In 2011, vacations were enhanced with some of the frills that went missing in 2010. U.S. travelers spent more time on vacation, ventured beyond their borders more often, and stayed in pricier accommodations. A new PhoCusWright Global Edition study reveals that this increased spending and complexity of travel stimulated more online shopping. Almost all online channels, including OTAs, travel metasearch and general search engines, travel review websites, flash deal websites and even social networks, experienced a healthy bump in usage for travel shopping – roughly 2-5% across the board. However, according to PhoCusWright's U.S. Consumer Travel Report Fourth Edition, one key online channel failed to expand its consumer reach over the past year: supplier websites. The percentage of travelers who shop for travel products through provider websites was stagnant, dipping slightly by 1%. While a range of factors can influence a traveler's preference for one website over...