HotelsCombined

HotelsCombined
Private
Industry Travel, Hotel
Founded 2005
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Metasearch for hotel prices
Website http://www.hotelscombined.com

HotelsCombined is a hotel metasearch engine[1] founded in 2005, with headquarters in Sydney, Australia.[2]

The site operates in over 40 languages, handles 120 different currencies and aggregates more than 2 million deals from hundreds of travel sites and hotel chains.[3] The company employs over 200 staff.[2]

History

In 2005, Yury Shar, Brendon McQueen and Michael Doubinski partnered to create an all-encompassing hotel site where users could access the best rates from a variety of top travel sites all in the same place. All three founders previously worked for HotelClub, now part of Orbitz worldwide.[2]

Initially working out of their homes and without having raised any financial capital, the HotelsCombined founders launched the site following nine months of development. The website steadily earned an organic consumer base; within a year, the co-founders were able to hire their first employee. Today, HotelsCombined has nearly 200 employees and 17 million users monthly. The site is available in more than 220 countries and in over 40 different languages.[3]

Technology

HotelsCombined is a hotel metasearch engine. Through partnerships with numerous online travel agencies and hotel chains, HotelsCombined allows users to search and compare hotel rates in one search. It also provides an aggregated summary of hotel reviews and ratings from external sites.

Affiliate Program

HotelsCombined's Hotel Affiliate Program allows businesses to earn revenue by offering the hotel price comparison service on their website. Hotel content is available in over 40 languages and the interface can be fully customised to allow businesses to retain their brand.[4]

In April 2012, the company began a partnership with low-cost airline Ryanair to power their hotel price comparison service, RyanairHotels.com.[5] HotelsCombined also powers the hotel search for the European flight comparison site momondo.com,[2] as well as Travelsupermarket (part of Moneysupermarket), and many others across Europe, Middle East and the rest of the world.

Awards

In 2010, HotelsCombined won TRAVELtech "Website of the Year"[6] and was named a finalist in the Telstra 2010 Business Awards.[7] In the same year, it was awarded ninth place in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Ranking,[8] was named “Website of the Week” by the Daily Mail,[1] and was declared one of the top 10 travel websites by guidebook author Arthur Frommer (of Frommers.com).[9] In 2011, HotelsCombined was once more named one of the top 10 ranking Australian businesses in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Program.[10] Also in 2011, the UK’s The Independent named HotelsCombined one of the best money-saving websites [11] while Pauline Frommer named it a “terrific resource”.[12]

On 30 November 2013, at the World Travel Awards, HotelsCombined won the "World's Leading Hotel Comparison Website 2013".[13] In 2014, HotelsCombined was named as the "World's Leading Hotel Price Comparison Site"[14] for the second consecutive year at the World Travel Awards.

Media

The company's Hotel Price Trend reports, which show hotel price trends aggregated across major travel sites and hotel chains, have been covered in publications around the world including the L.A. Times,[15] the Gulf Daily News[16] and The Australian.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 "Website of the Week: www.Hotelscombined.com". Mail Online.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Qantas checks into crowded online hotel market". Financial Review.
  3. 1 2 "Hotels Combined - Logos & Images". hotelscombined.com.
  4. ↑ "Index". hotelscombined.com.
  5. ↑ HotelMarketing.com Retrieved 2012-05-04
  6. ↑ TRAVEL Trends Retrieved 2012-05-04
  7. ↑ "Brilliant Businesses - Telstra Business Awards". Telstra Business Awards.
  8. ↑ Yahoo! Finance Retrieved 2012-05-04
  9. ↑ "Budget Travel: These 10 websites can make a big difference in the cost of your next trip". capecodtimes.com.
  10. ↑ "Fastest growing Aussie tech companies revealed". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. ↑ "Where the smart (phone) money is: The best money-saving apps and websites". The Independent.
  12. ↑ "Pauline Frommer: Hotel search engines dig deeper". thestar.com. 7 March 2011.
  13. ↑ "World's Leading Hotel Comparison Website 2013". World Travel Awards.
  14. ↑ "World's Leading Hotel Comparison Website 2014". World Travel Awards.
  15. ↑ "Hotel rates up and rising, studies find". latimes.
  16. ↑ "GULF DAILY NEWS". gulf-daily-news.com.
  17. ↑ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/australian-hotel-price-hikes-among-worlds-highest/story-e6frg8ro-1226014499830

External links

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