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Bing Travel set to arrive in the UK
Microsoft is looking to introduce Bing Travel in the UK after a successful launch in the US.
The technology giant is conducting focus groups with customers to find out how to adapt its travel search engine for the UK market.
It said a launch date has not been set, but it was likely to be months rather than years.
Launched exactly a year ago in the US, Bing Travel provides price comparisons for air fares and hotel rates.
It also predicts airfare and hotel rates based on the time of year, telling travellers when it’s the best time to get the best deal.
Microsoft gained this technology after a $115 million acquisition of travel website Farecast last year.
Caroline Mastoras, travel category development manager for Microsoft, said it might look to do a similar deal with an existing travel provider in the UK.
“With our shopping product, we acquired Ciao, so we could work with a partner in travel too,†she said.
“The UK travel market is very different to the US, so we are holding focus groups with customers to establish how it could work.â€
She said as the underdog to Google, Bing could afford to be more customer-led than revenue focused.
Microsoft hosted yesterday’s TravelMole Travel Industry Question Time on the subject of web content.
See today’s separate stories to find out what the panel of experts had to say.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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