24 February 2006

The enthusiasm for the Torino Winter Olympics has had a strong influence over people's Internet habits, with an increasing number searching for winter sports online.

According to the Internet monitoring company Hitwise, Winter Olympic sports such as skiing, curling, ice hockey and figure skating are proving to be some of the most popular terms used in searches over the last few weeks.

Heather Hopkins from Hitwise suggested that web surfers were often watching the sports on TV and then immediately turning to the Internet as their second source of information on the subject.

She also explained that often the information was being sought in order for the browser to organise a winter holiday or find a local winter sports club.

And the Internet user's love of skiing seems to have grown at an unprecedented rate, with searches for "skiing" increasing by three times last week, compared to the rate recorded two weeks ago, with the year-on-year growth hitting 47 per cent.

Ms Hopkins adds that travel websites would do well to make the most of this renewed interest in winter sports.

"Typically searches for ski holidays peak in January. During the Olympics, travel sites may want to extend promotions to tie into increased interest in winter sports."

© Adfero Ltd

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