Warnie, I think you have no idea if you think you could rebuild or even revamp the site for $100k, that's the wages of 2 designers alone. Add in anything that requires a team, such as multi-variate testing you're looking at millions of bucks. These sites can't just change their design and hope it works. That's a recipe for disaster.
Hard to say if they are nowhere in Adwords. They don't seem to have an ad campaign for words like 'holidays,' instead targetting 'accommodation.' I would say they are focusing on 'buy' keywords rather than 'browse.' And I wouldn't expect them to be paying for top spot in Adwords. (that can actually be a very bad return on investment)
The most annoying thing for me is the input boxes on the front page. Who want's to scroll through a list of 300 destinations to find something major like 'Coffs Harbour.' Terrible user experience and I hope they are listening. They should be using some sort of auto-complete.
That being said, I actually think WTF has a good P/E ratio and divi around these levels. Hopefully this is the kick in the pants they need and they can improve earnings in flight bookings. Someone said their international inventory is average - probably right but looks like they are working on it.
Yes, Expedia can go for broke in the Aus market - they have the market cap, they have the expertise. But with a PE around 69 and dividend in the sub 1% region I know what I prefer. (I know Expedia has better forecasts, but forecasts are forecasts) I look for value and I have been buying WTF since $2.60. I am expecting this to bounce very nicely in 2014.
GLTAH
WTF Price at posting:
$2.77 Sentiment: ST Buy Disclosure: Held