FastBooking develops Premier Inn’s non-UK presence

The UK’s biggest budget hotel brand Premier Inn is to promote its 42,000-room portfolio internationally through dedicated .eu, .fr and .es websites.

The UK’s biggest budget hotel brand Premier Inn is to promote its 42,000-room portfolio internationally through dedicated .eu, .fr and .es websites.

The move comes as parent company Whitbread revealed that Premier Inn sales rose by 10.7% in the first half of the year over the same period in 2009, fuelled by a rise in business travellers opting to stay in low cost accommodation.  

The international website, www.premierinn.eu, is a portal promoting destinations, themes, and price-based selections.

Hotel pricing and availability are claimed to be completely transparent with unrestricted prices on the UK and international sites being the same.

Availability is updated in real-time for all hotels on their own and the international website. The Premier Inn portal is also available in French (www.premierinn.fr) and Spanish (www.premierinn.es).

Italian and German language sites are expected to be online at the end of October. More languages will be added based on guest demand, according to site developer FastBooking.

Premier Inn is taking part in FastBooking’s Web Traffic Builder scheme which combines partnerships with almost 100 leading tourism and travel websites reaching more than 90 million unique visitors a month.  

Customised online promotion campaigns will make Premier Inn more visible on internet search engines and travel websites.

FastBooking chief executive Richard Kefs said: “FastBooking designs, develops, implements and monitors these campaigns.

“We pay the upfront cost. Premier Inn will pay us a commission only after a guest who we captured stays at one of their hotels.
One of our challenges is to increase the visibility of the brand outside the domestic market.”