- Agoda
Agoda is an internet company which provides
online hotel reservations services for properties focused primarily in theAsia Pacific Region. [cite news
url = http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Tourism/20071112_acquires.html
title = Priceline acquires Asian online hotel reservation service Agoda|accessdate=2008-08-08] , with operations based inBangkok ,Singapore and thePhilippines .History
The company was created by founder Michael Kenny in the late 1990’s under the name PlanetHoliday.com. The initial concept was to use the burgeoning power of search engines to fill a perceived void of
hotel and travel information. PlanetHoliday was one of the first hotel reservation websites, in an industry which has subsequently grown into a multi-billion dollar business. Kenny, originally from Long Island,New York , migrated toThailand in the early 90’s and set up the website with a small operation on the island of Phuket. [cite news
url = http://www.lafayette.edu/news.php/view/11385
title = Michael Kenny ’89 Heads Travel Company in Thailand|accessdate=2008-08-08] The website (and industry as a whole) has survived various unforeseen catastrophic events, including the “dot com” meltdown of 2000-2001, as well as the New York terrorist attacks of 9/11 and theSARS outbreak in 2002, both which devastated the travel industry. [cite news
url = http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/314663/
title = Travel and Tourism Analyst - Sustainable Tourism in the Travel Industry - International|accessdate=2008-08-08] In 2002, operations moved fromPhuket to Bangkok and in 2003 PrecisionReservations.com was added as a partner website designed to sell reservations through affiliate websites. Later in 2003 PlanetHoliday.com and PrecisionReservations.com were combined under Agoda Company Pte. Ltd.Acquisition
In November 2007 Agoda Company was acquired by
Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) becoming their third international acquisition. [cite news
url = http://www.reuters.com/article/inPlayBriefing/idUSIN20071108160105PCLN20071108
title = Agoda acquisition by Priceline|accessdate=2008-08-06] It now has approximately 300 employees and offers users search availability services in 18 languages including Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese and Thai, among others.Awards
Agoda has won the Best accommodation site category in the Travelmole Web Awards Asia 2008. [cite news
url = http://www.travelmole.com/webawards_asia2008.php
title = Travelmole 2008 Web Awards|accessdate=2008-08-06]Footnotes
External links
* [http://www.agoda.com Agoda's official website]
* [http://www.priceline.com Priceline's official website]
* [http://www.travelmole.com Travelmole's official website]
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