According to the report, total UK online sales figures for the second quarter of 2004 were nearly twice that of the same period in 2003 - an increase of 99%. During the last quarter, Visa cardholders in the UK spent over £2.4 billion (€3.7 billion) on the Internet - more than twelve times that of nearest market competitors Italy and Germany and over twenty times that of France. Despite continuing to lag behind the UK in terms of online sales volume, all the major European markets experienced healthy e-commerce growth year-on-year. Italy showed the biggest growth (146%) while Spain (118%) and France (115%) also more than doubled their Internet spend. Germany, one of the larger e-commerce markets outside of the UK, experienced 69% growth over the year. A key driver across the region has been the travel and entertainment industry. More and more consumers are booking airline tickets over the web with online sales more than double those in 2003. Online rail and coach bookings are up over 100 per cent on last year and Internet reservations for hotels have also doubled. Online sales of cinema tickets have tripled, coupled with a doubling of theatre and other entertainment bookings. Internet sales in the retail sector have also grown, particularly in the area of online grocery shopping and CD and books sales, both of which have more than doubled compared to last year. Use of the Internet for bill payments and financial services is also on the rise with the total amount spent on domestic services three times that of the last year.
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