Wotif.com

Wotif.com

The Wotif.com homepage on 16 November 2007.
Web address http://www.wotif.com/
Slogan Australia’s favourite online travel destination
Commercial? Yes
Type of site
 Hotel reservation service
Registration No
Available in English
Owner Wotif.com Holdings Limited.
Created by Graeme Wood
Launched March 2000
Alexa rank
 9,559 (30 January 2014)[1]
Current status Public limited company

Wotif.com (ASX: WTF) is a website that provides a reservation service for hotels in Australia, as well as some international hotels. It was created in March 2000 by Graeme Wood, and is based in Brisbane, Australia. It has since established offices in Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.[2] Wotif.com has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since June 2, 2006.[3]

Wotif.com has been ranked by Alexa one of the top 15,000 trafficked websites on the internet.[1]

Unlike many other travel websites, Wotif.com does not provide limitless lists of hotel details. Instead, the website provides information for the next 3 months, the reason being that "as a date gets closer, hotels can often drop their rates". Originally, the website only provided details seven days in advance, this was expanded to 14 days in February 2001, and to 28 in September 2005 (around the time it first sought a listing on the ASX) to 3 months in 28 January.[4]

On 22 October 2007, Robbie Cooke became CEO of Wotif.com, taking over from founder Graeme Wood, who moved to the position of executive director.[5]

In October 2007, Wotif.com placed a $57 million bid for Australian travel website Travel.com.au. This bid defeated Webjet's, causing the company to sell its share in the site.[6][7] The takeover bid also gave Wotif.com a share in websites dealing in "online flight, car, cruise and holiday bookings", previously uncharted territory for the company. Wotif.com's CEO, Robbie Cooke, said of the takeover bid that "those brands give us an ability to push into the flights area in particular but we can also improve those brands' hotel offerings".[5]

On 7 July 2014, Expedia agreed to buy Wotif.com for about $US657 million ($AU703 million).[8][9] The takeover was approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on 1 October 2014.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Traffic details for Wotif.com". Alexa. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "About us". Wotif.com. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  3. ↑ "Wotif.com Holdings Limited (WTF)". ASX. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  4. ↑ "Our history". Wotif.com. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Georgina Robinson (23 October 2007). "Robbie takes the reins at Wotif". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  6. ↑ Teresa Ooi (15 November 2007). "Webjet results ready to take off". Australian IT. News.com.au. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  7. ↑ "Webjet backs down as Wotif.com stands to secure travel.com.au". e-Travel Blackboard. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  8. ↑ Matthew Rocco (7 July 2014). "Expedia Scores $657M Deal for Australia's Wotif". FOXBusiness. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "US online travel giant Expedia to buy Wotif". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.