Expedia records 60% increase of African hotels in 2009

As the Internet plays a growing role in how consumers book travel, more African hoteliers and other travel companies are turning to Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company, to reach the company’s millions of customers worldwide.

Expedia operates more than 80 online booking sites in nearly 60 countries across the globe under the Expedia and Hotels.com brands, including http://southafrica.hotels.com/. This online travel marketplace gives travel suppliers the ability to sell their products to consumers in other countries who might be considering a trip to Africa. In addition to the Hotels.com site for South African consumers, Expedia also has a local market management team based in South Africa that works with local travel companies to help them optimise their participation with Expedia.

“The world of travel is not confined to the borders of your own country; there is a global audience of international travellers you need to speak to,” says Ross Kata, market manager for Africa at Expedia. “We believe that our global reach, paired with the local understanding of our team in Africa, gives African travel suppliers a valuable way to reach the world of online travel bookers.”

Hoteliers and travel companies that partner with Expedia automatically have their properties or offerings displayed on all Expedia and Hotels.com domains and on thousands of active affiliate sites worldwide. In addition, Expedia offers its marketplace as a platform for travel and non-travel brand advertisers to reach a targeted audience of in-market travel shoppers with their travel-related messages. The company has conducted advertising campaigns for tourism boards and destination marketing organizations from across Europe, Middle East and Africa to reach consumers in specific target markets, like the U.S., Italy and Germany.

Consumers who book travel on Expedia sites have access to virtually all aspects of travel whether for business or holiday travel, including flights, hotels, car hire, and destination activities. The local Market Management teams work closely with hotel and travel partners to offer marketing support, promotional opportunities and revenue management tools, coupled with global understanding of current market trends.

“Travel in Africa is growing, and even with the global economic slowdown we have seen a year-on-year increase of 28% in the number of people booking travel to South Africa on Expedia and Hotels.com sites,” adds Kata. “Our data also shows that the top three origination points for Expedia customers booking travel to South Africa are the UK, the US, and Germany, which enables us to customise the way we market South Africa as a destination to these customers.”

In addition to its extensive online travel marketplace, Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world’s leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic Web sites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia Affiliate Network.