CENDANT TRAVEL DISTRIBUTION SERVICES has acquired all of the assets of The Away Network, an online special interest travel firm. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Away Network operates three sites, including Away.com, GORP.com (Great Outdoor Recreation Pages) and Outside Online, the website of Outside Magazine. Combined, these sites averaged nearly 2m unique visitors a month in 2004, according to Comscore Media Metrix. Away Network sites offer more than 50,000 pages of travel content, including destination and activity guides and maps, gear reviews and feature articles published by Outside Magazine. The buy further demonstrates the GDSs” need to spread their interests across the distribution chain. According to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), more than one-third of leisure trips are family vacations, while outdoor recreation is the primary purpose of about 13% of all leisure trips. Good news for Cendant is The Away Network recently received Forbes ”Best of the Web” awards in family vacations, adventure travel, nature tours, romantic travel and road trips.
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