Travelzoo Inc. rose more than 12 percent on Thursday after the Internet publisher of travel sales said its publications now reach more than 10 million subscribers.
Travelzoo said this week it will report its first-quarter earnings on April 18.

The 10 million subscribers represents the total number of unduplicated subscribers to Travelzoo’s U.S. Top 20 e-mail newsletter, its Newsflash e-mail alert service and its U.K. Top 20 e-mail newsletter. The 10 million opt-in subscribers represent a 21 percent increase over the same time last year.

“Surpassing the 10 million mark is a huge achievement for any media company and we are very proud of this accomplishment. Our U.S. publications alone reach 9.6 million subscribers. This is more than the combined readership of several of the largest daily newspapers in the U.S.,” said Ralph Bartel, chairman and chief executive officer, Travelzoo. “The size and quality of our subscriber list makes Travelzoo the number one choice for hundreds of travel companies around the world when announcing their best travel offers. We are able to offer advertisers the opportunity to target a large number of travel enthusiasts at one time and drive incremental demand for time sensitive travel offers.”

A survey conducted in December 2005 by Socratic Technologies, an independent Chicago-based research firm, showed that 27 percent of Travelzoo subscribers earn $100,000 or more, compared to 14 percent of non-subscribers earning an equivalent amount. The same study also found that Travelzoo subscribers are highly educated with 81 percent having a college degree or more, compared with 63 percent of non-subscribers.

According to Bartel, the subscriber growth can be attributed to an increased awareness of the Travelzoo brand through positive word of mouth and the company’s reputation as a reliable and accurate information source for travel deals. The survey conducted by Socratic Technologies showed that Travelzoo users rank the Travelzoo Web site highest in satisfaction among 11 leading travel-related Web sites. 72 percent of Travelzoo users gave the Web site the highest ranking of satisfaction. The attributes that drive Travelzoo users’ satisfaction include being “easy to use” and “a reliable and accurate information source” that “always has the best prices.”

Subscriber growth has also been aided by Travelzoo’s international expansion. Within the past year, the company has opened offices in London, Munich and Toronto.
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