Boo.com re-launches as travel site

Thursday, 02 May, 2007 0

Boo.com, the one-time fashion site that became a symbol of the dotcom meltdown by burning £100 million in 18 months, has today re-launched as a travel site based on web 2.0.

Claiming to change the way travel is bought and sold, boo.com will provide a vertical search engine with “traffic already in the mood to travel”.

“Users find the property they want using innovative web 2.0 tools and the ubiquitous customer reviews. It differs however in that it allows them to book direct on hotels own websites,” said a spokeswoman.

boo.com is to be the key consumer brand of Web Reservations International (WRI) and will automatically list all properties hosted on its current platforms including Worldres, Trav.com and Hostelworld.

CEO Ray Nolan said: “Customers can now shortlist properties in seconds and can click to their chosen hotels’ website to book. Simple.

“We’ve always believed that the best person to handle the booking is the hotel itself. It provides the lowest cost distribution for the hotelier, which we believe will be reflected in keen prices offered to our customers. Race-to-the-bottom meta-search it ain’t!”

At the hotel’s discretion, customers can book with boo.com at 10% flat commission deducted at source.

The launch campaign aims to reach 30 million people through global PR and marketing campaigns. It will launch in English initially, followed by multilingual offerings in European and Asian markets.

By Bev Fearis

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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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