Leading online accommodation booking website, Hotels.com®, today launches the third instalment of its popular Xtreme Booking video series - “White Water Booking”, this time featuring Japan’s shock jock comedians, The Tokyo Shock Boys, known for their wacky and extreme stunts.

Hotel booking website Hotels.com has appointed Stuart Silberg to the position of Chief Technology Officer. Stuart brings over 20 years’ industry experience, and was previously Vice President of Technology at Hotels.com, where he headed up the technology team in London.

According to the latest Hotels.com© Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®),  a biannual report based on actual prices paid in 2012 compared with 2011, UK travellers faced price hikes in over half of the international destinations in 2012, despite a strong Pound Sterling. Of the 116 cities included in the report, prices were up in 63, flat in six and down in 47.

With almost 155,000 hotels on offer, the new website features everyday deals and special promotions tailored to the local market with prices in shekels. Scott Booker, president Hotels.com, said: “This expansion demonstrates our commitment to bringing the Hotels.com experience closer to our customers by providing more sites with localised and highly relevant content.

Recovery in the hospitality sector gathered speed with a four per cent increase in the first half of 2012 but average prices remain at 2005 level, according to figures from the new Hotels.com Hotel Price Index. For the first time in five years, travellers paid more on average for their hotel rooms during the first six months of 2012 in all parts of the world.

Competition regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has objected to deals struck between Intercontinental Hotels Group and online travel agents Booking.com and Expedia, claiming they have infringed competition law in relation to the online supply of room only hotel accommodation by online travel agents.