Referred to as the “Urban 30s”, www.barcelona30.com, www.paris35.com and www.30madrid.com, have been recently launched to meet the needs of the internet-savvy, budget conscious traveller .

These sites claim to offer the budget-conscious traveller a fixed price deal with a difference. The concept is based on the promise that the consumer will pay no more than the figure in the URL for a night’s accommodation in the cities of Barcelona, Paris and Madrid. The accommodation on offer by the Urban 30s ranges from hostels to hotels to apartments, but the price remains fixed, and on occasions lower, than the figure in the URL.

www.barcelona30.com, www.paris35.com and www.30madrid.com, are a response to the accommodation needs generated by the exponential success of budget airline travel. They offer the traveller an easy to manage, real time solution to accommodation needs for short stays in Barcelona, Paris or Madrid.

In the past two years online accommodation bookings in Europe have more than doubled from 9% in 2004 to 20% in 2005. This trend looks set to continue as DIY travellers turn away from traditional travel service providers and seek more customised alternatives such as travel blogs as an information resource.

“Internet users are now so used to being able to shop around for prices that a typical traveller will review 3 websites before making a booking online. Our challenge is to convert a “looker” into a “booker”. With hundreds of websites offering accommodation, we have realised that one way to differentiate ourselves is to offer a unique product with a fixed price point” says John Erceg, Managing Director of EnGrande.

The Urban 30s are planning to roll out across other cities in Europe including London, Rome and Ibiza during 2006.

——-