Facing saturation and increasing competition in developed markets, online travel brands are turning to emerging markets such as the Middle East for profits. The latest company to take this step is the Expedia group with its hotel accommodation booking site, Hotels.com. The company has launched a new Arabic website http://fanadeq.hotels.com, which offers IP-based country recognition, local-language interface and local currency pricing and payment methods. Hotels.com operates 52 global sites including 31 sites in 24 languages across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Covering key markets in the Middle East, http://fanadeq.hotels.com aims to offer competitive rates at over 100,000 hotels worldwide. As well as the hotel booking function, the site also provides in-depth hotel information including Microsoft mapping capabilities and property facility information. The site incorporates destination information and customer reviews, all in Arabic. It should be noted that although the site includes the Arabia word "fanadeq" or hotels in its URL, it is still operated by hotels.com. The company stated that it decided to add "fanadeq" to the Web address, because it believes that this will help people looking for fanadeq in Arabic to find the hotel.com site.
The company has yet to do an official report on the amount of traffic coming to the Arabic site since its launch earlier this month, however they claim that traffic has clearly increased.
"The Middle East is one of the emerging markets for online travel and we are confident that with the combination of the Hotels.com brand and its geographical expertise, http://fanadeq.hotels.com will be successful," commented Nigel Pocklington, MD, Hotels.com.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) barometer, the Middle East is already the world's largest driver of travel, tourism and hospitality. The region has seen a steady growth in e-commerce over the last few years with an increasing number of consumers using the Internet to buy products and services. One of the fastest growing categories for e-commerce across the globe is travel as customers often choose the Internet to look for the best deals.
Consumers will note that Hotels.com offers a lowest price guarantee at its site. However, to get the price difference refund, a customer must claim that a lower price has been discovered elsewhere within 24-hours of making a booking at hotels.com and the room and booking conditions must be exactly the same. In general, when booking properties through online sites consumers should read the fine print, especially cancellation policies and consider the total cost of a booking, including taxes and fees.
Additionally, before booking, consumers should validate the quality and features of hotels advertised online, either through personal recommendations from friends and family, or by consulting reviews at several sites such as tripadvisor.com, travelpost.com and holidaywatchdog.com. Another resource to turn to is Google Maps "Street View" functionality, which will actually show the area surrounding the property. It's a great way to find out if a hotel promoted as beachfront is actually 500 meters from the sea shore.