US travel search engine targets UK and Ireland travellers

SideStep makes part of its revenue from commission paid by the travel suppliers it refers searchers to through its website and downloadable toolbar.

It has forged alliances with 600 airlines, which include low-cost carrier EasyJet and charter operators, 125,000 hotels and 30,000 car rental locations. It claims it generated more than $1bn (£528m) in business for its partners in the US last year.

In the US, SideStep's commission revenues are outweighed by the advertising revenues it makes thanks to its exposure to 5m unique users each month.

Eyres is planning to appoint a UK online sales house to sell ads on its site. He is also in talks about placing Sidestep's search engine on other UK websites. SideStep powers travel searches on US sites such as Amazon Travel and ForbesTraveler.com.

Eyres said: "SideStep has already proved it can drive business significantly for its travel partners by directing large numbers of qualified leads to them in a really cost effective manner. In addition the travel partner maintains the relationship with the consumer, which is becoming increasingly important to the whole travel industry."

Sidestep's UK launch strategy relies on word of mouth, PR and search engine marketing and Eyres said he has no plans to appoint an ad agency.

Consumer and trade PR duties are being handled by Ambition Communications and search engine marketing is being handled in-house.

The UK site began operating in July and has so far attracted half-a-million unique users a month.

SideStep regards Travelsupermarket.com as its closest rival in the UK. Travelsupermarket and sister site Moneysupermarket launched their first TV campaign earlier this year, created by Doner Cardwell Hawkins.

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