Opodo revamps hotel bookings - 03-Sep-04.

Opodo revamps hotel bookings - 03-Sep-04.: "Opodo revamps hotel bookings " Opodo has revamped its hotel service in an effort to make it easier for customers to book accommodation. The hotels homepage of the pan-European online travel service allows customers to search a database of up to 35,000 properties by choosing a specific destination or hotel name. A new interactive map enables the hotel's exact location to be pinpointed.

Other features include:
*A 'highlight and compare' element enabling customers to select up to three different hotels on one page and compare how each measures against their chosen criteria.
*The ability for customers to change or modify their booking online by entering the email address they specified when booking, and using their Opodo booking confirmation number.
*New, fully updated content, localised to each market.

Part of the new service is 'Opodo Special' - a selection of handpicked hotels around the world. The company has partnered with a range of niche hotels which offer preferential Opodo rates, and in return are given priority within their category in each city.

Opodo hotels director John Ryan said: "This is the first phase of our new hotels strategy and we have been delighted with the positive response we have received from hotels wishing to partner with us and become a member of the 'Opodo Preferred' offering. We now have several hundred hotels signed up and many more come onboard every day.

“We will be further developing our hotels service over the next six to 12 months to incorporate a range of new products and suppliers.

"Much has been written about the issues of hoteliers working with third party online sites. Opodo is committed to working with our partner hotels in a supplier friendly way, allowing them to manage their yields, inventory and pricing under any one of the four rate categories (retail, wholesale, merchant or opaque), the calendar year round.

“Hotels are conscious of their cost of distribution and want to work with online retailers who allow them to control their yields, availability and rates in exactly the same way as they would today with the traditional offline channels.

"In this way we look forward to achieving our goal of becoming one of the leading European online travel agencies for accommodation distribution."