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Middle East online hotel bookings soar

Dubai, July 7, 2013

Online hotel bookings are gaining popularity in the Middle East as more consumers in the region use the Internet to search for affordable hotel rates, said a survey.

Hotel bookings from the GCC region totaled $1.6 billion last year, 10 per cent of which were made online according to PhoCus Wright’s Middle Eastern Online Travel Overview.

With hundreds of hotel websites now available, consumers today face an overwhelming abundance of choice. To further complicate matters, these sites often post different rates for the same hotel, causing users to spend hours comparing prices online, it said.

A meta-search engine HotelsCombined.com instantly searches and compares room availability and prices from hundreds of major travel booking websites.  

Amer AlHalabi, regional manager of Mena for HotelsCombined, said: “With so many websites available for online hotel booking, it’s hard for the consumer to know offhand where the best rate available is posted. A hotel room will always have different rates on different booking sites. Thanks to HotelsCombined, travelers can find the best room rate in just a single search.”

The site is available in Arabic and 38 other languages. It is also available as a smart phone app. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Middle East | GCC |

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