Maps and proximity search results are embedded via XML

The nearest deals are displayed as icons on a map

lastminute.com, Europe’s leading online travel and entertainment company, chose Multimap to support a worldwide hotel and restaurant finder. The service, which embeds Multimap’s mapping into the lastminute site via XML, gives users the ability to search for hotels and restaurants, and to see their selected locations highlighted on maps.

Users access the service when searching for hotels and restaurants on the lastminute.com homepage. Alternatively, they can click on the “Deals around you” button to search a particular area for hotels, restaurants or entertainment. Coverage is global, with street-level mapping provided for 13 European countries, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

The service shows lastminute.com customers the location of hotels, restaurants and entertainment options in relation to attractions, shops, train stations and airports. The maps are fully interactive, allowing users to zoom in for more detail or zoom out to familiarize themselves with the surrounding area.

In the UK, Vodafone and O2 customers can also search for special late deals from lastminute.com via their mobile phones. In the example opposite, a Vodafone customer visits lastminute.com on his mobile, clicks on "Deal Finder", specifies deal type, and nearby deals are located based on his current handset location. A screen delivers a list of the top four deals available in the desired area with prices and distance in kilometers from the relevant location. The customer then clicks on an item to access further details, such as times when the offer applies, and to view a map of the surrounding area, as delivered by Multimap. The maps have full zoom in/out and pan N,S,E,W functionality. Nearby points of interest, e.g., motorway junction numbers, local transport links and beaches, are also shown.