A COMPUTER company is predicting it will grow by 50 per cent this year after launching a £100,000 software package.

Holiday IT, in Consett, County Durham, has created a system aimed at the booming market for online holiday bookings.

Dubbed QuickRes, it covers everything from information on hotels, resorts and travel and offers instant confirmation of bookings. It is aimed at medium-sized and smaller tour operators.

Managing director Alan Crampton said: "Online booking is going through the roof as people increasingly want to build their own package holidays.

"We have to be innovative to stay ahead of the competition and this latest development is proving to meet the industry's needs.

"The company has grown by 200 per cent since we started," said Mr Crampton.

The group started in 2002 as Holiday CD, designing and producing interactive holiday CD-ROMs for the travel industry.

"I kept getting asked if I had an online booking system, so I realised I had to write one and do it fast," said Mr Crampton.

The software cost £100,000 to develop and was part funded by a £35,000 grant from UK Steel Enterprise, secured with help from Business Link and Derwentside Industrial Development Agency.