Qantas launches 'Hooroo' hotel booking and social travel site
By David Flynn, July 18 2012
Qantas bounces into a brave new field for the airline today with the launch of the Hooroo online accommodation site.
While a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, Hooroo operates as a stand-alone business “to pursue the multi-billion dollar online accommodation opportunity for the Qantas Group”.
Hooroo claims to be the first travel site to integrate social discovery and sharing with the ability to directly book a huge range of accommodation Australia-wide, capitalising on the massive influence of social networking and word of mouth in travel.
“Even when you’re on a business trip it’s only business from 9 to 5” says Hooroo Executive Manager Simon Chamberlain. “By bringing local knowledge and insight from other travellers your experience can be greatly improved.”
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said Hooroo is a new addition to the Qantas Group’s portfolio of businesses and will capitalise on the domestic accommodation sector in Australia.
“Hooroo will open up new opportunities for our customers when booking their travel online and will offer accommodation across the full spectrum of the market, from budget to premium and from boutique to the big hotels.”
Here’s the official PR spiel for Hooroo, which goes live today at Hooroo.com.
Qantas launches Hooroo, Australia’s most inspiring new travel community.
The Qantas Group launches Hooroo today, a brand new website that shows you the best travel experiences, tips and recommendations, combined with a huge range of accommodation options to book your next adventure.
Hooroo brings together everything you love most about travel magazines and websites. It’s unique because you can search content and book in the one place, as well as add your own travel experiences to the Hooroo community.
Hooroo has real travel tips and suggestions from real people who are passionate about travel and getting the most from visits to new places. Hooroo Executive Manager Simon Chamberlain says allowing the Hooroo community to share their own discoveries inspires everyone to make the most of their travel experiences. “We’ve collected stories, itineraries and travel tips from passionate travellers that will make any visitor feel like a local while they’re on holiday.” Hooroo is unique because once you have been inspired to travel, you can instantly book your stay on the same site. Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter for the latest updates: we're @AusBT. David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas
10 Sep 2011
Total posts 162
It won't stop me from using SkyScanner to get the best deal on hotels.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 May 2012
Total posts 268
It's a small step to take on Virgin Australia's partnership with HotelClub but is it necessary for Qantas to own it all. The website has a clean and contemporary design. I wonder if you can earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points on this new service
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jul 2011
Total posts 1378
Site looks ok graphically, but can't work out what they are selling.
Went onto it looked at Melbourne. Random links to various places. 3 star on ront page, 5 star if I scrolled. All very disjointed.
19 Jul 2012
Total posts 2
"Hooroo is unique because once you have been inspired to travel, you can instantly book your stay on the same site."
How is that unique? I know our site (Travellerspoint) does this and we're not alone.
Is this strange claim from the author of the article, or by Hooroo PR?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2555
Hi Daamsie: that line is part of Hooroo's PR spiel, which we introduced by flagging that section of the article by saying "Here’s the official PR spiel for Hooroo...". However, to make that even clearer compared to regular copy I have formatted extract PR section using italics (in addition to it being indented as previous, although admittedly people can miss the visual clue of intending once you move past the screenshots as there is no unindented text in view, so the italicising should help here.)
19 Jul 2012
Total posts 2
Thanks, that does make it clearer. Strange claim.
16 Jan 2012
Total posts 1
I would suggest Qantas concentrate on their core business of flying people at the best cost, shortest time in the best environment. None of which they are achieving at the moment.
This is becoming a shoddy airline in my view :-(. I used to love Qantas.
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