Within Barry Diller's online empire, InterActiveCorp, there's no business more vital than IAC Travel-which makes Erik Blachford his most important lieutenant. Overseeing Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, and other travel properties, Blachford is responsible for 37 percent of IAC's revenue and more than two-thirds of its profits. Still, even as IAC Travel's growth has been extraordinary—it's now the third-largest travel agency in the world—it's feeling the pressure from any number of competitors, including its suppliers, competing online services, and even portals and search engines. To keep growth going, Blachford is expanding into Europe and Asia and has dived into the $100 billion corporate travel market. But what he's really dreaming of is re-creating the perfect travel agent online.
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