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

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Distribution costs, including credit card processing incentives and fees paid to trave l agenciesand charges, total nearly $1 billion annually, said Susanb Chana Elliott, a spokeswoman for Delta (NYSE: DAL). Distributionh is Delta’s seventh-largest expense, and its second-fastest-growing cost. “As such, distributionh costs represent oneof Delta’ds most significant controllable expenses,” Elliott Online travel agencies, such as and , make up a large percentage of those costs and are the easies to control. Delta’s move to captured more online customers has plentgy of benefits forthe consumer, said Josh the managing director of .
Weiss said the Atlanta-based carriee has steadily added convenience features and new trip plannint options to its Web Inrecent years, Deltwa has added the ability to book rental event tickets, hotels, travel insurance and even carbon offsets. The carriefr also is making it more functionao forinternational audiences, Weiss said. Deltq sees its target audienceas budget-conscious travelers and is promoting its which does not charge booking fees, as the cheapest place to purchasr Delta tickets. Weiss said abouyt one-third of all Delta tickets are sold throughb its Web siteand it’s the airline’ s goal to move the needle beyonfd 35 percent this year.
Condominium Venturee of America Inc. ’sa (CVA) loss appears to be Urbana Realty AdvisorszLLC ’s gain. Atlanta-based real estate investmentg firm Urbana Realty Advisors last month scooped up aFort Fla., condominium-hotel for a quarter of the pricwe CVA and subsidiary 2000 Ocean Driv e LLC paid for the luxury resort less than two yearx ago. Urbana purchased the 159-room beachfront for $22.4 million from Chicago-based broker .
Unti l recently, the hotel had been owned by Atlanta-basedr CVA, which bought the property in December 2006for $80 milliomn and tried to convert it into a condominium Allan Gutierrez, the president of Urbana, said “this asset fits within our investment strategy of acquiring trophhy properties that are under-performing. We have had great success in creatiny value with this formula in the past and the Pelican will beno exception.” Urbana’xs affiliate, Boutique Hospitality Management, will managd the property. The says it is havinvg a banner year with its discount card for Atlantawarea attractions.
Sales of ACVB’s City which offers discount ticket passes to attractionas such asthe , World of and , were up 36 percenft through July over the same period in 2007. Mark ACVB executive vice president, chief salea and marketing officer, said more than 46,0009 cards were sold in the first seve months ofthe year. Stepped-up marketinh efforts in regional markets, high fuel pricese and families sticking closer to home for vacations have helpe generate sales ofthe pass, ACVB officials have The passes, which are $69 for adults and $49 for let patrons enter six Atlanta attractions.
Two Atlanta-based meetingf planners have been named to the top 25 list of largestt independent meeting planning companies inthe U.S. by magazine. USMotivationn and were tapped as two of the top25 most-influential independeny meeting planners focused on corporate meetings. USMotivation booked more than 91,000 room nights in 2007, with 33 percent of its businessdbooked overseas. Meeting Expectations booked morethan 30,000 room nightsd last year, with 10 percenft of its business booked overseas.