WTL Waterlogic

RNS Number:5473S
World Travel Holdings PLC
16 October 2000


                           World Travel Holdings plc
                                       
              Successful Marketing of Fare 1 to US Travel Agents

World Travel Holdings plc ("WTH") the travel technology and services business,
reports the successful launch of Fare 1 at the recent American Society of
Travel Agents ("ASTA") World Congress in Las Vegas, USA.  More than 10% over
300 of the attending travel agents have registered to use fare 1 as part of
their travel services offering. A further 400, or nearly 15% of the attending
travel agents, requested additional details to be sent after the congress.

WTH's advertising campaign in the US travel trade press has now been running
for three weeks and has introduced more than 500 travel agents who have signed
up for the Fare 1 product and in the region of 600 requests for further
details which are being followed up.

Fare 1 is WTH's business to trade product which, for the first time allows
travel agents to use the Internet as a competitive tool.  A "unique first
mover" according to Forrester Research, Fare 1 provides travel agents with a
cost-effective means of displaying, booking and delivering flight bookings,
hotel and car rental reservations through a single communications link.
Currently, travel agents obtain booking information from several sources in a
time consuming search over relatively expensive and archaic fixed lines and
dumb terminals.

Following the successful launch of Fare 1 in the US, the business will be
launched to the UK travel industry at the Association of British Travel Agents
("ABTA") conference in Kos, Greece later this month. To facilitate Fare 1's
introduction into the UK market, Viewdata, an existing enquiry and booking
system that many UK travel agents use, has already been integrated into the
service. The advertising campaign for the UK travel trade press is starting
this week.

Jonathan Biles, Chief Executive, WTH, said:

"We're delighted with the level of interest already shown in Fare 1 by US
travel agents.  At over 10% of the attending travel agents the level of
interest at the ASTA conference indicates levels of interest which are well
ahead of the levels of market penetration we planned for by the Spring 2002.

As well as over 300 signed up at the conference we also have a significant
number of travel agents who want to meet with us to discuss the business
benefits of Fare 1. Fare 1 allows travel agents to offer a better, faster and
more cost-efficient to their clients."

                                   

For further information please contact:

World Travel Holdings plc                        020 7456 1352
Jonathan Biles, Chief Executive

Financial Dynamics                               020 7831 3113
Nick Miles or James Melville-Ross

Notes:

World Travel Holdings plc
WTH distributes travel products and services, predominantly through the
Internet and mainly to travel agents, using the Group's proven technology
platform Powerflyer.  WTH supplies scheduled and negotiated fares, car rental,
hotel bookings, travel information and travel insurance over the Internet.
These products and services are supplied through distinct channels: Fare 1 for
travel agents, worldtraveldirect.com for consumers and Trident for corporate
customers.  WTH's recent fund raising via its flotation on AIM will enable the
company to focus its business activity upon Fare 1, as the travel agent market
is considered as the best opportunity for growth.

fare 1
fare 1, a division of UK-based World Travel Holdings plc, is targeted at the
travel agent market, offering agents a low cost way to obtain booking and
pricing information from one source over the Internet. fare 1 will use the
proprietary Powerflyer software, developed by World Travel Holdings, to
automatically search, locate and present the lowest fares available - from the
entire universe of fares, and provide real-time booking and payment to travel
agent subscribers on demand.

The travel market:
*  Global travel market estimated at over US$500 billion in air travel alone
   each year
*  Only 20 per cent. of those who research travel online then book online
*  It is currently estimated that approximately 12 per cent. of the global
   travel market will be booked directly on the Internet by consumers by 2003
*  It is currently estimated that 88 per cent. of travel commerce will be
   booked by other means -  principally travel agents - by 2003
*  Over 40,000 travel agency offices in the US with estimated 250,000
   personnel
*  Each US agency location processes on average 350 tickets per month
*  8,500 travel agency locations in the UK with 23,000 travel agency managers

For more information, log onto the fare 1 web site, www.fare1.com

 

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