Australians are comfortable using online services for travel booking, especially with trusted brands, a survey has found.

Trust no longer seems to be the critical issue for Australians in the online travel space, though a trusted brand remains important for transactions involving credit card details, a Digital Travel Study conducted by TNS research agency revealed.

The research found that brand trust was considered more important online than offline.

"In theory the internet creates an open playing field, but in practice trust is more important when you can't see the other person - leveraging or building brand equity is the key to building trust online," Director of Travel and Leisure research at TNS, Carolyn Childs said.

Price was also a prominent factor when it came to booking online, as forty-eight percent of respondents perceived it to be cheaper than booking offline.

"The incentive to use online is cost and price savings, and with consumers becoming more comfortable and experienced booking online we can expect to see more travellers opting to do it themselves," Ms Childs commented.

"Relatively few across male, female and different age groups agree that booking online is only for experienced travellers (17 percent of respondents), positively positioning online trading for future growth."

The research also suggested an increase in competition between online and offline travel agents, as 30 percent of respondents think that travel information online is more reliable than offline sources. This finding was complemented by 27 percent believing that the service of online travel companies was as good as traditional travel agents.