For Travelzoo these days, it’s all about Europe.
In the second quarter, Travelzoo’s European newsletter subscriber base grew 50% to 4.2 million, compared with a year ago, and now accounts for 23% of the the global subscriber base.
Travelzoo’s new CEO, Chris Loughlin, speaking to investors today in his first earnings conference call in that capacity, termed the subscriber growth in Europe “very exciting.” Loughlin took over the position July 1.
In Europe, Travelzoo’s footprint covers the U.K., Germany, France and Spain and operating income for the region was $807,000 in the red in the second quarter, compared with a larger loss of $1.1 million a year earlier.
In response to an analyst’s question, Loughlin explained how Europeans’ preoccupation with the World Cup had the “biggest impact” when measured against other global events in the second quarter and into early July.
Referring to the final matches of France, England, Germany and Spain (the victor) in the World Cup, Loughlin said: “As soon as each country popped out the other side, then all of a sudden everyone started focusing again on selling travel.”
A U.K. native, one can assume Loughlin had been rooting for England, which played its final match June 27.
However, his new fiscal responsibilities may have won out over his football sympathies.
“The week after England came out of the World Cup, we had a record week in the UK Top 20,” Loughlin said.
And, oh yes, the ash cloud, British Airways strife and the Greek financial crisis also were disruptive events during the second quarter.
Although Europe still is unprofitable for Travelzoo, Loughlin said the company expects to acheive profitability there within the next three quarters.
Travelzoo’s U.K. business recorded operating income of ₤1 million in the second quarter, and has been in the black since 2009.
For the company as a whole, Travelzoo’s net income rose 102% to $3.24 million in the second quarter on revenue of $28.1 million, an 18.9% hike.
Travelzoo continues to see a great synergy between its Fly.com flight metasearch offering and the Travelzoo deals products.
Searches on Fly.com in North America rose to 6.25 million, Loughlin said, and that’s an increase of about 27%.
Travelzoo’s sales and marketing expenses — including those to promote Fly.com — climbed 11.5% in the second quarter to around $14 million.
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[...] Travelzoo focuses on Europe, feels World Cup ripples [...]