Irish car hire company ETrawler, which operates global rental site Arguscarhire.com, has signed an exclusive agreement with O2 to become the first online car hire provider to offer rental services on O2’s new European I-Mode network.
This deal means that O2 mobile phone customers across Europe can now make a car hire reservation through their mobile phone at the Arguscarhire.com website, which has been designed and specifically optimised for viewing on a mobile handset.
I-Mode is the recently launched, mobile internet service available exclusively from O2, which gives mobile phone customers access to a wide range of website services from flight reservations to property listings and news services. Global car rental website Arguscarhire.com will become the preferred provider of car hire services.
Greg Turley, CEO and founder of ETrawler, commented: “In the fast changing world of travel technology we are constantly trying to innovate with new XML standards-based technologies to make it faster and easier for customers to make a car hire reservation through Arguscarhire.com.”
The Dublin-based car hire company has evolved into an online travel power house and has established a white-label car hire booking engine that is now used by more than 200 active travel partners in 20 countries. Arguscarhire.com is now developing its ETrawler booking engine to handle the needs of flight and hotel booking web players.
In 1996 Arguscarhire.com became the first European English language car hire rental website and by 1999 had launched the industry’s first online quotation and booking facility. Today the company is one of the top three global independent car hire providers.
The ETrawler web-booking technology firm that grew out of Arguscarhire.com has already outstripped the growth of the original car hire business and caters specifically for DIY travellers who are looking for the best deals in car hire.
By John Kennedy
