Long Beach, California. 'holiday' is one of the most searched-for terms online, with 90% of travel companies including it in the top-five keywords searched for by customers. Photograph: Jae C. Hong/AP

A new record price for a domain name could be set this week when a web address that has been described as the holy grail of the travel industry goes under the hammer.

It is thought that holiday.com could fetch as much as 20m when it is put up for auction at the World Travel Market event, which opens in London on Monday.

The web address could command such a high sum because holiday is one of the most searched-for terms online, with 90% of travel companies including it in the top-five keywords searched for by potential customers.

According to Guinness World Records, the $13m (8.1m) paid for sex.com by Clover Holdings in 2010 is the most expensive domain name-only transaction.

But Brian Sharples, the founder and chief executive of HomeAway site, said last year that his company paid $35m in 2007 for the name VacationRentals.com to ensure it was not bought by travel site Expedia.com.

Farad Laaforce, managing director of auction organisers Breathe Luxury, described holiday.com as a premium domain name.

Holiday is the main key word in the travel industry. It is only in the United States that people use the term vacation. People in India and China also use the word holiday, so its potential is massive, he said.

The domain is being sold by a US company that lacked the resources to fully exploit it, said Laaforce.

A one-word domain name can be valuable because it is easier to remember, said Richard Winslow, head of web hosting services at domain name registration site 123-reg. Search engines like Google will value that if you have the right content behind it. But you need to have a business plan and to be able to use the name and market it effectively, he said.

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Holiday.com domain name could fetch 20m