Hotels.com® has launched a clever new creative campaign to show why it is the obvious choice for booking hotels. The new campaign – ‘The Obvious Choice™’ – light-heartedly brings to life a funny character that has existed in pop culture for decades.  Through the creative execution, Hotels.com debuts a fictional world traveler and the brand’s new biggest fan, Captain Obvious™.

Hotel prices in North America were 3 percent higher on average in the first six months of 2013, than during the same period in 2012, according to the latest data from the biannual Hotels.com® Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®). This rise in pricing is only slightly higher than the worldwide average increase of 2 percent across all regions in the first half of this year, compared year-over-year to 2012.

A hotel pool can make or break your vacation during the hot summer months. Luckily, some hotel properties deliver this essential summer amenity in the grandest of ways—an on-site water park. The number of water parks attached to hotels continues to grow and there are great options for travelers of all ages, according to online travel accommodation booking expert Hotels.com®.

Hotels.com has launched two new apps for Windows 8, an iteration of its highly successful app specifically designed for mobile and another built specifically for Windows 8 tablet. The new apps enable customers using Windows 8 on-the-go to easily and quickly research, search and book hotel accommodation, as well as review reservations, read customer reviews and search for specific mobile only deals.

Breaking Travel News sits down with Matt Walls, vice president of Hotels.com to discuss global hotel trends, the rise of China, the impact of the Olympics 2012 and the mobile travel space.

Despite facing price rises in nearly two thirds of international destinations, UK travellers were also rewarded with price falls in destinations at home, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.