Media Release
Stay a little bit longer with Wotif.com
Increase to 28 days makes planning a getaway even easier
Auckland – 27 September 2005, Wotif.com ( www.wotif.com ), New Zealand’s leading accommodation website, announced today
that it has doubled its booking lead time to 28 days, making it even easier for customers to book their accommodation
online.
The extension to 28 days will launch on Wednesday 28 September, providing customers not only with continued access to
the best rates and widest range of accommodation throughout New Zealand and Australia, but also now with greater ability
to plan their getaways and to book longer stays.
The decision to extend the booking window is the result of increasing customer demand for a longer lead time to make
bookings, along with extensive research conducted into consumer booking behaviours.
“Feedback from customers has consistently reinforced how effective they find our site for providing the best
accommodation deals, the widest range of choice, as well as being fast and simple to use. A recurring request from
travellers, however, was that they like it so much they wish we would extend beyond the 14 days,” said Graeme Wood, CEO
and co-founder of Wotif.com.
“When we looked at the market we also found that while our model ideally suits both the domestic and Trans Tasman
business traveller - whose accommodation booking lead-time averages 4 days on Wotif.com - and the short-term spontaneous
leisure traveller, there was a proportion of leisure travellers who require a longer lead time, as well as medium and
long-haul business travellers who sometimes need to book further than 14 days in advance.”
Additional feedback from leisure travellers indicated that a longer booking window was particularly beneficial during
peak periods or high profile events, when they would prefer to book further in advance to guarantee their accommodation.
28 days displayed
The new 28-day format will be displayed in Wotif.com’s signature hotel price matrix* to minimise changes and maintain
ease-of-use for customers who will be able to view 14 days at once with the ability to scroll forward or back 7 days at
a time.
Four weekends at a glance
The new ‘Weekends’ feature is a new site enhancement designed specifically for the leisure traveller. This unique
feature, only available on Wotif.com, can be selected from the homepage, allowing consumers to view all dates in the
next 28 days, or only deals for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the four weeks ahead.
Since launching in 2000, Wotif.com has firmly established its place as the number one online destination for travellers
wanting to access the best rates and the widest range of accommodation throughout New Zealand and Australia. Whilst the
increase to 28 days is the most significant change that Wotif.com has made to its model Tania Witheford, Wotif.com New
Zealand Manager, remains adamant that this will not detract from the company’s core values.
“Today’s traveller is savvier than ever before,” she said. “The Internet provides the consumer with a wealth of
information, and is a quick and easy resource to research their options. Consumers demand value and are driven by the
best value deals, and we will continue to work directly with suppliers to ensure we continue to meet this need.”
Wotif.com offers accommodation in 36 countries around the world. It receives nearly 2 million users and processes more
than 100,000 bookings every month.
The site ranked as the number one website in New Zealand in the category of Travel – Destinations and Accommodation for
the quarter ending June 2005 according to Internet intelligence service Hitwise.
ENDS
About Wotif.com
Wotif.com is New Zealand's leading accommodation website, providing consumers with access to great rates, into the next
28 days, at more than 3500 hotels in New Zealand and Australia, and more than 6000 worldwide. The fast and easy-to-use
website attracts nearly 2 million users and processes more than 100,000 bookings each month.
Wotif.com’s New Zealand office is located in Auckland. Accommodation can be booked online or through their Customer
Service Centre, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Founded in 2000, Wotif.com’s head office is in Brisbane, Australia, with
other international offices in Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom.