Know Before You Go: Expedia.com Introduces Groundbreaking Features That Take the Guesswork Out of Booking A Hotel Room
BELLEVUE, Wash. – August 7, 2002 – Is it the pool size, the room decor or the distance from the beach? Choosing a hotel is a distinctly personal experience. From location to amenities to value for the price, different travelers have different needs. But all travelers want to know what to expect before they get to a hotel’s doorstep. Expedia.com®, the leading seller of lodging on the Internet, now has new enhanced features for its Expedia® Special Rate properties, such as area-specific maps and virtual property tours, to go along with Expedia® Special Rate hotels’ low-price guarantee*. Together, these features make it easy for travelers to book hotels that meet their individual preferences and provide great value.
“Choosing the right hotel for me can really make or break my trip, especially since I have specific travel needs,” said Expedia® customer, Alison Denny. “Whether I want to be near the ocean or have in-room, high-speed Internet access, I want to know what I’m getting before I make my reservation.”
While the Internet is recognized as an effective medium for purchasing airline tickets, it’s also the ideal outlet for providing travelers with unparalleled access to information and images for their hotel booking. In fact, according to Forrester Research, Inc., online airline ticket sales are projected to grow 54 percent from 2002 to 2006, whereas online hotel sales are projected to increase by more than 100 percent.
Expedia.com is helping travelers learn as much as they can before they book a hotel room. In addition to savings and convenience, Expedia’s expanded property information provides travelers with 360-degree virtual property tours, photo albums, and maps offering neighborhood descriptions. Plus, Expedia now lets families and groups book up to three rooms on a single itinerary.
“When you take a vacation or travel for business, the hotel where you stay becomes your home away from home, and Expedia wants to help you find a property that best meets your personal needs,” said Lloyd Frink, vice president of destinations and lodging at Expedia, Inc. “Thanks to our comprehensive hotel offerings, you can see what the jacuzzi looks like in your room, tour the lobby, and book a separate room for your two teenage kids in one place and at a great price.”
Mapping Out the Information
Once travelers input their destination and travel dates on Expedia.com, the search results page delivers brief descriptions of hotels meeting their criteria. Travelers can then choose to view an area map that breaks out specific neighborhoods with information such as vacation attractions, cultural activities and types of shopping nearby. The map can also be used to access hotels specific to the highlighted neighborhoods.
To further help travelers learn about specific properties, Expedia added a “Detailed lodging information” link under each hotel name, offering travelers more information than ever before in the Overview, Location, Property Info, Room Features, and Photos areas.
A Room With a View…a 360-Degree View
Through a partnership with VRX Studios, Inc., (www.vrxstudios.com) a leading provider of 360-degree virtual tours and interactive maps, Expedia offers travelers the ability to take 360-degree virtual tours of areas within selected hotels, including guest rooms, lobbies and pools. To view an example, visit http://www.expedia.com/pubspec/scripts/eap.asp?GOTO=HotDetails&Hotelid=460385 and click on the “Photos” tab to check out the pool at the Hanelei Bay Resort on Kauai. Virtual tours are now available on Expedia.com for properties in Las Vegas, Hawaii and Mexico; Expedia plans to continually add new virtual tours for a variety of worldwide hotels.
The Fabulous Free Night Offer*
In addition to the regularly available Expedia’s® Special Rate hotels that offer a low price guarantee, Expedia is offering free hotel nights with selected hotel purchases. Now is the time to book that last-minute summer vacation-or start planning your fall getaway.
Sample offerings 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 http://www.expedia.com/daily/promos/freenights
In the Need for Speed?
These new features compliment Expedia’s focus on hotel quality and services as seen with Expedia’s recent launch of its wired hotels offering. Expedia’s new wired hotels section lists hotels in major business markets, including newly added Boston, London and Seattle, which offer in-room, high-speed Internet access, http://www.expedia.com/wiredhotels.
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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