Hotels4u.com is to launch an enhanced city-break programme in February next year.
Sales and marketing director John Harding said the initial launch would feature 10 of the most popular city breaks destinations, nine European cities and New York.
A further 30 European cities will be added in March with the remainder of the programme, which will be run by a newly created hotels4u cities division, going live in May. It will replace the bed bank’s current city sales programme which has not had the benefit of a designated team behind it.
Harding said direct contracting is still on-going but it is hoped around 70 cities will ultimately be featured on the site with the most popular destinations expected to have up to 100 properties.
He added the chosen properties will all have three to five star ratings and while he could not say how many will feature in the programme, he expects the most popular destinations to have up to 100 hotels.
Harding added the 10 most popular cities featured will drive the programme as they are expected to account for around 75% of all sales.
He added: “While we have seen a steady demand for cities we need to enhance the programme and expand the range of properties available.
“We’re looking for a good range of properties. What we want to do is make sure we are as good at selling city dynamic packaging through the high street as we are at selling beach dynamic packages.”