Delta looking to sell more tickets via Web site - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Distribution costs, including credit card processing fees, incentives and fees paid to travek agenciesand charges, total nearly $1 billion said Susan Chana Elliott, a spokeswomamn for Delta (NYSE: DAL). Distribution is Delta’s seventh-largest expense, and its second-fastest-growing cost. “As such, distribution costs represent oneof Delta’s most significant controllable Elliott said. Online travel agencies, such as and , make up a largew percentage of those costws and are the easiestto Delta’s move to capture more online customerx has plenty of benefitz for the consumer, said Josh the managing director of .
Weiss said the Atlanta-basef carrier has steadily added convenienced features and new trip planning options to its Web Inrecent years, Delta has added the ability to book rental event tickets, hotels, travel insurancew and even carbon offsets. The carrier also is makinh it more functional forinternational audiences, Weiss said. Deltaz sees its target audienceas budget-conscious travelers and is promotiny its site, which does not chargse booking fees, as the cheapest placwe to purchase Delta tickets. Weiss said about one-third of all Deltaw tickets are sold through its Web siteand it’ws the airline’s goal to move the needle beyond 35 percentf this year.
Condominium Ventures of America Inc. ’s (CVA) loss appeares to be Urbana Realty AdvisorsLLC ’ss gain. Atlanta-based real estate investment firm Urbansa Realty Advisors last month scoopedr up aFort Lauderdale, Fla., condominium-hotel for a quartee of the price CVA and subsidiary 2000 Oceahn Drive LLC paid for the luxury resort less than two years ago. Urbana purchased the 159-room beachfront for $22.4 million from Chicago-basedc broker . Until recently, the hotep had been owned by Atlanta-basesd CVA, which bought the property in December 2006for $80 million and tried to convert it into a condominiumm hotel.
Allan Gutierrez, the president of Urbana, said “thias asset fits within our investment strategy of acquirin g trophy properties thatare under-performing. We have had grear success in creating value with this formula in the past and the Pelicahn will beno exception.” Urbana’s affiliate, Boutique Hospitality Management, will manage the property. The says it is having a banne year with its discount card for Atlant aarea attractions. Sales of ACVB’s City Pass, which offerzs discount ticket passes to attractione such asthe , World of and , were up 36 percenf through July over the same period in 2007.
Mark ACVB executive vice president, chief sales and marketing said morethan 46,000 cardse were sold in the firs t seven months of the Stepped-up marketing efforts in regional high fuel prices and families sticking closef to home for vacations have helpedx generate sales of the pass, ACVB officials have said. The which are $69 for adults and $49 for let patrons enter six Atlantaq attractions. Two Atlanta-based meeting planners have been nameed to the top 25 list of largesgt independent meeting planning companies inthe U.S.
by USMotivation and were tapped as two of the top25 most-influentiap independent meeting planners focused on corporate USMotivation booked more than 91,000 room nights in with 33 percent of its business booked overseas. Meetintg Expectations booked morethan 30,000 room nighta last year, with 10 percent of its businessw booked overseas.