Travelocity

Travelocity is an online travel agency operated by Travelocity.com LP. Travelocity is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sabre Holdings Corporation, which was a publicly traded company until taken private by Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group in March 2007. Travelocity is based in Southlake, Texas, with additional offices in New York City, San Francisco, San Antonio and abroad.

According to Sabre Holdings, Travelocity is the sixth-largest travel agency in the United States, and the second-largest online travel agency. In addition to its primary US consumer site, Travelocity operates a full-service business agency, Travelocity Business, and comparable websites in Canada, Germany, France, the Scandinavian countries, Mexico, India and the United Kingdom. Sister sites include lastminute.com in Europe and Zuji in Asia. Other brands include World Choice Travel, a travel affiliate marketing program; and Travelocity on Location, an activities and ticket broker based in Las Vegas.

History

American Airlines began offering customer access to its electronic reservation system, SABRE, on the CompuServe Information Service in the 1980s, under the "Easy SABRE" [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=950DE0D6163AF930A15751C1A96F948260 More Trips Start at a Home Computer] ] [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2D7163EF931A25752C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Booking With a Computer] ] brand name. This service was extended to America Online in the 1990s.

Travelocity was created in 1996 as a subsidiary of Sabre Holdings, itself a subsidiary of American Airlines, and was run by long-time Sabre I.T. executive Terrell B. "Terry" Jones. As one of the pioneers of web-based disintermediation, Travelocity.com was the first website that allowed consumers themselves not only to access Sabre's fare and schedule information, but also to reserve, book, and purchase tickets without the help of a travel agent or broker. In addition to airfares, the site also permits consumers to book hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and packaged vacations.

Travelocity gained momentum after the AOL keyword [http://travel.aol.com Travel] became associated with the brand in 1999. In 2000, Sabre negotiated a merger of Travelocity with another early web travel company, Preview Travel. The resulting company was independently quoted on the NASDAQ exchange, with Sabre continuing to own around 30% of the combined company's stock, but around 70% of the voting rights. In 2002, with Travelocity's fortunes suffering from competition including Expedia and Orbitz, Sabre consummated a tender offer for the remainder of the outstanding shares in Travelocity and remerged the business into Sabre as a subsidiary. Jones left the company shortly afterward.

Also in March 2002, Travelocity acquired last minute travel specialist Site59.com. Site59’s CEO and founder, Michelle Peluso joined Travelocity with the acquisition as senior vice president, product strategy and distribution. Peluso became Travelocity’s COO in April 2003 and was then named president and chief executive officer of Travelocity in December 2003.

In 2005, Travelocity acquired lastminute.com to take in excess of 30 more brands under its banner in the UK.

Under current CEO Michelle Peluso’s leadership, Travelocity has developed and launched a merchant hotel business, dynamic packaging functionality, and a private-label (ASP) distribution network, the Travelocity Partner Network. Many members of Peluso’s former management team at Site59 now hold senior management positions at Travelocity; namely, Jeffrey Glueck (Chief Marketing Officer), Tracey Weber (COO, North America), Josh Hartmann (Chief Technology Officer) and Jonathan Perkel (Senior Vice President & General Counsel).

Trivia

Travelocity was a sponsor of the TV series The Amazing Race from the 7th season to the 9th season and 11th season.

Their current mascot is known as the "The Roaming Gnome".

Travelocity's current slogan is "You'll never roam alone."

Travelocity also offers Gay and Lesbian friendly hotels and resorts that are bookable online. [http://www.travelocity.com/gaytravel]

ee also

*"Where is my Gnome?", a viral marketing campaign used by Travelocity.

References

External links

* [http://www.travelocity.com/ Travelocity home page]
* [http://www.travelocitybusiness.com/ Travelocity Business home page]
* [http://www.sabre-holdings.com/ourBrands/travelocity.html Sabre Holdings' page on its Travelocity brand]