The online travel industry is bracing itself for more consolidation after last week's £209m ($404m) purchase of Ebookers by Cendant, the world's largest travel group.

The deal, which followed Cendant's recent $1.25bn acquisition of Orbitz, the second largest travel site in the US, caused shares in Lastminute.com, a rival to Ebookers, to rise 15 per cent. Europe has become the battle ground for US online travel operators looking for growth opportunities. This is because online penetration in Europe - how many consumers book travel online - is barely 10 per cent compared with 30 per cent in the US.