Stacey Mangrower surfed the Web prior to driving to Chattanooga on Tuesday with her two children.

Ms. Mangrower, 37, said she searched MapQuest for the quickest route from Bremen, Ga., and to determine how far her hotel was from various attractions. She also searched the Chattanooga Area Visitors and Convention Bureau’s Web site, chattanoogafun.com, to research attractions and look for discounts.

“We weren’t going to be here a long time, so we wanted to schedule things we didn’t want to miss out on,” she said.

Bob Doak, president and chief executive of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said research has shown that about 92 percent of travelers use the Internet to plan their vacation..

“If you are a destination area and you don’t have a good Web presence, you’re in deep trouble,” he said.

Two years ago, the Convention and Visitor’s Center published 500,000 copies of the area visitor’s guide, but Mr. Doak said they now only print 400,000.

“That’s 20 percent,” he said. “That’s from people going to the Internet, looking up our site and getting the information from there.”

Ms. Mangrower said she found the Internet informative, and she printed off several coupons for discounts around town.

“With gas prices the way they are, every little bit helps,” she said.

Randy Bly, spokesman for AAA, said there are a number of Web sites devoted to information about the cheapest gas prices in an area.

He said traffic on sites such as gasbuddy.com continues to increase, but he is not convinced they are very helpful.

“Personally, I don’t put much stock in those things,” Mr. Bly said. “Those prices can change at a moment’s notice.”

GasBuddy has about 1.5 million registered users and up to 3 million unique visitors each day across its 181 local Web sites, co-founder Jason Toews said. He said GasBuddy’s popularity has steadily increased since it launched in 2000, and it attracts the most new users when fuel prices are volatile.

Mr. Bly said a better use for the site is to find pumps that do not include ethanol. He said many drivers don’t want the fuel additive in their tanks because they believe it increases the price of corn or might damage their vehicle.

“Ethanol is highly corrosive,” Mr. Bly said. “People who drive older or antique cars don’t want to use it.”

The AAA Web site does not track gas prices, but it offers a number of tips to improve fuel efficiency. AAA’s Web site, fuelgaugereport.com, tracks fuel prices by states and cities.

Cheryl Alfano, an independent travel agent and the director of travel for chattanoogahastravel.com, said Internet travel research has just about eliminated travel agencies.

“You don’t see a lot of brick and mortar travel agencies anymore because of Web sites like Travelocity,” Ms. Alfano said. “It is so easy for people to book their own travel.”

When traveling, she said she researches her destination ahead of time.

“I do a lot of research and know where I an going and where I am going to eat before I leave,” Ms. Alfano said.

Jennifer A. Flynn, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said travelers can search www.tdot.state.tn.us for traffic conditions, road work, weather information and maps.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has a similar site, georgia-navigator.com, which also provides travelers with traffic information.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.