First, businesses like Wahanda's are built around economies of scale: Wahanda (and others like it) take a commission on bookings made on its platform, so the more bookings it processes the more returns they are making on the platform they've built.
While she says the business changed its model due to internet and allows online bookings, it still runs 24/7 customer service support via phones "for people who want that human element".
The company said sales were helped by bookings it handled for the rugby World Cup.
"Whilst bookings have improved since the end of the World Cup, price increases have not been sufficient to compensate for weaker bookings," it added.
NBC retaliated with stunt bookings: it promoted a visit by a "Today" show "legend" (the former host Meredith Vieira); the presence of Sarah Palin as a co-host for a day; and a visit from Ryan Seacrest, who flew to New York just for the appearance, then hurried back to Los Angeles.
O'Leary said the EgyptAir disaster, in which a passenger jet with 66 people aboard crashed into the sea between Paris and Cairo last week, had also affected bookings: "It has already had an affect on business, bookings were weak on Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
