Travel Holdings, Inc., Continues Growth With Strong Q2 2011

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Florida, August 9, 2011 -

- Global Wholesale Travel Brokerage Sees Second-quarter EBITDA Almost Double

Travel services aggregator Travel Holdings, Inc. announced its second quarter 2011 results last week, showing robust year-over-year growth in the face of an incredibly challenging global business environment.

Led by its business-to-business Tourico Holidays brand, business-to-consumer-facing Last Minute Travel brand and industry-changing Mauiva AirCruise™ product, the company saw its second-quarter EBITDA almost double as revenue from all of the company’s segments showed exponential growth, particularly in North America, Latin America and Europe.

The company’s financial results for Q2 2011 include the following:

• Total sales for the second quarter rose 52.14 percent year-over-year.
• Gross margins for Q2 grew 50.01.
• EBITDA for the quarter grew 99.42 percent year-over-year.
• The company’s EBITDA represents 5.97 percent of its total sales and 38.55 percent of its gross margins.

Additionally, for the first six months of 2011 compared to the first six months of 2010, the company’s sales grew 42.18 percent, margins grew 42.01 percent and EBITDA grew 94.61 percent.  For that period, hotel room nights sold rose 40.53 percent, rental car days climbed 179.0 percent, airline tickets sold rose 6.64 percent and activities sold grew 74.99 percent.

“Despite the current market turmoil, credit crisis and global economic challenges, Travel Holdings is still managing to achieve a record breaking year,” said Robert Fischer, Travel Holdings Chief Financial Officer. “During 2010, we invested heavily in our B2C business segment, increasing our global footprint as well as the creation of a new concept - The Mauiva AirCruise. These investments, compounded by our organic growth, are allowing us to enjoy this phenomenal success in 2011. The company is currently experiencing a steady growth of demand, which is exceeding $4 million daily in sales and 9 billion searches annually.”  

The strong results so far this year have the company optimistic for the third quarter of 2011. Travel Holdings is projecting that total sales increase by 54.26 percent, gross margins by 38.95 percent and EBITDA by 92.79 percent during the quarter.

The Mauiva AirCruise is perhaps Tourico Holiday’s most creative product yet.  The AirCruise is a multi-destination, sight-seeing experience in which guests enjoy the comforts of private air travel and conveniences of pre-arranged guided tours in each locale, maximizing value for travelers’ hard-earned vacation time and dollars.  On both U.S. coasts, the AirCruise comprehensive package includes escorted group travel; all transportation via a private plane (augmented by coaches for destinations within 90 miles of each other); attractions and local tour guides; accommodations at first-class, branded hotels; daily breakfast and dinner; as well as gratuities and baggage handling.  In 2012, the concept will be extended to include Caribbean and European itineraries. Launching the AirCruise just two month ago, Mauiva recently recorded the 2,000th guest. Mauiva AirCruise bookings are currently averaging 108 reservations per day resulting in over 275 future guests.  

LastMinuteTravel.com is the premier online consumer website to book last minute prices in advance. Offering vacation packages, airline tickets, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and cruises, the site provides the best rates in advance and up to the very last second. With tens of thousands of Last Minute Travel deals and inventory that offers a wide variety of destinations and pricing options, LastMinuteTravel.com has become a go-to resource for today’s time-starved traveler.

In operation for 17 years, Tourico Holidays (www.TouricoHolidays.com) is a subsidiary of Travel Holdings, Inc.  With 37 locations serving 97 sources countries across six continents, it employs 402 people providing support in 23 languages.  Tourico Holidays is the world’s largest purchaser of hotel room blocks in the world, offering 4,405 travel clients 23,000 direct hotel contracts.

About Travel Holdings®

Travel Holdings, Inc.® (www.travelholdings.com), one of the most distinctive and expansive travel distribution companies in the world, was created in early 2004 through the merger of Tourico Holidays®, Last Minute Travel™ and Travel Global Systems (TGS). Travel Holdings® uses proprietary technology to supply travel inventory at competitive pricing, integrating with all segments of the online travel industry including retail, wholesale, group, travel agents, corporate and affiliates. The company is a truly global organization with headquarters in Orlando and additional, local offices across the United States, South America, Europe and Asia.

    Contact: Sean Hixson
             Weber Shandwick
             +1-314-552-6760
             shixson@webershandwick.com

             Lauren Volcheff
             Travel Holdings, Inc.
             +1-407-667-8700 x7355
             Lauren@touricoholidays.com

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