BOOKING.COM

Booking.com

Booking.com

Introduction

Booking.com is an official online hotel reservation site of Booking.com B.V. Booking.com B.V is owned and operated by the Priceline.com. Booking.com B.V established in 1996 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Booking.com offers online hotel room reservation facility to customers segment of leisure and business traveller across the globe. Booking.com has gained exceptional attention in past few years, resulting in increasing the customer attraction to the website. Currently, Booking.com is offering its services in more than 160 countries (Booking.Com B.V., 2011a). It operates through coordination with hotelier groups and affiliate partners that structure the business operation model of the company.

Booking.com™ has a unique visitor rate of more than 30 million in a month who visit the website for hotel reservation using the internet. It attracts both business markets and leisure travellers worldwide. Service portfolio base of Booking.com includes hotels from small and independent category to five star luxury hotels. Currently, Booking.com website is available in 41 languages; customers have an assortment in choices for hotel selection from 182,318 hotels located worldwide (Booking.Com B.V., 2011a).

Business Operating Structure and Revenue Mechanism

The E-Commerce and Online hotel reservation industry will attract a larger customer market as more travellers now prefer online reservation. Rising consumer confidence will particularly benefit the industry's long-term growth since it contributes to customer retention. Competition within the industry bases on the reputation and reliability of operators and price. Operators attempt to expand the number of regions they service to capture a wider range of customers. Industry demand should solidify as vacation and transport alternatives increase and packages are marketed as a way for consumers to get a better deal (Laudon, 2009). Incentives that will likely appear more often include accommodation upgrades, extra nights, free car hire or complimentary meals, and reduced research time.

Booking.com business structure is extended to two channel partners, i.e. hoteliers, and ...