• by Masha Geller , October 8, 2001

The Emmys have been cancelled, the Wall Street Journal is raising ad rates and the Monster Meter from Monster.com says that the majority of Americans do not feel confident about their job security. That, and the nation is at war.

But people are still interested in travel. At least online.

Nielsen//NetRatings today reports that traffic to travel sites rebounded during the week ending September 30, as audience levels to travel sites surpassed pre-crisis audience levels reported for the week ending September 9.

"With several travel sites recently posting considerable traffic gains, as compared to the three weeks prior, consumer interest in travel has begun to rebound from the turmoil surrounding recent national events," said Sean Kaldor, VP of analytical services at NetRatings.

Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Hotwire, Expedia Travel and American Airlines each posted sizeable gains.

Delta Airlines claimed the largest gain in audience share for the week ending September 30, as compared to the week ending September 9. The site surged 32% and attracted 627,000 unique visitors. United Airlines grew 30% to 474,000 surfers, while Hotwire jumped 11%, capturing 444,000 unique visitors. Rounding out the list, American Airlines grew 5% to 595,000 surfers.

Also, Nielsen//NetRatings found Travelocity reported 1.38 million visitors during the week of Sept. 9 and 969,000 after the attacks, but 1.37 million visitors in the last week of September. Expedia Travel jumped 7%, drawing nearly 1.8 million unique visitors.