BELLEVUE, Wash. – The Expedia group, the world’s largest online travel company, reported today that travel demand garnered via company’s platforms for the Caribbean region grew nearly 20 percent year over year during the first three quarters of 2013.
The Expedia group provides hotel partners with access to an unmatched volume and variety of travelers worldwide through more than 150 websites in more than 70 countries worldwide, in addition to a myriad of mobile sites and apps, from brands such as Expedia®, Hotels.com®, Hotwire®, Egencia®, Expedia Affiliate Network® and Venere®.
The Expedia group’s market management team will attend Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the destination’s most influential industry event organized by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), from January 12-14, 2014 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. During the conference, the company’s market management team will have an opportunity to discuss trends and online marketing tools and programs available via the company’s multiple platforms that could provide increased visibility and incremental demand for the destination. Moreover, the team is expected to share 2013 successes while also meeting with valued hotel partners and reinforcing the company’s commitment to the region.
“We are delighted to meet our partners at the show, and celebrate a great 2013. Over the course of the year, we added 180 new lodging partners ranging from boutique hotels to large resorts and created a lot of demand for the region,” said Demetrius Canton, director of Market Management for Expedia. “We are looking forward to an even more successful 2014.”
In the first three quarters of 2013, the markets that generated the most demand from Expedia sites were United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Brazil. The fastest growing feeder markets include:
• Mexico, with 70 percent growth
• Germany, with 53 percent growth
• Netherlands, with 38 percent growth
• Sweden, with 38 percent growth
• France, with 37 percent growth
The Expedia group is also pleased to report strong growth in travel demand to the below markets within the destination through the first three quarters of 2013, when compared to the same timeframe the previous year:
• Dominican Republic, with 33 percent growth
• St. Martin / St. Marteen, with 35 percent growth
• St. Lucia, with 24 percent growth
• Aruba, with 21 percent growth
As part of the continuous commitment to bring more demand to its hotel partners, the company launched the Expedia® Traveler Preference™ (ETP) program, which offers shoppers the choice to pay either at the time of booking (called Expedia Collect) or at the hotel at the time of stay (called Hotel Collect). Recent analysis shows that hotels in the Caribbean that have enabled the Expedia® Traveler Preference™ (ETP) program have benefited from an increase in their standalone (room only) year-over-year travel demand growth of 27 percentage points on average as a result of the ETP program. This increase is measured by comparing growth rates 28 days after hotels went live on ETP, with growth rates 28 days before going live.
