Inoqo is a new Twitter-based hotel booking engine that claims to provide a win-win solution for recession-hit hoteliers and travelers who need a hotel room, like, right now. Inoqo (surely “LastSecond.com” would have been a better name?) capitalises on the “real-time web” to bring last-minute deals to forgetful or busy travellers. It opened to hotels this week in the USA, France, Portugal, England, Scotland, Ireland and South Africa.
According to Inoqo, it’s “never too late” to book a room: all you need to do is follow one of Inoqo’s “CityStream” Twitter feeds and watch the last-minute deals start rolling in.
For example, hotels in London will push their offers out via @2LondonHotels (you can find the complete list of destinations here). Once you’ve found a deal you want to snap up, you place an order via Inoqo’s own booking system. Afterwards, you can unfollow the CityStream if you wish.
Even if Twitter has no idea how to make money yet, there are plenty of companies who are figuring out ways to use the platform to make money themselves: Inoqo is free to travelers but charges hotels commission on any bookings made.
The company is privately funded, and has plans for an affiliate program that will enable bloggers and website owners to embed widgets.