ON-LINE travel agencies Travelocity.com and Preview Travel have merged.
Executives from both companies say the move will provide a wider choice for users as Travelocity has traditionally been strong on separate bookings of flights, hotels and car rental while Preview has healthier sales on package holidays.
As part of the deal, Travelocity’s owner global distribution system supplier Sabre will have a 70% stake in the newly created company Travelocity.com
Some 17m people, 8.7m from Travelocity.com and 9m from Preview Travel, will now be registered users.
The company has also signed a new five-year contract with America Online to be the Internet provider’s exclusive reservations engine for all travel-related services within it. Travelocity launched the UK version of its site last November.