Compete, Inc., announced findings from a new travel study, "Travel Marketers: Put Your Summer Vacation Plans on Hold," that forecasts $70 billion in online travel purchases for 2006.

The study's data shows that more than $10 billion in summer travel bookings is available for consumers. For the execution of this study, Compete analyzed consumer behavior from two million consumers on their panel, as well as the top 25 travel-related websites, which provided roughly 1,100 survey responses from travelers on those sites.

Compete's study shows that two thirds of consumers prefer researching travel options online, eclipsing the recommendations of friends and family as well as media, and roughly 75 percent reserve most or all of their travel bookings online.

The survey also reveals that 40 percent of travelers are actually expecting to spend more this year than last, thus providing marketers with the lucrative opportunity to garner bookings from the larger budgets of last-minute travelers.

"There is still an opportunity for marketers to close the season strongly by focusing promotions on last-minute bookings," says the director of Compete's Travel Practice, Gregory Saks. "Marketers can have an impact if they act now with urgency messaging and price-focused offers via the internet to travelers that are still undecided about their plans or holding out for the right time to book."