NEW YORK Bob La Fleur, associate director/Bear Stearns, picked Hotel Reservations Network (HRN) as one of his best stock buys during a keynote panel at the eTravel World conference here called “Wall Street Analysts Speak Out About Online Travel Stocks.”
HRN reported at an earlier panel that it has been profitable for quite some time and that the company currently has “a lot of cash,” according to Bob Diener, president/HRN. “We ve built a business model that works,” he said. “We have an affiliate program that really works and want to expand our affiliates. Currently, we are only booking 25% of the potential market out there. There s tons of potential.”
He added that HRN has “barely scratched the surface,” and that the company, which has a large North American inventory of guestrooms, has “barely tapped Europe and Asia,” and that it “hasn t even entered South America yet.” He also noted condominiums and vacation rentals as a large potential for future growth.
“The slowdown of the economy has actually helped HRN because as the economy slows down, more and more companies want to work with us to sell their rooms,” said Diener. “So we ve added more hotels, we ve lowered rates, and created better deals for consumers.” (4/3/01) Diana M. Rodriguez