The Washingon Times is the latest major newspaper to enter the online travel planning sector.
The newspaper is forming a partnership with Yellowstone Hotel Systems’ Openbook service to provide comprehensive online search and bookings for hotels, flights and car rental.
The travel content and travel planning service is currently placed on many pages of the Washington Times website branded as ‘The Washington Times Travel Center’, and the present capability of booking accommodation only will be extended to include airfares and car rental.
Openbook provides integrated solutions for hospitality businesses including channel management, GDS connectivity, call centers, and digital marketing.
The publisher is positioning itself as a high profile, credible content provider offering engaging travel stories alongside competitive online travel technology.
"Content builds trust but it has been one of the greatest challenges for online travel agencies to produce, and The Washington Times has now positioned itself to meet this need as an established news agency," said Zack Paul, CEO of OpenBook.
Last week the New York Times expanded its own travel program, called Times Journeys, to include several land-based escorted tours.
