CONTACT: Ross Summers Mark Furman
TravelNow.com Keating Investor Relations
(417) 864-3600 x1304 (973) 376-9300
BOOKINGS AND ADVERTISING REVENUE CONTINUE TO INCREASE AS
TRAVELNOW.COM ADDRESSES SHAREHOLDERS AT ANNUAL MEETING
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SPRINGFIELD, MO., Sep. 28, 2000 -- TravelNow (NasdaqSC: TNOW), providing a
world-wide database of hotel, airline, cruise, and car rental reservation
information and booking capabilities, held its annual shareholders meeting on
September 26, 2000. TravelNow's shareholders took the following actions at the
meeting:
1. Incumbent directors, Jeffrey A. Wasson, H. Whit Ehrler, Bill Perkin,
Jerry Rutherford and Antoine Toffa were elected to serve as directors
of the corporation until the 2001 Annual Meeting.
2. Deloitte & Touche, LLP was appointed as independent auditors for the
corporation.
3. The TravelNow.com 2000 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan was ratified.
4. TravelNow's proposed re-incorporation of the corporation in Delaware
was approved.
TravelNow plans to make the re-incorporation merger effective shortly. Once
effective, the re-incorporation merger will not result in any change in the
physical location, business or management of TravelNow. The current directors
and officers will continue to serve in such capacities. Additionally, the common
stock of TravelNow will continue to be listed on The Nasdaq SmallCap Market
under the symbol "TNOW."
CEO Jeff Wasson told the shareholders that he believes TravelNow.com is on
target with its financial, operational and technical plans. In response to a
shareholder's question regarding the Company's plan for dealing with future
losses, Wasson said that the Company continues to work on narrowing its losses
and increasing revenues. Wasson said he believes the Company is in a position to
control its costs and expenses in the coming months.
Total average weekly bookings of travel reservations at TravelNow's Web
site through August 31, 2000, continued to increase over the comparable period a
year ago. Total average weekly bookings increased 173% to over 16,000 while
hotel bookings increased 140 % to more than 11,500. Car rental bookings rose
over 3 times to over 3,400 and air reservations increased 83 times to
approximately 1,150.
TravelNow's web site currently receives over 1.1 million unique monthly
visitors, according to recent statistics from Media Metrix (August 2000).
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TravelNow's total advertising bookings for the current fiscal year 2001
(through August 2000) grew to $430,000, which is nine times the level of
advertising revenues for the entire fiscal year ended March, 31 2000. These
bookings represent advertisements that will be displayed on the company's Web
site during the current fiscal year.
Included in Mr. Wasson's presentation was a technology-related update
including the incorporation of XML coding to the TravelNow booking system to
enable the company to take advantage of markets now considered accessible.
About TravelNow
Launched in March 1995, TravelNow was among the first real-time hotel
reservation services on the Internet. Through its system of affiliates,
TravelNow provides competitive rates for more than 40,000 hotels in 5,000 cities
and 140 countries. The company offers discounts of up to 65% on over 700 hotels
in almost every major city and up to 40% on over 7,000 hotels around the world.
In addition to hotel reservations, car, air, and cruise reservations can also be
arranged at www.travelnow.com.
Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements: These
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially. There is no assurance the above-described events will be
completed. There can be no assurance of the ability of the Company to achieve
sales goals, obtain contracts or financing, consummate acquisitions or achieve
profitability in the future. The above and additional factors are discussed in
detail in the Company's filings with the SEC.
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