Distribution deal signed resulting in offers from members of the two key brands, Great Hotels of the World and Special Hotels of the World, being available on eBay in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Sweden.

eBay currently attracts more than 160 million visitors a month and enjoys more traffic than traditional travel channels, including Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotels and Lastminute.

GHO members simply set a minimum package or room night price (not visible to the consumer) and sell to the highest bidder.

Richard Barnes, Managing Director – Hotel Representation, Great Hotels Organisation, said: "We are providing our members with a fantastic opportunity to feature on the world's most popular online shopping website. eBay has created a whole new way for consumers to buy and is fast becoming an important distribution channel for hotels. We are confident that this will provide our members with good, incremental, repeat business."

Karim Lankarany, Senior Category Manager at eBay.de commented: "More and more hotel chains and private hotels have begun to sell their vacant room capacity on eBay.

Each hotel defines the selling form which suits it best – be it an auction without a definite validity date, or a buy-it-now offer with a specific date. Hotel owners can thus control their capacity through using eBay and win new customers in the process!"

The distribution deal is between GHO and Cultuzz.