Travel agency sales reported through ARC's settlement system rose a striking 9.5% in April to more than $7.8 billion, apparently the result of rising air fares and higher taxes.

ARC's monthly summary indicates that the total number of transactions was nearly flat, rising only 0.7% over the same month in 2007. The dollar volume of fares remitted, however, increased nearly 8.5%, to $6.7 billion, while taxes and fees rose 15.7%, to just over $1 billion.

On the domestic side, the number of transactions fell 0.9%, while the dollar value of fares remitted increased 7.6%, to $3.5 billion. The number of international transactions rose 5.2%, while international fares rose 9.4%, to $3.25 billion.

Meanwhile, paper money and paper tickets continue to diminish in importance. ARC said the number of cash transactions fell 4%, to 2.2 million, and accounted for 16% of April's transactions and 14% of the dollar volume, while e-tickets accounted for 97.7% of the volume.