The recent 2006 iAwards was again a sensational success, demonstrating Australia’s bright future as a key player in the global ICT market.

The iAwards is AIIA’s lighthouse event, encouraging the entire ICT industry of Australia to come together to place ICT excellence and innovation in the spotlight.
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Wotif.com – winners of the 2006 iAward for Tourism & Hospitality and the inspiration award for the ‘best of the best’ ICT products and services in 2006.

‘Inspirational’ 2006 iAward winners, Wotif.com were founded in Brisbane, in March 2000 and today, are Australia’s leading accommodation website.

The idea for Wotif.com was formulated in 1999 by Graeme Wood (now CEO), when he was asked to identify a strategy for the distribution of hotels’ distressed inventory, i.e. vacant rooms.

With a background in information systems, Graeme recognised the suitability of the Internet as a simple yet effective distribution channel.

Together with his co-founders and investors Andrew Brice, Kevin Fitzpatrick and Lyn Brazil, Graeme developed the Wotif.com business model which was designed around the core values of simplicity, transparency, value and customer service.

At the time of Wotif.com’s inception all conventional distribution channels (e.g. travel agents) relied on Global Distribution Systems which were more expensive, complex and could not provide immediate confirmation.

As Graeme recalls, “I saw that the internet provided a unique, cost-effective method to bring buyers and sellers together in a ‘virtual’ marketplace for hotel rooms. The challenge, as I saw it, was to create the critical mass of supply and demand for the market to work efficiently.”

So, Graeme and the Wotif.com team responded to this challenge…and created first website in Australia and indeed around the world that offered ‘live’ hotel inventory to the retail market.

A fast and easy-to-use website, Wotif.com now attracts nearly 2 million user sessions and processes more than 110,000 bookings per month. Bookings can be made online or through the Customer Service Centre (CSC), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It’s not just the customers who recognise that Wotif.com offers a first-class service.

Wotif.com also provides suppliers with an Internet distribution channel that enables them to update room rates, allocation and types, as well as the description of their property. By logging into specially created Wotif.com supplier site, suppliers can update their online data with ease and make it instantly available to the public.

Suppliers are also provided with facilities to view their property’s performance statistics, booking history and the guest list of customers due to check in.

Wotif.com was also the first online booking engine to use its signature rate matrix to display hotel rates and give immediate booking confirmation, thereby setting new standards in transparency and simplicity…and building trust amongst users in the internet as a reliable purchase point.

Today, after six years in business, Wotif.com has grown steadily to become Australia’s leading accommodation website. The site offers accommodation at more than 6000 properties in 36 countries and is supported by 135 staff across offices in Brisbane, Canada, Auckland, Singapore, Malaysia and London.

Less than 10% of the total accommodation industry in Australia is currently being booked online (Source: Euromonitor report, 2004). Similar figures are captured in international markets…meaning that there is huge market potential for Wotif.com to continue growing in Australia and to continue expansion internationally.

It is easy to see why Wotif.com were recognised as fitting recipients of the Tourism & Hospitality 2006 iAward and further, winners of the inspiration iAward for ‘the best of the best’ ICT products and services in 2006.

Wotif.com CEO, Graeme Wood said, “I was thrilled to receive these iAwards and be recognised by our ICT industry peers. It is especially flattering to be recognised amongst such successful Australian ICT organisations who are achieving phenomenal results.

“Winning the Tourism and Hospitality iAward reinforces our strong position in the accommodation industry and to also win the Inspiration Award has further raised our profile throughout the Australasian region, which is our key market,” he added.

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