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Introduction The advent of the Internet and e-commerce as a delivery channel has dramatically affected the leisure travel industry, changing the roles of both the consumer and supplier. First, consumers have taken to online travel booking much more enthusiastically than any other type of online retail purchasing, driving the explosive speed at which change has occurred for this industry. To meet this demand, travel suppliers such as airlines, hotels, car rental agencies and travel agencies have rapidly shifted their web offerings from information-only sites to interactive sites, which offer online booking capability. According to Forrester Research, only 37% of travel sites allowed online booking in 1997, now many of the major airlines, hotels, and care rental agencies offer this capability. In the U.S., on-line leisure travel bookings were projected to range from 10 to 15 billion for the year 2000; over the next fi