Four star hotels for three star prices causing internet rebound
After a rocky start of summer, major web travel sides have rebounded. Why?
Great deals are driving consumers to continue booking flights and hotel rooms, Orbitz President and Chief Executive Barney Harford told Businessweek.com.
At hotels, "occupancy is low, and that’s great for consumers," Harford said. He added:
"If you’re still working and you feel reasonably good about the economic outlook, being able to get a four-star hotel for a three-star price can be attractive."
One outcome is that Web travel stocks have gone up greatly in value this summer. Shares of Priceline.com are up more than two-thirds since the end of June. They are trading at their highest point since May of 2000.
Bookings rose 43.3 percent from a year earlier and revenues climbed 27 percent.
US consumers are still "restrained," ThinkEquity analyst Aaron Kessler says, but that can be good for online travel sites that allow consumers to compare various travel offerings.
"People are still looking for deals," Kessler said.
Online spending on travel in the US was up 9 percent in July compared to a year ago, said ComScore, an Internet marketing research company.
By David Wilkening
David
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