lastminute.com Launches Down-Under

[London, ENGLAND] Late deals specialist
lastminute.com
has launched a localized Australian version
of its site in conjunction with partner
travel.com.au.

The new site, at
au.lastminute.com,
begins with a cheery “Hello there!” and introduces “Our
funky flavours” — in contrast to the U.K. site which
often dispenses with formalities and informalities alike.

Intended for users in both Australia and New Zealand, the
new site offers the full lastminute range of goods and
services, including flights, holidays, hotels, gifts and
tickets to shows. It also enables people to store their
personal preferences and create their own personalized
homepage.

“The launch of lastminute.com Australia is a major step
forward in our business strategy, fully developing Australia
as a destination for all of our worldwide customers as well
as building a vibrant local business,” said Brent Hoberman,
chief executive officer of lastminute.com.

Partner travel.com.au has contributed some key supplier
relationships in the Asia Pacific area, such as the
Shangri-La Hotel Group, to the pool of suppliers whose
products are available across all the lastminute sites.

A brand building marketing campaign in Australia and New
Zealand is now helping to boost the new site.

As lastminute’s Vice-President International Business
Development Tom Virden pointed out, Australia is the first
launch for lastminute outside of Europe. He said it would
create further opportunities throughout the Asia Pacific
region.

Just a few days ago, lastminute.com announced that it
intended to acquire France’s Dégriftour Group,
making it the largest European-based e-commerce company.