Is another disruptor getting into the hotel booking business? On Tuesday, Amazon has introduced a new tab to its Amazon Local brand called Amazon Destinations, which displays what is currently a limited collection of available hotels in the local areas. Amazon Destinations is currently limited to the Pacific Northwest, Southern California and the Northeast.
The new portal also shows hotels’ standard day rates, whereas previously it only offered reservations for last-minute deals. The Destination tab has a search box for deals in Amazon Local’s inventory. A similar interface is also available to British residents for hotels and resorts across the UK.
The question remains as to whether Destinations will start to add services similar to the likes of TripAdvisor. However, a Tuesday report by Tnooz quoted an Amazon spokesperson saying Amazon is not creating a travel brand to compete with the Expedias of this world.