TripAdvisor Extends Instant Booking Market Place to India

By Rashmi Pradhan AFTER ROLLING out the instant booking for hotels in the US and the UK markets, TripAdvisor has now expanded instant booking for hotels to nine more English-speaking countries, including India, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and South Africa. Travelers in these markets are now able to conveniently book a hotel on all of TripAdvisor’s platforms, desktop and mobile, without leaving the site. TripAdvisor expects global rollout of instant booking for hotels in the first half of 2016. TripAdvisor’s partnership with Priceline Group, which was announced in October 2015, as well as its subsequent integration of its Booking.com inventory have helped accelerate TripAdvisor’s instant booking expansion due to the online travel agency’s extensive global property listings, localized content and quality customer care. TripAdvisor is working to integrate inventory from its other valued instant booking partners so that their supply is available to book on the platform in the near future. ’We are excited to help even more travelers around the world conveniently plan and book the perfect trip on our site as we rollout instant booking to more global markets,’ said Stephen Kaufer, President and CEO, TripAdvisor. ’The momentum we are building is remarkable and we look forward to continuing our expansion throughout 2016 with the help of our trusted partners.’ Speaking to BW Hotelier, Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India, said, ’TripAdvisor has always focused on increasing user experience and this booking feature will help the user to plan their travel better. It is an extremely exciting feature and enables price comparison as well. It is a market place for hotel bookings offering multiple brands and multiple prices to choose from. The hotel bookings is powered by Booking.com.’ He added, ’TripAdvisor allows users to not only compare prices, but now through its instant booking platform, book through hotel and online travel agency partners without leaving the TripAdvisor site. Hotels available for instant booking have a prominent ’book’ button and users that click this button can easily complete their reservation on TripAdvisor, with the transaction and customer care provided by the partner.’ TripAdvisor now works with 8 out of the top 10 hotel brands in the world and these respected suppliers have joined a growing list of more than 70 hotel chain, groups and online travel agency (OTA) partners that will power bookings on the platform. TripAdvisor’s instant booking partners include Accor, Best Western International, Carlson Rezidor, Choice Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Langham Hospitality, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott International, Priceline Group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham Worldwide.