Hotels.com puts travelers in the driver’s seat

April 13, 2004 |

Hotels.com Road Trips is an all-inclusive, one-stop shopping option for travelers researching and booking overnight drive trips with cars.

Just in time for the peak summer travel planning period, Hotels.com, hotels.com announced the launch of its breakthrough new Road Trips product as the Company celebrates its site’s second anniversary.

Hotels.com Road Trips, geared to the $250 billion auto travel market—one of the largest segments of the U.S. travel industry—is an all-inclusive, one-stop shopping option for travelers researching and booking overnight drive trips with cars, trucks and motorcycles as primary modes of transportation. The Company has also redesigned its website following rigorous customer testing to make it easy for travelers to shop and book online.

Hotels.com Road Trips is unique in the online travel industry. By simply inputting a zip code or drive times, Hotels.com Road Trips’ state-of-the-art technology recommends destinations within one to six hours for almost 2,100 city destinations across the U.S. The radius-search feature returns destinations based upon actual drive times, enabling travelers to plan their trip with confidence. Additionally, Hotels.com Road Trips offers an advanced search option and inspirational content, such as historical information, restaurants, destination activities and sightseeing suggestions, maps and city information including events and places of interest in almost 500 of the most popular U.S. destinations. Once the destination is selected, travelers can book their hotel room at reduced rates and receive point-to-point driving directions.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America in 2002, auto travel accounted for 79 percent of all person-trips in the U.S. compared to just 16 percent for air travel. “Hotels.com Road Trips is a significant entry in the travel market. It has been developed to satisfy the travel needs of the vast majority of the traveling public. Hotels.com prides itself on satisfying our customers’ travel needs. We conducted considerable consumer research to help ensure Hotels.com Road Trips provides both a satisfying online and offline experience,” stated Cheryl Rosner, president of Hotels.com.

“Airlines have been reducing schedules of flights of less than 400 miles according to a recent USA Today story. Reduced flight schedules coupled with increased airport security hassles are prompting more people to consider drive travel as a viable option,” stated Jack Richards, vice president of product marketing. “Hotels.com Road Trips is the perfect online tool for travelers wanting a romantic weekend getaway or a three to four night escape. Whether they are traveling by car, truck or motorcycle, it gives them the means to research and book the entire trip all in one place. Hotels.com Road Trips truly is a complete resource for our customers, providing them everything they need from soup to nuts for the perfect trip. It is a user-friendly, destination focused source providing inspirational content with Internet planning and booking solutions,” continued Richards.

To support the launch, Hotels.com will conduct a national Hotels.com Road Trips “Sets Your Wheels In Motion” sweepstakes with the Grand Prize winner receiving their choice of a brand new 2004 MAZDA6 automobile and a Hotels.com Road Trip. The MAZDA6 is the only car in the mid-size vehicle segment that offers the choice of a sports sedan, sport wagon, or 5-door version to accommodate every traveler’s needs. Its spirited performance and handling delivers Mazda’s Zoom Zoom driving experience, while distinctive styling and innovative safety features bring confidence and peace of mind during even the shortest road trip. Consumers can enter the sweepstakes as of April 6, 2004 via [url=http://www.hotels.com]http://www.hotels.com[/url] No purchase is necessary to enter. Full details and rules are available via the web site.

The Company will also offer its customers a gasoline rebate up to $30 for their gasoline expenditures for accommodations booked now through April 27, 2004 for stays through August 31, 2004. Rebate details and registration form are available via the hotels.com web site. The Hotels.com Road Trips multi-million dollar marketing effort will also include national print and broadcast advertising; extensive online outreach targeting over 1.5 million U.S. households; merchandising efforts and more.

“Hotels.com Road Trips offers travelers local drive alternatives providing information and booking capabilities within one--to-six hours of their homes enabling them to take a trip on just one tank of gas. This is an advantage to travelers especially now as gasoline prices continue to rise across the country and are at their all-time high in some cities. Our gasoline rebate offer is a wonderful way to thank our customers for their continued loyalty,” said Rosner.

As Hotels.com marks its second anniversary, it has enhanced its website [url=http://www.hotels.com]http://www.hotels.com[/url] to further improve the online experience for consumers. Information has been consolidated and repositioned on the home page reducing clutter, and customer care information is now more prominently displayed to assist travelers with questions and improve the overall booking experience. In addition to the new Hotels.com Road Trips tab, a new “My Recent Searches” option is available for increased personalization that streamlines the search process. Customers now have several new ways to search on the home page for properties to best meet their travel needs, including by vacation packages, weekend road trips, last minute deals or by specific address.

“We are dedicated to provide consumers the best values for their travel dollars. Hotels.com merges the highest quality products with state-of-the-art technology based on in-depth consumer research to ensure we satisfy our customer’s travel needs,” said Rosner.