Ad Revenue Travels.

LAYOFFS, HIRING FREEZES AND PARED BUDGETS HAVE BECOME commonplace as companies grapple with a softening in the economy. And spending on advertising is down everywhere. Or is it? * Kristine Viksnins, associate vice president at frommer.com, says advertising is holding steady on the Web site associated with the well-known travel book series. "The travel space is one that is not slowing down in terms of advertising revenues," she says. * Travelocity.com CEO Ramesh Punwani agrees. His Web site, one of the few posting a profit, gets 20% of its revenue from advertisers. "Advertising is large. We're not losing any of it," he says. "We think advertising will be in the 25% to 30% range for our revenues down the line." * Travel ads focus on a narrow target market with disposable income. And, economy aside, it's a growing market online: Jupiter Media Metrix predicts the online travel market in the United States alone, worth US$18 million in 2001, will grow to $62 million by 2006. * But does that mean the same thing will happen with online travel in Latin America? Lucas Graves, the Latin America analyst for Jupiter, hasn't specifically studied online travel ads in the region but he thinks the prognosis is good. "In general, the same guiding principals apply in Latin America as in the United States," he says. * Travel isn't enjoying the advertising bounty alone. "Financial services sites are also bucking the trend," Graves adds.