INTERNET site lastminute.com has signed a deal with Pegasus Systems to boost its hotel inventory and allow real-time booking of properties for the first time.
Lastminute.com offers cut-price travel deals on the Web just days or hours before they come into effect. Until now the late-deals site has booked hotels from room allocations it has been given by each property. This was the only way lastminute.com could ensure it wouldn’t sell a room night that had been sold already.
Now the site will use Pegasus’ real-time booking capabilities and have access to the 30,000 hotel central reservation systems Pegasus currently deals with. The new technology will allow lastminute.com visitors to see detailed information and pictures about properties around the world.
Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox said: “With Pegasus we have access to a lot more hotels. We believe the deal will increase our hotel inventory ten-fold.”