The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price rebound appears to have been short-lived.
During morning trade on Friday the corporate travel specialist's shares are down a sizeable 8% to $21.09.
Why are Corporate Travel Management's shares sinking lower today?
Corporate Travel Management appeared to ease the market's concerns with its response to the second report from VGI Partners yesterday.
However, VGI Partners was quick to respond to the second rebuttal, demonstrating that it won't be backing down any time soon.
According to the AFR, VGI Partners' managing partner Rob Luciano has suggested that the company will need to release the report put together with EY if it "wants to prove us wrong".
In addition to this, Luciano doesn't appear to have taken kindly to suggestions that VGI Partners has a fundamental misunderstanding of the company's business model and the corporate travel sector in general.
He said: "To be clear, we understand the travel industry and the differences between corporate and leisure travel," before adding: "Most importantly, we understand accounting."
What now?
Yesterday Corporate Travel Management warned that: "VGI may continue to make mischievous and misleading claims about issues that CTM believes have no consequence for the financial performance of the business and execution of CTM's successful business model."
It also stated that it "does not intend to have the business distracted by baseless and selfserving claims."
Because of this, it is unclear whether it will respond to this latest request for information or just focus on running its business.
Given that it has had two separate auditors go through its books and both have given them the all clear, I don't expect the company to fulfil this request and give VGI Partners something to play with.
Should you invest?
While I think the worst is over now, I don't intend to pick up shares until all this blows over and investor sentiment improves.
In the meantime, I think that Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) could be great alternatives in the travel sector.
