POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- ByeByeNow.com, which is launching a leisure-travel
marketing network that combines the Internet with travel agencies,
appointed NBC News executive Guy Pepper president and chief
executive officer.
Pepper is senior director and special adviser to the president
of NBC News, responsible for the network's domestic and
international news programming on broadcast, cable and the
Internet, ByeByeNow.com said. Pepper, who helped launch the MSNBC
cable network, was expected to join ByeByeNow.com on Jan. 31.
ByeByeNow.com, which launched a preliminary version of its Web
site late last year, is in the process of buying travel agencies as
part of a strategy to involve travel agents in Internet sales, a
strategy the company is calling "clicks and bricks." The company
has a letter of intent to buy Cruise Holidays International.
ByeByeNow.com plans to issue an IPO in the second quarter of
this year, according to a company spokeswoman. Over the next 30
months, the firm plans to place $40 million of advertising in
magazines and on cable television.