Media Release
Webjet Launches Bookabed
1st May 2003
Webjet today announced the live operation and launch of bookabed.com.au, as previously foreshadowed in market advice on the 13th March 2003.
Commenting, Webjet's Managing Director, David Clarke, said "Webjet has today launched a new internet domain name bookabed.com.au with the attached slogan:
"Bed down the best hotel deals and save"
"Whilst the domain name has its own separate identity and will be featured on appropriate media, including strategically positioned billboards on the Nepean Highway and North Road, Ormond, in Melbourne and Pier Street, Darling Harbour, in Sydney, it is also linked to the primary webjet.com.au site.
"The new facility focuses on worldwide hotel deals and in its launch phase incorporates in excess of 30,000 hotels, resorts, inns and bed & breakfast facilities and incorporates approximately 700 properties in Australia, along with speciality links to Webjet's existing Accor Hot Deals and Queensland Hotels and Resorts. The basic hotel booking engine provided through WorldRes (a Californian based company), includes brands such as Ibis, Novotel, Sofitel, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, Sheraton, Hyatt, Flag, Best Western and Mercure, amongst others. The hotel selections are driven both geographically by map selection and also by city or hotel name search and included in the launch offers are Hotel Ibis, Melbourne, from $99, the Hatton-Modern Boutique Hotel from $160 and Four Points Sheraton, Sydney, from $199 including breakfast.
"Unlike some last minute type operations, the hotel range covers the whole 365 days of the year, as well as special last minute deals and brings together effectively the best of both worlds. All of the Webjet Service Centre facilities stand behind the operation of Webjet's unique online Consultant Assistance facility, Webcam, along with its associated text messaging. Bookabed also contains a direct link into Webjet's online air ticketing and associated services.
"Whilst the current travel environment has been massively disrupted by external events, we nevertheless believe that this is a particularly fortuitous time to focus on the provisioning of accommodation products and even in the case of domestic travel within Australia it opens up an additional market for Webjet and effectively means that one customer now has the opportunity of buying two product streams and as a result providing Webjet with incremental revenue growth."