~"Maximum 29% Points Rewards" Campaign and "820 Yen Plan"
Will be Implemented~
http://travel.yahoo.co.jp/ (Japanese only)
"Yahoo! Travel", an Internet travel reservation service operated by Yahoo Japan Corporation (hereinafter, "Yahoo! JAPAN"), has made a major renewal of its site and has launched on the sales of "Yahoo! Travel Plan", an original lodging reservation product that has one of Japan’s highest points (T Points) rewards rate of "always over 5%". Commemorating the renewal of the site, we will launch on a large scale points rewarding campaign from today for a limited period.
-Launching of "Yahoo! Travel Plan", a product with a points rewards rate of "always over 5%"
From the inception of its service in 1997, "Yahoo! Travel" has displayed reservation products for domestic lodgings from several partner lodging reservation sites. In addition to this line-up, we will be handling Yahoo! JAPAN’s original lodging reservation product, "Yahoo! Travel Plan", for the first time in our history.
This new plan features a high points rewards rate of "always over 5%", and we will begin with approximately 4,000 lodging facilities from all over Japan. Furthermore, the points rewards rate can be freely uplifted up to a maximum of 14% by the lodging facilities, hence an even higher points can be rewarded to the users depending on the lodging plans.
In October 2013, Yahoo! JAPAN announced its "E-Commerce Revolution" strategy, a measure designed to improve the EC ratio in Japan and to invigorate consumption. Through this strategy, Yahoo! JAPAN completely eliminated the store tenant fee (monthly system-use fee) and sales royalty. With this strategy paving the way, we have also initiated similar revolutionary measures in the so called service EC, i.e. Internet reservation business ("Yahoo! Booking Restaurants"), and business has grown steadily. As part of the "Reservation Revolution", "Yahoo! Travel" will eliminate the system-usage fee (fee incurred for every transaction) paid by the lodging facilities for ordinary lodging reservation sites, (*1) with the aim of reducing the costs incurred by the lodging facilities as much as possible. At the same time, by rewarding the users with a high points rewards rate, we will provide big advantages to both lodging facilities and users and will roll out a strategy that will promote a virtuous cycle in the market. As a result, we hope to create a stir in the Internet travel business and aim to rejuvenate the market even more.
<Breakdown of Costs Incurred by Lodging Facilities when Using "Yahoo! Travel">
*Minimum of 5% is required for capital covering the points rewarded and can be set freely up to 14% by the lodging facilities.
-Major renewal to an intuitive, easy to use site
Upon the launching of the new plan, we have made a major renewal of our site. The site has been reborn to an intuitive, easy to use site by boldly taking measures such as "focus on domestic lodging reservations", "simplification of design", and "enhancement of visuals". At the same time, we built on the positive aspects of the previous site so that the accustomed users will not be confused when using the renewed site.
1. Focus on domestic lodging reservations
In our previous top page, various menus, such as reservation of lodging and tours for both domestic and international travels, were laid out in juxtaposition. In the renewed top page, however, we displayed "domestic lodging reservations", a service most frequently used, in the center of the page. In order to satisfy the most frequent needs of the users, we will start with a site that facilitates a fast access to the target page. Moving on, we will further enrich the contents of the site.
2. Simplification of design
Throughout the site, we have reduced the decorations such as frames, colors and icons and renewed it to a simple yet modern design. We have achieved a more sophisticated site design. The smartphone site, the usage of which is projected to further increase in the future, is now easier to see despite its small size.
3. Enhancement of visuals
For the page of every lodging facility, the image introducing the facility has been enlarged and highlighted. More images can be displayed so that the facility can be appealed in a more intuitive manner. Furthermore, a large seasonal image is used in the background of the top page in order to create an atmosphere that conveys the joy and excitement of travelling throughout the site.
-Large scale points campaign to be conducted commemorating the renewal
Commemorating the renewal of the site, we will conduct two points (T Point) rewards campaigns from today for a limited period, focusing on "points rewards", a feature of "Yahoo! Travel Plan". The campaigns are: "20% of lodging expense refunded as T Points!" and "T Points lottery".
1. "20% of lodging expense refunded as T Points!"
