Increasingly Internet: online car rental bookings are booming, but travel agents have yet to take full advantage of the Web's sales potential. (Car Rentals).

Travel Agent, February, 2003 by Olearchik, James

Okay, so this Internet "fad" may be here a bit longer than some expected. As computers become third arms to many Americans and the obsession with increasingly speedier Internet access becomes crazier, travel companies are envisioning a new way of doing business in the future. And according to some recent numbers, the future is already here, with Internet bookings for travel growing by leaps and bounds. A quick glance at the car rental market, for example, shows that more vehicles are being booked online every day, and travel agents who intend to stay in the game need to log on to this way of thinking.

Virtually across the board, car rental companies are reporting increases in their online bookings, both through travel Web sites and their own Internet sites. At...