With a large affiliated network, luxury package options, and more flights available than any of their competitors, Expedia.com is at the forefront of virtual booking agencies. Hospitality service providers can include premier services along with regular hotel listings on Expedia to open the door to millions of guests worldwide.
History
Launched in 1996, Expedia premiered on the web, developed by Microsoft as Microsoft Expedia Travel Services, and was eventually bought out by USA Interactive in 2002. Expedia Group, Inc. (as they were rebranded in 2018) owns a collection of travel sites across the globe, now boasts more than 200 travel booking sites across 75 countries and has more than 150 mobile sites in 35 languages.
The world’s leading online travel booking system, and by far the largest travel agency in the US, Expedia’s technology offers the most comprehensive flight services available on the market today, and books millions of rooms and car rentals each year.
The Expedia Group family encompasses Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, CheapTickets, trivago, Venere.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Wotif, and HomeAway amongst others.
Expedia.com Statistics
- 675 million monthly visits
- 146.1 million room nights sold in 2013
- $10.6 billion worldwide revenue 2017
- $88.4 billion in gross bookings 2017
- 500,000+ bookable properties in 25,000+ destinations
- 550+ airlines affiliated
- 25,000+ activities in 800 destinations
- 200 travel booking sites, and 150+ mobile sites in 35 languages
- 70+ counties of availability
Joining
Expedia Partner Central is the easy-to-use console provided by Expedia to manage your business, attract travelers, and maximise revenues. It’s a suite of self-service tools to help hospitality providers reach Expedia’s global audience. Within Partner Central, it is possible to manage rates and availability, engage with guests, optimise visibility, and make business decisions based upon personalized data and information.
Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS) is the B2B branch of Expedia Group, which brings their broad offering of accommodation, flights, activities, and more to businesses who wish to leverage their services to find the best deals for travelers. Joining Expedia means your property is not only available to travelers searching their website, but businesses partnered with Expedia to use the site for bookings.
Listing your property on Expedia is a simple process, by which you supply your contact details and then are walked through step by step to add your listing’s information.
Customers who have verified their stay with you through Expedia’s booking system are welcomed to leave a star rating review for up to six months after their initial stay. Expedia offers a special flier that hotel staff members can give to guests which encourages them to share their opinion of their experience at the hotel.
Ranking and Reviews
To ensure your property or activity ranks highly amongst competitors, it is important to keep a few things in mind while creating your listing:
Photos – Ensure you upload high-quality photos that accurately display your listing. Take into account lighting and perspective. For accommodation, it is also pivotal to include imagery of amenities. Expedia does not allow the option to choose the order of photos on a listing, so you should be sure to choose a primary image that encompasses all that you have to offer.
There is also an option to have a 360 degree virtual tour by contacting Expedia directly. Virtual tours are created using high-resolution panoramic photos and do not display logos.
Reviews – Soliciting reviews from guests is an excellent way to increase your ranking and bookings. Be sure to check in with guests during their stay to see if everything is going well, and if anything can be improved. During check out or after their stay, follow up and ask for reviews of your property.
Business Connect / xPay
Once your property is listed with Expedia Partner Central, you are charged fees only when a customer books and stays at your property. Expedia’s fees vary and are outlined in the provided agreement documents.
When it’s time to make payments of fees to Expedia or to receive payments, xPay seamlessly integrates to manage payments. xPay helps merchants to receive cross-border payments in varying currencies, making it simple to manage incoming and outgoing funds.
Other Booking Engines
See our review of booking.com here.
