Entering a battle if not declaring full-scale war in the last-minute travel
sector, Travelocity.com Inc.signed a deal with Site59.com and said it will
launch a new “Last Minute Deals” section on its site.
Travelocity’s stock was up sharply today following the announcement, rising
$4.20 to $26.10 in mid-morning trading. However the bounce had more to do
with positive remarks about the company made by Prudential Securities analyst
Mark Rowen, who said that a recent drop in the stock price has created a
buying opportunity.
The Site59.com agreement follows a deal between LastMinuteTravel.com and America Online that was
announced June 1.
Smart travelers have always known that airlines try to put a warm body in
every seat for the sake of cost efficiency, which explains why you may have
paid $75 for your ticket and the person in the next aisle paid $275. With the
advent of the Web and its databasing powers, a whole new travel segment
appears to have developed, especially since the hotel and car rental
businesses also would prefer to make some money rather than let rooms and
vehicles go begging.
Fort Worth, Texas-based Travelocity said its new last-minute area will give
members access to discounted travel packages for travel booked within 14 days
of departure. The focus will be on long weekend getaways.
“With this agreement Travelocity.com has the added opportunity to include its
own inventory with Site59.com’s robust offerings, expanding the deals that
consumers can access,” said Terrell B. Jones, president and CEO of
Travelocity.com.”
Financial arrangements with Site59.com were not disclosed. Site59 says
it has developed patent-pending packaging technology called TRACE that
automates and assembles inventory in real-time from 1,500 industry suppliers
including airlines, hotel companies, car rental firms and hundreds of
specialty providers worldwide. Site59’s technology is the cornerstone of its
ASP product.