The Bellevue, Wash.-based company, confirming what many had expected not only for online travel firms but off-line as well, said travelers booked new reservations on Expedia's sites at between 35 percent and 40 percent of the levels for the same days in the prior week.

The company's stock was down $2.28 Tuesday morning, or about 9.5 percent to $21.71. Expedia had been trading at about $36 a share before the events of Sept. 11.

Priceline and Travelocity, which have not commented on bookings, took a beating on Monday also, as did general airline stocks, which were down by a third.

Expedia's statement said that bookings Monday were on the rise, up to "approximately 45 percent of the levels for the same day in the prior week."

"In light of last week's tragedies, we believe our early booking levels are an encouraging indication of the resilience of the American spirit," said Richard N. Barton, president and chief executive officer of Expedia.

Moving to bolster investor confidence, Expedia also reported that the company recorded revenue for July and August at a quarterly run rate of approximately $90 million. Further, "as of Sept. 15, Expedia had a very strong balance sheet with more than $225 million in cash," said Gregory S. Stanger, chief financial officer. "It's too early to assess the near-term impact on our business, but long term, we believe our travel bookings will again increase at an attractive growth rate."

Expedia said it is continuing to work with USA Networks to complete the acquisition of a majority interest in Expedia, which was announced on July 16.

Online travel competitor Priceline.com (NASDAQ:PCLN) also was seeing a further decline in share price today, as its stock was down 31 cents or about 10 percent to $2.70 at mid-morning.

Travelocity (NASDAQ:TVLY) was recovering a bit, up 42 cents to $12.98. Before Sept. 11, Travelocity had been trading at about $22, and Priceline had been recovering nicely from a 52-week low of $1.06 at about $5.25

Ironically, before Sept. 11, the travel sector had been considered one of the shining stars of e-commerce, seeing steady growth and real profits.

Meanwhile, airline stock prices took an upward tick Tuesday, a day after investors deleted an estimated $10.4 billion in market capitalization for the industry. UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL), parent of United Airlines, was up $1.20 to $18.70 in mid-morning trading. AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR), parent of American Airlines, was up $1.58 to $19.58.