boo.com launches based on PPC hotel distribution model

May 02, 2007 | Online Travel

All hotels will be listed on boo.com for free. Unlike other travel sites, boo facilitates low commission bookings, or earns pay-per-click revenue from click-outs to hotels' own websites. The site is launched initially in English with other languages to follow within weeks.

Web Reservations International (WRI), the leading online travel company, is today launching boo.com, the ultimate online destination for travel.

boo is set to change the way travel is bought and sold on the internet. It combines intelligent search, pricing, reviews and a social network with an innovative design to create a unique online experience. WRI is one of the world’s most successful e-businesses. In 2006 it handled more than EUR300 million in annual bookings and generated EUR19 million EBITDA.

How is boo.com different from other travel sites?

- No other site provides the tools to allow the user to make the right choice, then book direct with the hotel

- boo has the search functionality of the best search engines, the review and booking capability of the top travel sites and the community aspects of the best social networking sites

- boo will list all suppliers, not just those which pay the highest commissions

- boo will feature highly-targeted ads with real-time prices for flights and car hire, from which people can book direct

Ray Nolan, CEO, said:

“Travel is about great experiences, and that should start with the planning and selection process. We’ve taken the key components required to make the perfect choice and put them together in one site. The traveller is our primary concern. If they’re not satisfied, neither are we. With boo.com, we’ve really tried to tie the best the web has to offer with a memorable and fun brand. There’s no site like it.”

Unlike the previous boo.com, the company behind the new boo has been creating highly profitable websites since 1999, including hostelworld.com and trav.com. boo will feature over 50,000 hotel properties worldwide and will launch with more than one million user reviews which have been collected from existing WRI travel sites.

All hotels will be listed on boo.com for free. Unlike other travel sites, boo facilitates low commission bookings, or earns pay-per-click revenue from click-outs to hotels’ own websites. The site is launched initially in English with other languages to follow within weeks.