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More Than 19 Million Holiday Travelers Take Flight Online, According To Nielsen//Netratings

NEW YORK May 28, 2004 Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reports that office workers flocked online to make Memorial Day travel plans, during the week ending May 23.
More than 19 million unique visitors, or 41 percent of active online office workers, visited an online travel site at work last week. Hotel site Marriott jumped 76 percent to more than 1.2 million unique visitors, as compared to 698,000 visitors during the previous week (see Table 1). Hilton surged 56 percent to 718,000 visitors. Yahoo! Travel drew 1.1 million office workers, growing 50 percent. Travelocity spiked 49 percent, attracting three million visitors. AOL Travel rose 41 percent to 911,000 visitors. Nearly 2.8 million visitors visited Orbitz.com, increasing 39 percent. TripAdvisor saw 798,000 unique visitors, rising 24 percent week-over-week.

Rounding out the top ten fastest growing travel sites last week were American Airlines, MSN Maps & Directions, and Expedia. Office workers are taking time out of their workday to book holiday plans. For millions of Americans traveling during Memorial Day weekend, travel sites serve as their primary tool for vacation planning, said Ken Cassar, director of strategic analysis, Nielsen//NetRatings. In addition to the convenience factor, many airlines offer promotions and discounts that can be found only online.

Table 1: Nielsen//NetRatings Fastest Growing Travel Sites, Week Ending May 23 (U.S., Work)
	Unique Audience (000)
Brand or Channel	5/16/04	5/23/04 %	Growth
1. Marriott	698	1,231	76%
2. Hilton	460	718	56%
3. Yahoo! Travel	715	1,075	50%
4. Travelocity	1,992	2,969	49%
5. AOL Travel	644	911	41%
6. Orbitz.com	1,980	2,757	39%
7. TripAdvisor	643	798	24%
8. American Airlines	961	1,183	23%
9. MSN Maps & Directions	548	646	18%
10. Expedia	2,983	3,279	10%

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, May 2004

About Nielsen//NetRatings

Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis and is the industry's premier source for online advertising intelligence with its NetView, AdRelevance, @Plan, WebRF, LemonAd, MegaPanel and SiteCensus services. Covering 70 percent of the world's Internet usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services offer syndicated Internet and digital media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

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