Expedia Travel Agency
Expedia Travel Agency is one of the largest online travel service providing companies in the United States of America. It is also the eighth largest and renowned for its variety of affordable flights, hotels and holiday packages coming out from a number of suppliers all over the world. Its award-winning Expert Searching and Pricing (ESP) technology is known to provide the most inclusive flight options available online. This also allows its clients to make full trips that are inclusive of various flights, special hotel rates and lodging, transportation and other destination activities. Expedia runs a leading wholesaler holiday packages to destination places such as Mexico, Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Metropolitan travel, which is a corporate travel agency.
Expedia also owns Travel.com, Inc which also runs as WWTE, therefore providing complementary cross-sell and compelling package booking to other groups on separately owned label basis.The management team of Expedia Travel Agency is made up of:Barry Diller: Chairman of the Board, Senior ExecutiveVictor A. Kaufman: Vice Chairman of the BoardDara Khosrowshahi: President and CEO, DirectorMichael Adler: Chief Executive financial officerBurke F. Norton: General Corporate and Counsel SecretaryConnie Symes: Executive Vice President, Human ResourcesPierre V.
Samec Ph.D.: Chief Technology OfficerGeorge Battle: DirectorJonathan L. Dolgen: DirectorExpedia Travel Agency started providing their online service towards the end of 1996.This was through the Microsoft Network.
Over its short period of existence it has been able to grow in a number of ways, first dealing with selling airline tickets and acquiring commissions from it and offering a wide range of travel products including discounted hotel rooms and inclusive travel plans. It has also been able to enter the corporate market and increased its networks globally as well. As a result of this, they have opened other sites in the United Kingdom, Canada and other major European nations.It has therefore been able to advance its technological solutions making it much easier for its clients to organize and purchase online travel. This has helped them to deal with uncertainty in the market and performed well as compared to other competitors in online travel businesses.
Microsoft Corporation bolstered its start-up company, investing heavily in technology to offer advanced search capabilities and other features. Microsoft devised the company off in 1999 while still maintaining a controlling interest. In 2001, Expedia sold its business to Ticket Master, a deal which was completed in 2002 after USA Networks divested its entertainment properties and subsequently became USA Interactive (Horner et.al., 2004).Expedia’s headquarters is located in downtown Bellevue, Washington, within the Tower of Expedia and occupies floors from 3 to 18 of the 20 floor building.
This is the familiar logo of Expedia currently in use. They have however had to change several slogans to suit in their business. The current slogan reads, “Where you book matters”.Marketing and AdvertisementsExpedia Travel Agency mainly conducts their marketing online in order to reach their clients. Their solutions are able to provide complex advertising options to go along with their target market that are mainly in-marketer travelers.
They are able to reach more than 59 million world travelers online (Horner, 2004). They employ fully packaged solutions drawing clients through their destinations with their adaptable advertising solutions and internet placements such as Email, banners as well as micro sites. Their major competitors in the travel industry include:According to statistics by Ota search share, Expedia are the major class of the travel industry enjoying the largest market share. According to the July 2007-July 2008 statistics, they were leading by 26% share followed by their closest rivals Orbits and Travelocity. Priceline was however fourth having a 6% market share (Grant, 1988). This is indicates potential for growth in the future.
Alliances and AcquisitionsExpedia Travel Agency has done acquisition in the past with Travelscape and VacationSpot being the biggest of these. Travelscape was taken over for US $89.5 million whereas VacationSpot US $80 million. At the same time they acquired the Classic custom vacations around March 2002 for US $78 million. They were able to make about four dispossessions whereby they’ve been able to sell to other companies.
In the month of December, for example, technology Crossover took over about 7% minority share in Expedia for about US $50 million.USA Networks on the other hand took over a 65% majority share from Expedia. This was on February, 2002 for about US $ 1.372 billion. USA Interactive also took over a share of Expedia amounting to US $ 3.
636 billion. It was therefore at the end of it widen as its own separate entity at a value of about US $7.981 billion. It was able to make most of the take over in the year 2002, when it acquired three companies: Metropolitan travel, Classic Custom Vacations and New trade Technologies.Company Environmental EffectsAs a travel based company Expedia travel agency has no negative impact on ecology since it is mainly an online travel service providing company.
The company is therefore carbon neutral as it does not employ the direct use of air travel releasing carbon gases to the atmosphere therefore not causing any kind of pollution.
