Orbitz is an online travel company that offers both leisure and business travellers a selection of low airfares, as well as deals on car rentals, cruises, vacation packages and other travel. Its inventory includes more than 455 airlines, tens of thousands of lodging properties worldwide and twenty-two rental car companies (Orbitz, 2005). Its flagship site, Orbitz.com, uses the QPX search and booking system produced by ITA Software, given the name “Orbot" (Wikipedia, 2005). Orbitz is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation and part of Cendant Travel Distribution Services division (Orbitz, 2005).
Orbitz differs from competitors for a number of reasons. It neither consolidates inventory (such as Priceline.com) nor does it provide a gateway to a so-called global distribution system (such as Travelocity). Orbitz.com directly searches for inventory in and retrieves information for bookings from the computer reservation systems (CRSs) or inventory management systems of travel suppliers such as airlines. (Orbitz, 2005)
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Orbitz was formed by leading U.S. airlines as a limited liability company on February 24, 2000, with five airlines – American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United – taking a significant equity stake during its early history. Since the launch of its consumer website to the general public in June, 2001, Orbitz.com has become one of the leading online travel agencies. (Orbitz, 2005)
Orbitz, Inc. became a publicly traded company on Dec. 17, 2003, when its Class A shares began trading on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol 'ORBZ'. At June 29, 2004, approximately 14.0 million Class A and nearly 27.2 million Class B shares were issued and outstanding. In addition, 434,782 shares of Series A non-voting redeemable convertible preferred stock are issued and outstanding. (Orbitz, 2005)
On November 12, 2004, Orbitz was acquired by Cendant's Travel Distribution Services division, and is part of the Consumer Travel Americas group (Wikipedia, 2005). At the end of 2004, the Chicago-based company had approximately 400 employees. Mike Sands serves as President of Orbitz.com, overseeing the management and strategic direction of the company (Orbitz, 2005).
On September 29, 2004 Orbitz was acquired for $1.2 billion by New York based Cendant Corporation. There has been some speculation, given Cendant’s spate of acquisitions in Europe, about Orbitz being exported to Europe as a brand or the continued use of acquired Cendant brands like ebookers and Octopus Travel. (Orbitz, 2005)
A boycott against Orbitz was instigated in March, 2005 by readers of a website called The Best Page in the Universe. Orbitz received thousands of email complaints from readers of this website. The website’s author, George Ouzounian, aka Maddox, recounted an unsatisfactory experience with Orbitz in which he was not refunded for being provided with an itinerary that could not physically be fulfilled. Despite the story being read by over a hundred thousand people in under a week, the boycott failed to have any significant impact on Orbitz’s business. (Wikipedia, 2005)
On September 21, 2005, Orbitz announced the launch of OrbitzGames.com. Soon after its launch in 2001, Orbitz became the innovator and experienced success by transforming often uninspired online ads into small games. This website is dedicated to extending the fun of their original series of online games. Orbitz has launched this website in order to build an online community of Orbitz enthusiasts who will connect with the brand when they are thinking about travel. (Orbitz, 2005)
Some features that have contributed to the growth of Orbitz include:
This technology enables travellers to search more than two billion fares and flights using search algorithm technology. Orbitz has continued to enhance its search engine by introducing tools such as Flex Search and Deal Detector.
Under this program, Orbitz negotiates discounted rates with hotels for room inventory.
Orbitz is the first and only online travel site with a Customer Care Team that monitors nationwide travel conditions, all day, every day.
Orbitz.com has been recognised by a number of awards, including:
See also:
Online travel agencies in competition with Orbitz include:
Roxanne Hawes 12:38, 16 Oct 2005 (EST)
