What do you get when you blend three leading online travel brands? The result is a formidable new online travel agency OTA with €3.5 billion in gross bookings that’s set to transform the European marketplace. Following the merger of Go Voyages, eDreams and Opodo, newly formed ODIGEO is now the third largest OTA in the region, trailing just Booking.com and Expedia. Already a clear leader in online flight ticket sales, learn how ODIGEO aspires to expand via new products, markets and segments.
In the U.S., Expedia rules among online travel agencies (OTAs) – but in the rest of the world, a different story is emerging. If recent growth trends continue, the company may soon lose its standing as the world’s largest OTA.
Rival Priceline has dazzled not only the travel industry, but the business world at large with its spectacular international growth over the past several years. It has outpaced Expedia in international gross bookings since 2Q10, and shows no signs of slowing down. Among the publicly held OTAs, Expedia and Orbitz increased international gross bookings by 28% and 29%, respectively, in the first half of 2011 versus the same period in 2010. Yet both were left in a cloud of dust as Priceline skyrocketed 89%.
With Priceline’s Booking.com and Agoda continuing their unwavering progress in Western Europe, Asia and key emerging markets worldwide, Priceline could replace Expedia as the leading global OTA by the end of 2012.
PhoCusWright are running a one day conference at ITB n Wednesday 7th March on all things distribution related – its a free event so sign up here…
via PhoCusWright@ITB | Travel Research – Industry Events – PhoCusWright Conference.