From today until Wednesday, March 18, if the user makes an entry through the campaign page and reserves "Yahoo! Travel Plan" and accordingly lodges, the user will be rewarded with a minimum 20% and a maximum 29% of T Points. This reward will be composed of the points set by the lodging facilities (5~14%) and the 15% bonus points(*2) added by Yahoo! JAPAN.
In addition, the campaign page will introduce approximately 180 lodging facilities that have set the points rewards rate to over 10% as "Plans with unconditional points rewards of 25% or more". Also 12 facilities from all around Japan that can be stayed for the price of 820JPY are introduced under "820 yen plan". The plans are, however, limited in number. ("820" can be phonetically read as "Yahoo!" in Japanese.)
-Title:
"20% of lodging expense refunded as T Points!"
-Period:
Thursday, February 26~Wednesday, March 18
*Applicable period of stay: Thursday, February 26~Sunday, May 10
-URL:
http://travel.yahoo.co.jp/pointcampaign/ (Japanese only)
-Eligible Users:
All users who have made entries through the campaign site and have
made reservations and lodged via “Yahoo! Travel Plan”
-Applicable Facilities:
All facilities handled by "Yahoo! Travel Plan"
-Reference:
"820 yen plan" will be sold through reservations in three phases.
For every phase, limited rooms from 4 hotels will be applicable for this plan.
[Phase 1: Sales begins at 11:00 Monday, March 2]
-Sunrote Plaza Tokyo (Maihama, Chiba)
-Hotel Hankyu Expopark (Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, Osaka)
-Ryotei Kaiseki Notoya (Awazu Hot Spring, Ishikawa)
-Rokkosan Hotel (Rokko Mountain, Hyogo)
[Phase 2: Sales begins at 11:00 Thursday, March 5]
-Okinawa Kariyushi Beach Resort Ocean Spa (Onna Village, Okinawa)
-Châteraisé Gateau Kingdom Sapporo Hotel & Spa Resort (Sapporo, Hokkaido)
-Shimoda Tokyu Hotel (Shimoda, Shizuoka)
-Hotel Trusty Nagoya (Nagoya, Aichi)
[Phase 3: Sales begins at 11:00 Wednesday, March 11]
-Keikyu EX Inn Shinagawa-Ekimae (located inside Shinagawa Goos (Shingawa, Tokyo)
-Akiu Onsen Hotel Zuiho (Akiu Hot Spring, Miyagi)
-Minamiboso-Tomiura Royal Hotel (Tomiura, Chiba)
-Hotel Epinard Nasu (Nasu Highland, Tochigi)
2. "T Points lottery"
"T Points lottery" will be held starting today until Monday, March 23. All users who have logged in with their Yahoo! JAPAN ID and have subscribed to Yahoo! Travel mail magazine will have a chance of winning T Points on the spot. We have prepared over 300,000 prizes and the 1st prize is a T Points reward worth 100,000 points. For every Yahoo! JAPAN ID, only one lottery can be drawn during this campaign period.
-Title:
"T Points Lottery Commemorating the Renewal of Yahoo! Travel"
-Period:
Thursday, February 26~Monday, March 23
-URL:
http://travel.yahoo.co.jp/renewal/campaign/ (Japanese only)
-Eligible Users:
Users who have logged in with their Yahoo! JAPAN ID and have
subscribed to Yahoo! Travel mail magazine during the campaign period
Through measures such as rewarding the users with points at one of Japan’s highest rewards rate and eliminating the system-usage fee for the lodging facilities, "Yahoo! Travel" will continue to aim to become a travel reservation Internet site that will invigorate the travel market within Japan and will be used by both users and lodging facilities.
*1 : The arbitrarily set percentage of capital for covering the points rewarded (5~14%) and the fee for rewarding points (0.3%) will always be incurred when the reservations is made. Other costs for notification by fax or site controllers occur only when optionally used.
*2 : The T Points rewarded as bonus points have limited period and areas of usage. The usage period of the points is up to 30 days after the date of points acquisition.
-"Yahoo! Travel" site
http://travel.yahoo.co.jp/ (Japanese only)
-Notice on the renewal
http://travel.yahoo.co.jp/renewal/ (Japanese only)