hotel.de, the online reservation service, is reporting unabated growth as at November 2006. Reaching a figure of Euro 23.2 million, the company’s booking volume rose by 82.7% compared to November 2005 (Euro 12.7 million). 257,141 overnight stays were booked in November 2006, a 61.7% improvement on the previous year (159,045).

“The past weeks have seen us recruit numerous new customers from our primary target group of business travellers. These successful efforts are now clearly reflected in our figures. Business travellers are more frequent bookers and they tend to book in the mid to upper price segments. As a result, we have been able to boost our booking volume even ahead of the number of overnight stays booked,” explained Dr. Heinz Raufer, CEO of hotel.de AG. The booking volume is a good indicator for hotel.de’s business trend in that it allows to calculate the commission earnings representing the company’s primary source of revenue.

“Having opened a London office in September this year, under the brand name TravelRes, our expansion into the UK continues to make excellent progress. The number of roomnights booked more than doubled in November 2006 compared to the same month in 2005. The booking volume also increased by 155% to Euro 0.5 million over the same period. Our international business will contribute progressively to our sales revenues. In addition to the UK, we will open an office in France in January 2007,” Dr. Raufer commented on the company’s expansion strategy. Apart from the incremental sales revenues, the international business is also expected to deliver networking effects in that the expanded footprint allows to serve a larger customer base. This, in turn, raises hotel.de’s appeal as a booking platform in the eyes of hotel operators. At the same time, having a regional presence makes it easier to sign up potential hotel partners, which, in turn, helps to attract more booking customers.
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