Expedia retains its lead over Lastminute - 04-Mar-04.: "Expedia.com has held its lead over Lastminute.com for share of UK visits since the beginning of the year, according to Hitwise.

Expedia got a 9.6% share of visits to UK agency websites in the week ending 28 February. Lastminute.com was close behind with a 7.4% share.
Hitwise UK general manager, Simon Chamberlain told TravelMole: 'Expedia.co.uk has consistently been the most visited travel agency site since the beginning of January, according to Hitwise UK data. Their TV campaign, coupled with the instant win promotion they ran during January, certainly seems to have created the desired surge in visitors to the site.

�It will be interesting to see whether they can sustain a lead over Lastminute.com. In the past week the gap between the two has narrowed, although according to Hitwise - Search Terms 'expedia' is currently the most searched company name amongst travel agencies. This indicates that it is one of the brands that is front of mind with consumers doing their holiday planning.'

Lastminute led the UK table for most of 2003, and hit a high point in the week ending 6 December when it had a 12.5% share of UK visits. Lastminute's proportion of UK hits could increase if its bid for OTC, made public on Wednesday, goes ahead. "