The study carried out by the European Union’s statistical agency Eurostat, revealed that 75 per cent of Portugal’s hotel and accommodation sector now have their own Internet website or homepage allowing people to book direct.

However, Portugal still has some way to go before it catches up with the UK, Spain and Italy where 100 per cent, 90 per cent and 92 per cent respectively of all hotels and accommodation facilities have set up their own websites.

According to the survey, people with a “high educational attainment level” are seven times more likely to book their holidays via the Internet than the less well educated.

In the EU’s 16 to 24 age group booking holidays in Portugal between June and August this year, an average of 26 per cent did so by using the Internet, while 27 per cent of 25 to 54 year olds did likewise. As to be expected, far fewer, in fact ten per cent, of 55 to 74-year-olds used the Internet to book their summer vacations in Portugal.

Across the 25-nation EU, 89 per cent of all hotel and accommodation businesses employing ten or more staff have a website or homepage compared to 61 per cent in the wider economy.

But Europe’s hotel and ac commodation sector is not only seeing an increase in its online booking services. Additional links to the sector’s websites are allowing clients to book flights and other transport facilities direct without the need to visit their high street tour operators.

However, in Portugal only 23 per cent of the sector offer such facilities compared to an average of 52 per cent across the 25-nation bloc.

The Eurostat survey shows that the Internet is changing the way we book holidays in Europe. The majority of holidaymakers are now booking their vacation destinations just a few weeks before travelling, whereas five years ago they would book well in advance – sometimes by as much as 12 months.

The survey also indicates that as far as client relationships are concerned, the accommodation sector can be considered a forerunner in its usage of information technologies compared to other businesses.

By offering customers the facility of being able to book their holiday accommodation and organise travel arrangements “at a click of a button”, the process is simplified beyond measure compared to purchasing services or goods in many other business sectors, according to the survey.

THE PORTUGUESE NEWS