News

Lastminute.com launches travel agent partnership programme

Lastminute.com is to work with travel agents in a partnership programme giving them access to its group portfolio of 80,000 hotels to sell online.


The Internet retailer hopes to distribute its hotel content – 40,000 properties from parent company Sabre’s global distribution system and 40,000 from Travelocity, medhotels.com and lastminute.com – through its new Partnership Programme of white-label and affiliate deals.


Agents already sell medhotels.com’s properties but have never had access to the group’s full range of hotels.


Vice-president distribution and business development Vic Darvey is in talks with several well-known companies.


The scheme has been launched with social networking site wayn.com as its first major white-label partner and has already partnered with frenchconnections.co.uk, the holiday property lettings portal which sells its French hotels.


Darvey added: “We are extending content we provide. Traditionally it would just be medhotels.com product but now there is no limitation.”


The company is looking for agents or companies of any size with a website, including tourist boards, to be partners. There is no cost for agents and commission levels depend on sales volumes.


Integrating lastminute.com’s booking system on to a partner’s site takes four hours, he said. “There is huge pressure for agents to have a website and this is an opportunity to give them a comprehensive online presence.”


The company offers three types of partnership deal – affiliate, white label or XML link. Lastminute.com is also launching an affiliate back-office system which enables agents to analyse sales data and conversion rates. The technology allows the agency’s name to appear on the customer’s credit card statement.

Share article

View Comments

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.