elliot

Expedia: An Opportunity in Travel

Orbitz/Expedia/Travelo... = Ford/GM/Chrysler

They have been around since the beginning of time and are steadily losing market share to companies that offer better value (suppliers and meta-search).

The three of them are selling basically identical products, the same hotels rooms from the same database at the same price.

And they have massive advertising expense and an employee count orders of magnitude larger than other successful internet companies (Kayak has under 100).

Does all that sound like Ford/GM/Chrysler??

The fact that they have little value to the consumer (or the suppliers) is more worrisome to me then travel industry fluctuations.

I think their hope is not in the Expedia brand, but rather in some of their acquisitions - from TripAdvisor in 2004 to SeatGuru and others. If you feel that the Expedia corporate culture can nurture and grow their acquisitions and identify and acquire innovative travel companies - their stock will outperform the travel industry.

I am biased. My internet start-up, TripCart.com, aims to provide what the big guys don't. Planning the trip from a where to go, what to do perspective -
www.tripcart.com/usa-r...