Travel Distributors: Advance Bookings Even Bleaker

Lower than expected February bookings are leading travel distributors to acknowledge an even bleaker forecast than recently anticipated. Among a handful of such companies speaking in New York today at a CIBC World Markets conference, Sabre said it has warned investors that it will have to cut first-quarter earnings expectations if current booking trends continue.

Galileo International's parent company responded to that comment. Cendant Corp. chairman and CEO Henry Silverman said, "If the domestic GDS business were our only business, I'd probably be telling you the same thing. It's soft, but the rest of Cendant is doing quite well."

The third-largest U.S.-based global distribution system company after Sabre and Galileo, Worldspan also sees corporate travel remaining soft, said senior vice president of worldwide product solutions Sue Powers. According to WorldTravel BTI CEO Mike Buckman, January was "pretty much on plan, while February is looking a bit soft. We don't see improvement in the first half of the year, but hopefully it will be no worse than it already is. Companies are still keeping things tight and we haven't seen a big turn in terms of the attitude and approach toward corporate spending."

Navigant International chairman and CEO Ed Adams said that excluding the uncertainty of a potential war, his company sees no change in booking levels this year versus 2002.