Google has an update. A new feature has been added, which will help Googlers to have a better experience with Hotel Finder. This new feature will filter hotels based on their maximum travel time from a location or landmark.
An example for the same could be, a user can ask to be shown all the hotels that are within 20 minutes travel time by public transport from Hyde Park.
There is yet another filtering option, with the hep of which one can ask to view all the hotels in a particular area of a city – such as Soho.
‘Hotels by Travel Time’, the new function was announced in a blog post. It was noted in the post by the search engine giant that the said tool is still in its experimental phase and would work only in those cities, where Google has partnered with transit agencies to integrate their data into Google maps. A basic inclusion is of almost all major cities in North America and Europe, and a growing number in Asia and Africa.
It was quoted, “This feature is not only for tourists. You might be traveling on business and want to make sure you can get to the office or that conference center.”
Hotel Finder then highlights the potential hotels on a map as shown below.
The competitiveness has been on the rise, with several major players updating their services or introducing new products, beating up the online travel market of late. This can be nearly confirmed with the help of a research carried out by Econsultancy and Toluna Quick. This research shows that 71% of consumers have made a search query for a flight, hotel or holiday online in the last six months.
Adding to it, last month, Google took a risk of angering its advertisers by trial placing ads for Hotel Finder at the top of search listings.
It was even known that early last week, there was a new crowdsourced hotel search launched by Expedia, which shows users the best deals based on what other customers have purchased.
Another development for the same cause was from STA Travel. STA Travel has also unveiled a new partnership with social network Gap Daemon. This move from STA Travels, would help the student travel company strengthen its grip on the gap year travel market.
A few more efforts have come up, which will lead as an extension to the travel industry, rather can be a key factor in the said industry. Notably, Foursquare with its latest functionality will be even hoping to attract tourists. This new function is of ‘Explore’, which pinpoints restaurant information in major cities based on peer reviews.
Talking about the personalized booking experience, Four Seasons has reportedly spent $18m upgrading its website in a bid to offer customers. Along with it, the company intends to try to drive up its online revenue which currently only accounts for 12% of total revenue.