Online hotel distributor, SiteMinder, has announced its first connection with a ‘bricks and mortar’ travel agency, House of Travel – New Zealand’s largest travel retailer – in a move aimed at boosting New Zealand business for SiteMinder’s accommodation clients.
Phase one of the new link means the House of Travel’s consultants in New Zealand can now book hotels in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK that use SiteMinder’s online technology to link them with markets and distribution channels around the world.
SiteMinder’s founder and Managing Director, Mike Ford, said phase two of the House of Travel partnership, expected by late 2010, would see SiteMinder’s hotel customers listed on the House of Travel’s newly rebranded consumer website, www.mixandmatch.co.nz – the number one travel website in New Zealand, drawing more than 100,000 unique visitors a week.
“While SiteMinder is expanding quickly as an online distribution system around the world, this new partnership with the House of Travel is particularly exciting as it’s our first link with a multi channel travel retailer rather than just an online agency,” Mr Ford said. “When you think of travel in New Zealand, you don’t get bigger than the House of Travel and its rebranded mixandmatch consumer website. This new tie-in means we will be able to put our hotel customers’ rooms in front of hundreds of House of Travel consultants and hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who use the popular mixandmatch website.
“This represents a significant new development for SiteMinder and will help our hotel customers attract a lot more New Zealanders through their doors.”
House of Travel’s Product Director, Dave Fordyce, said: “As New Zealand’s leading travel agency, we pride ourselves on consistently giving our customers the best products and service at the best price. It’s for this reason that we are delighted to be working with SiteMinder, which will ensure we have access to the most competitive rates in the market across thousands of properties. And by reducing the clutter created by multiple websites, we are enhancing the client’s experience in both House of Travel outlets and on mixandmatch.co.nz. All this will deliver more choice at the best possible rate for our customers.”
Mr Ford said SiteMinder’s leading technology enables any hotel anywhere to be listed on dozens of international booking sites like House of Travel’s mixandmatch.co.nz as well as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com, Agoda and many others.