Expedia Inks Deal with Nokia
Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) and mobile phone giant Nokia recently announced a new collaboration in which Expedia’s hotels will be integrated into Nokia’s Ovi Maps technology, reported HotelMarketing.com.
All Expedia properties, including property details, availability, pricing and review scores will be viewable on Nokia’s Ovi Maps.  Phase One includes a call-to-book functionality directly from Ovi Maps to Expedia call centers around the world.
As the program grows, a click-to-book functionality is planned making all properties available to book directly online from their handsets.
Henrik Kjellberg, president, EAN Worldwide, comments: “This is a landmark partnership for EAN, representing a move into the mobile space. Our technology makes it easy for partners to offer travel across different consumer interfaces whether it be desktop or mobile and we are pleased to be an enabler for Nokia’s innovative Ovi Maps mobile service.”
Robert Rogers, senior product manager for Social Location, Nokia, comments: “Travel and mobile services go hand in hand. The hotel booking service we have developed with Expedia Affiliate Network complements the growing ecosystem of services Nokia already offers its users. The fact that the service will be available on both the mobile device and the desktop computer means interaction can be had with the user at various points of the travel lifecycle, not just at the time of booking.”

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/expedia_nokia_partner_on_hotel_booking_functionality/

Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research recently conducted an experiment with JHM Hotels and Expedia.com to study what, if any, effect being visible on large online travel agent sites (OTAs) have on hotel bookings. The study was conducted by Chris Anderson Ph.D., an assistant professor at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration who used four hotels (chain and independent) and listed each for a period of time on Expedia.com, then removed them completely from the site. The properties reported they experienced excess bookings through other distribution channels when they were on Expedia vs. when they were not.

Often referred to as the “billboard effect,” the experiment determined that visibility on large sites like Expedia and hotels.com leads to a boost in reservations through the property’s own distribution systems, e.g. property website or contact directly with the property. “The study found that when the hotels were listed on Expedia, they saw an increase in reservations from their own distribution channels (that is, not through Expedia).”

Anderson concludes that “the theory behind this phenomenon is that the would-be guest gains information about the hotel from its OTA listing, but then books the room through a channel controlled by the hotel or its chain family.” The study went on to estimate that being seen on the site generated up to a 26% increase in total bookings.

The study summarized that “the benefits of being displayed on an online travel website like Expedia.com should not only be measured by the revenues gained by the specific distribution channel, but also the marketing and direct sales benefits the hotel receives through the billboard effect.”

Click here to view the entire report.

Did you know that all of your reservation notification emails for BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations bookings are also sent to your Innkeeper Inbox on your Home Base?  We send those emails directly to you, but we also copy them to your Inbox on BedandBreakfast.com.

When you log in to BedandBreakfast.com, your Home Base is the central repository of your membership information. In the Member Benefits grid, check out the first column – Free Member Benefits. Near the bottom – Innkeeper’s Inbox. That houses membership and Online Reservations emails you receive from BedandBreakfast.com, including reservation notifications from the Online Reservations program. So, if you ever need to double check and can’t find the email in your own inbox, you can simply check on your Home Base Innkeeper’s Inbox.

BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations properties will now be available on hotels.com’s newest Chinese website www.hotels.cn. Hotels.com launched the site in mid-June, following the introduction of sites in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in 2008. Property content is translated into the languages of those local sites and customers are assisted by Chinese speaking call center agents.

The company operates 53 global sites including 32 sites in 25 languages across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

This unmatched exposure for BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations properties levels the playing field for small, unique properties, putting them in front of millions of travelers worldwide alongside larger, traditional hotels and motels.