Yahoo! relaunches travel pages with Lastminute.com sponsorship

by Emma Rigby, Revolution UK 21-Jun-05

LONDON - Yahoo! UK & Ireland has relaunched its travel website with content supplied by Lonely Planet, and sponsored slots from Lastminute.com.

The website has a new look and several new brand features. It now features 20,000 destinations, 250,000 independent user-reviews, 4,000 images and 150,000 tourist attractions.

The aim is to build on its UK base of 2m visitors and offer contextual advertising opportunities for brands.

Lastminute.com is sponsoring a "destination of the week" slot, and content is provided by Lonely Planet and Wcities, a location-based tourist information service that spans more than 1,900 cities and 70 countries.

The site uses search, powered by Kelkoo, to provide consumers with deals from different travel agencies and airlines, from 40 suppliers, including Lastminute.com, Opodo and British Airways.

Features soon to appear on the portal include search facilities for self-catering holidays, travel insurance, ferry travel and airport travel. A trip planner will allow consumers to build their own holiday package covering flight, hotel and car rental.

Tim Frankcom, European head of travel at Yahoo!, said: "According to our research, 78% of Yahoo! UK users use the internet to research holidays, so we have invested in the relaunch of our Yahoo! Travel site to give them even more comprehensive choice and information."

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