Expedia.com Expedia Introduces Exciting New Options for Hoteliers to Showcase and Promote Their Properties
WHOLE HOTEL – including quality, location and price
BELLEVUE, Wash. – August 9, 2002 – Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the leading provider of lodging on the Internet, today announced new display and promotional features that make it easier than ever for hoteliers to showcase and differentiate their properties and increase their sales.
Specifically, Expedia® has introduced the following new services for its Expedia® Special Rate hotels:
Dynamic rate rules – exemplified by Expedia's “Fabulous Free Last Night Offer”* (www.expedia.com/daily/promos/freenights), Expedia's dynamic rate rules empower hoteliers to apply discounts, promotions and variable pricing based on parameters such as the day of the week and length of stay.
Property display innovations – with new customer-facing features such as 360-degree virtual property tours, neighborhood maps and descriptions, expanded displays of photos and improved navigation to hotel details, Expedia empowers hoteliers to truly show off their properties. These features help travelers know before they go and therefore make their booking decisions based on the quality and location of the hotel – as well as the price.
“We have seen an increase in Expedia room night productivity of more than 150 percent since we became an Expedia Special Rate property,” said Craig Caron, Director of sales and marketing of the Metropolitan Hotel. “With millions of visitors each month, Expedia offers us unparalleled marketing exposure, helps us sell room nights that we may not have been able to sell otherwise, and simultaneously provides travelers with unbeatable savings.”
These new features complement Expedia's ongoing hotel merchandising and sales vehicles such as the Deals section, destination-focused sections, customer-built packages and the recently announced wired hotels section.
“Expedia has become the largest online seller of hotel rooms by listening and responding to the needs of both hoteliers and travelers,” said Lloyd Frink, vice president of sales and revenue management. “What we heard was that hoteliers wanted to identify ways to increase revenue per available room (REVPAR) and, at the same time, travelers wanted help honing in on the exact property and experience for their individual needs. By applying our superior technology to what we learned from both audiences we now provide hoteliers flexibility in pricing, inventory control and a showcase for the individual charm and character of their properties. In addition, we help travelers navigate through the wide array of options to make better booking decisions based on the quality, location and price of the property.”
*Sample offerings for the Fabulous Free Last Night Offer include:
Aruba: Hyatt Aruba Resort – stay 4 nights, 5th FREE
Cayman Islands: Treasure Island Resort – stay 3 nights, 4th FREE
Las Vegas: Excalibur – stay 3 nights, 4th FREE
London: Park International Hotel – stay 3 nights, 4th FREE
Paris: Le Meridien Montparnasse – stay 4 nights, 5th FREE
Maui: Sheraton Maui – stay 4 nights, 5th FREE
Rome: Golden Tulip Ripa All Suites – stay 3 nights, 4th FREE
Travel dates vary for individual properties. Free night offers are subject to availability. Blackout dates may apply. For free night discounts, purchase is required and the free night will be subtracted from the full price of the hotel at the time of purchase on Expedia.com®. For more details, visit www.expedia.com/daily/promos/freenights.
About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is the world's leading online travel service and was the eighth largest travel agency in the most recent United States agency rankings. To meet the needs of travelers around the globe, it operates Expedia.com in the United States and localized versions throughout Europe and Canada. Expedia.com helps travelers travel right with a wide variety of travel products and services, such as Expedia® Special Rate hotels and vacation rentals with the guaranteed lowest prices*. Expedia's quality and leadership have been recognized in awards such as PC Magazine's “Readers' Choice” and “Editors' Choice” Awards, Forbes' “Favorite General Travel Site,” and Yahoo! Internet Life's “Best Overall Travel Site.” Expedia is a majority-owned subsidiary of USA Interactive (NASDAQ: USAI).
Expedia.com customers are supported by a credit card guarantee (U.S. site only), an industry-leading privacy policy, and live agents via e-mail and an 800-number available 24 hours a day/seven days a week.
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Expedia, Expedia.com, and the airplane logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the United States, Canada and/or other countries. Other products and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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