Amazon Selling One-Tank Getaways

(RTTNews) - Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has launched a new service that helps customers find getaway destinations within driving distance of their homes.

The service, dubbed Amazon Destinations, provides lists of locations near a user's home for short-term trips, offering hotel bookings, as well as information on dining and attractions.

The service is currently available for only the New York, Los Angeles and Seattle metro areas.

Amazon Destinations forms a part of Amazon Local, the company's daily-deals hub, which offers discounts for local shops, theater tickets, restaurants and entertainment.

The Seattle, Washington-based company, which started as an online bookstore, currently sells millions of products through its retail Websites. The company also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle e-readers, fire tablets, fire TVs, echo, and fire phones; and provides Kindle Direct Publishing, an online platform that allows independent authors and publishers to make their books available in the Kindle Store.

The launch of Amazon Destinations marks the company's foray into the online travel services sector, which is currently dominated by TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP), Expedia Inc. (EXPE) and others.