upwards of half of their online population frequenting travel sites, there is much potential for continued growth in Colombia's online travel sector.

Among the various Online Travel subcategories, Travel - Information sites attracted the largest audience with nearly 1.7 million visitors (up 13% from the previous year), while Online Travel Agents achieved the strongest gains, climbing 78% to 1.1 million visitors. The Airline category reached 931,000 visitors in June, an increase of 16% from the previous year, while Hotels/Resorts grew 28% to 687,000 visitors.

Travel category and subcategories by total unique visitors in Colombia, June 2011 (Total Colombian internet audience, Age 15+, Home and Work locations):

TOTAL INTERNET / TOTAL AUDIENCE: 13,179,000 (+17% compared to June 2010)
TRAVEL: 3,228,000 (+25%)
- Travel - Information: 1,666,000 (+13%)
- Online Travel Agents: 1,070,000 (+78%)  
- Airlines: 931,000 (+16%)
- Hotels / Resorts: 687,000 (+28%)
- Ground / Cruise: 162,000 (+7%)
- Transactions: 73,000 (+47%)
- Car Rental: 31,000 (+24%)

The average category visitor in Colombia spent 15.3 minutes on Travel sites in June 2011. Online Travel Agent brand Despegar-Decolar Sites ranked as the number 1 travel destination with 453,000 unique visitors followed by Expedia Inc. with 430,000 visitors. Airline sites Avianca.com (412,000 visitors), Aires.aero (372,000 visitors) and CopaAir.com (199,000 visitors) secured the remainder of the top five spots in the ranking. Of the top 10 most-visited Travel websites, users spent the greatest amount of time on Aires.aero (12.5 minutes) and Avianca.com (11.1 minutes). (comScore, August 2011)

 

Travel booking

The online travel industry remains in its infancy in Colombia reaching just 20% of the online audience, far below most countries, according to comScore. However, the industry shows significant potential for growth and development. (comScore, December 2010)