Deal Publisher Travelzoo In Profit Plunge as It Tries to Diversify

Deal publisher Travelzoo saw its net income fall 28% to $5.2 million in the second quarter as it tries to diversify and invests in a hotel-booking engine.

Travelzoo, which sees its deals business under pressure, acquired Perfect Escapes in an asset sale last year, and is developing a booking engine to get further into the hotel business.

Travelzoo attempted to put a postive twist on its current predicament.

“Continued growth in our travel businesses in North America and Europe drove a solid quarter,” said Chris Loughlin, chief executive officer, “Audience engagement reached record levels and we made good progress in social media and mobile.

“Our earnings were still impacted by our investments into a hotel booking platform, aimed at simplifying our user experience on web and mobile. We plan to introduce the platform later this year.”

Travelzoo’s revenue in the second quarter grew 5% to $41.3 million compared with revenue a year earlier.