Hotwire.com launches mobile site for price conscious on-the-go travellers
LONDON, July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading discount travel site Hotwire.com® today launched its award winning mobile site in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The mobile site makes it quick and simple for consumers to find great deals on hotel rooms world-wide and book them with just one click. With mobile travel bookings expected to triple by 2013[i], the new Hotwire® mobile site addresses one of the primary consumer barriers to booking travel via mobile, complexity.
"Nothing is impacting the way we search and book travel more than the proliferation of mobile devices," said Fulvia Montresor, senior director Hotwire.com. "However, whilst industry research has shown that 17%[ii] of British consumers with a mobile device have researched holidays on their phone, currently only 3% of consumers actually make a booking through their mobile with complexity often cited as one of the main barriers. Our new mobile site solves this challenge making it a much more user-friendly experience to book travel on the go."
Hotwire's newly launched mobile site comes complete with GPS, native maps, hi-res images and click-to-call customer support. It has a user-friendly design and is convenient and fast, providing an excellent customer experience. With just one click on the mobile device, the on-the-go consumer can make same-day hotel and car rental bookings right up until midnight on the night of the reservation, at lightening speeds. In addition to booking hotels and making car reservations, mobile users can also log-in to their Hotwire account to review their upcoming trip reservations.
"Our mobile site has been extremely well-received in the US where around one in ten of our hotel bookings are now made via mobile devices. We are confident that UK and Irish consumers will find the British and Irish versions of our mobile site as easy and quick to use and expect to see similar take-up," continued Montresor.
The Hotwire US mobile site has also demonstrated that mobile devices are dramatically shortening the travel booking window. For example, over 80% of hotels bookings completed via the Hotwire mobile site are made on the day or day before the stay.
Featuring the same greatly discounted hotel and car deals as the main site, the new mobile site will help price-conscious travellers across Britain and Ireland get the best booking for their money no matter where they are, at up to 50 percent off standard rates.
To experience the new mobile site please visit hotwire.com from your smartphone.
About Hotwire
Hotwire.com is a leading discount travel site that helps holidaymakers book hotel rooms at significant savings you can't find on many other travel sites. Launched in the U.S. in 2000 and in the U.K. and Ireland in 2011, Hotwire's partnerships with hotels worldwide offers holidaymakers deeply discounted hotel rooms that would typically go unsold. J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Independent Travel Web Site Satisfaction Study(SM) recognised Hotwire for ranking "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Independent Travel Web Sites, Three Years in a Row." Hotwire is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. CST: 2053390-40. NST: 20003-0209. For more information, visit http://www.hotwire.com/. Hotwire sites operate in 8 countries worldwide: www.hotwire.com, www.hotwire.com/uk, www.hotwire.com/ie, www.hotwire.com/au, www.hotwire.com/nz, www.hotwire.com/se, www.hotwire.com/no and www.hotwire.com/dk. The Hotwire Group of websites includes: www.hotwire.com, www.travel-ticker.com, www.carrentals.com.
Hotwire, Hotwire.com and the Hotwire logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2012 Hotwire, Inc. All rights reserved. CST# 2053390-40.
Media contact:
Vojtech Horna
Atomic PR
+44-20-7478-7801
hotwireuk@atomicpr.com
[i] PhoCusWright research released in March 2012
[ii] The Tealeaf/YouGov The ebooker: understanding how travel customers use the web, December 2011
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