European online travel agency Lastminute.com has increased the number of products available on its Top Secret opaque model to car hire, theatre tickets and restaurants.
The move follows what the company says is the significant success of its Top Secret Hotels service, a product which now sees around 50% of customers buying accommodation the day before needing it.
For car hire, visitors to the site can choose a type of vehicle and location, but the supplier brand is not disclosed until after the booking is made (triggering a 10% discount).
Recently installed new CEO Matthew Crummack says vehicles will only supplied by its regular partners such as Alamo, Avis, Thrifty and Europcar.
A similar system is in operation for products such as theatre tickets, where visitors can select a show type (musical, play, etc) but not the specific performance, in return for a guaranteed ticket in the "top three seating bands".
The decision to extend the opaque model to new areas is the first significant move by Crummack since joining as CEO from Expedia in August 2011.
He says the widening of the Top Secret service is part of a bigger effort to pull Lastminute.com back to its original concept of being a late-booking service, and build on the "lifestyle" elements of a trip, such as attractions and other in-destination products.
Although the brand remains strong in flight-only, package holidays and hotels, Crummack believes online travel agencies without a unique offering will find life difficult as the already-crowded marketplace feels the pinch from the economic pressures around Europe.
"If you are not clear to customers about what you are and what you stand for - in our case its great and quick getaways, and value - it's going to be a very tough world out there. We have no desire to play the averages."
This week's most significant development in the hotel space for a number of years, the launch of the multi-brand Room Key service, has not gone unnoticed at Lastminute.com, especially as some consider online travel agencies to be the mostly likely to suffer if the service succeeds.
"There are some very strong hotel brands involved," Crummack says, "and having them coming together like that is a welcome move."
Lastminute.com will be speaking to each of the brands individually over the coming months to make sure there are better and more valuable ways of working together, he adds.