Amazon is an online retailer first and foremost. However in the recent years to expand its offerings, the company has begun to introduce other products like music and video streaming. They even attempted to be a pseudo travel agent with the launch of Amazon Destinations, which for those unfamiliar basically sold getaway vacations.
However it looks like less than a year later, Amazon Destinations will be officially shutting down. According to a message left by the company, “Effective October 13, Amazon Destinations stopped selling reservations on travel.amazon.com and the Amazon Local app. If you have a reservation, your reservation is valid and will be honored by the hotel. No action is required on your part.”
In a statement made to the Seattle Times, Amazon was quoted as saying, “We have learned a lot and have decided to discontinue Amazon Destinations.” They weren’t very specific with the reasons for shutting down, but chances are despite their size, they might have had trouble competing with other more established services like Expedia and Kayak, just to name a few.
As Amazon states, if you have made any bookings prior to their service shutting down, they will continue to be valid and honored, so fret not if you think you’ve snagged a good deal but are worried that it is now moot.
Filed in . Read more about Amazon.