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Need a Bed? Why Booking.com is the Most Diverse and Popular Accommodation Platform in the World

Booking.com’s 820,000+ properties have 21 million bookable rooms

Over 1 billion guests have stayed with Booking.com since inception

Auckland, New Zealand, Nov. 10, 2015 – Booking.com (part of The Priceline Group [NASDAQ: PCLN]) revealed today that it offers more than 820,000 unique properties that have 21 million bookable rooms worldwide, making it Priceline Group’s largest global business with more awesome, unique places to stay than any other digital travel brand in the world. In addition, the company reports that 6.6 million of these bookable rooms go beyond the traditional hotel to include 30 different category types from vacation rentals, apartments, villas, igloos, boats and even tree-houses. Within the last year alone, 285 million guests have stayed in these accommodations through Booking.com. Since inception, over 1 billion guests have stayed in one of these properties on Booking.com.

For a uniquely frictionless experience, Booking.com lists properties and rooms in real time, ensuring that the availability viewed is the availability people can actually get. Contrasting the model of other websites that offer unique accommodations, the experience on Booking.com isn’t one of simply classified ads that requires a constant back-and-forth of negotiations with the seller. All rooms on Booking.com are instantly confirmed at the moment of booking. And unlike other similar sites that charge experience-seekers booking fees, Booking.com ensures a completely fee-free experience for travelers all over the world.

“As consumers strive to create new experiences while traveling, they are looking for places to stay that reflect their personalities, passions and ambitions. That might mean staying on a boat docked in the South of France, a treehouse in Costa Rica, a villa in Indonesia, an apartment in Madrid or a Riad in Morocco.” said Darren Huston, President and CEO of the Priceline Group and CEO of Booking.com. “For several years, we have been working behind the scenes to expand our offerings beyond the traditional hotel to help people experience the world in the way they want to that’s easier than anything else out there. We are excited to today unveil our progress on this quest to bring diversity and uniqueness to travelers everywhere.”

Booking.com now reports 30 categories of accommodations, including vacation homes, boats, igloos, tree houses, guest houses, farm stays, apartments and more. More than 70% of the total properties available to book on Booking.com are actually from all of the categories beyond the traditional hotel, including apartments and chalets. Vacation rental properties on Booking.com expanded 66% year over year and other unique accommodations categories like boats, ryokans, guest houses, bed and breakfasts, etc. have grown by 32% during the same time period.

“We expect the growth that we’ve seen in the vacation rental and unique accommodation market to accelerate over time as consumers realize the depth of options and the ease of making reservations on our mobile and desktop sites,” Huston said.

Bookable Room Data:

Following are additional highlights from the company’s initial release of bookable room data:

· In the last twelve months, vacation rentals on booking.com have increased 66%, accommodating 28.6MM million people

· In the last twelve months, unique accommodations properties (all category types outside of hotels + vacation rentals) have increased 32% accommodating 137MM people

· Guests have booked hotels in 214 countries and territories, vacation rentals in 197, and other unique categories in 208 countries and territories

· Guests have visited 38,000 cities for hotels, 34,000 for vacation rentals and 51,000 cities for all other unique categories, worldwide

· Spain is the leading country for guest house bookings; Italy for bed & breakfasts and farms; United Kingdom for hostels and inns; and – interestingly – Sweden for boats

· United States is the leading country for hotel bookings; Japan for Ryokans; and Morocco for Riad stays

-ENDS-

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