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9.3. Expedia

Expedia (www.expedia.com) is one of the world's leading online travel companies. Expedia makes it easy to plan a business or leisure trip. Using web sites, mobile apps, and Facebook pages travellers can discover destination ideas, get information about flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and more, then book and purchase their trip. Expedia specialises in vacation packages - travellers can simply book their flight + hotel together to get the biggest discounts available. In this article, Expedia shared with us some of their travel trends from 2012 - proving that they know where business comes from and are constantly tapping into the market.

We have included some details of doing business with Expedia along with contact details of their Africa product specialists who will help talk you through becoming an Expedia property partner.

TRAVEL TRENDS

The French Take 30 Days Off, Americans Take 10: Expedia's 2012 Vacation Deprivation Study Reveals Stark Differences in National Attitudes Towards Vacation

Japanese, Koreans, Americans and Mexicans take fewest vacation days. French, Spanish, German and Brazilian workers take the most.

Benoni, South Africa., March 1, 2013 Expedia.com®, the world's leading online travel agency, today released the results of the 2012 Vacation Deprivation® study, an annual analysis of vacation habits across multiple countries and continents. The 2012 study was conducted online by Harris Interactive among 8,687 employed adults in September and October 2012 on behalf of Expedia.com in North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.

Expedia first commissioned the Vacation Deprivation study in 2000, to examine the vacation habits of Americans. In 2005, Expedia began comparing such habits across countries. The 2012 edition is the most comprehensive study in its 12-year history, featuring 22 countries in total. Full details on the 2012 Vacation Deprivation study can be found here: www.expedia.com/vacationdeprivation.

Asian workers continue to take the fewest vacation days. Japanese workers trail the field; the average Japanese worker is granted a median of 13 days off each year, but takes only five. South Koreans take seven out of a possible ten vacation days. North American workers behave similarly. American and Mexican workers take ten days each (out of 12 and 14 possible days, respectively). For Americans, this represents a net loss of two vacation days from the year prior. In 2011, Americans reported receiving 14 days of vacation and taking 12.

Europeans treat vacation as a duty rather than a perk. Most European workers have between 25 and 30 days of vacation time available to them each year, in addition to state and religious holidays. Workers in France and Spain report taking the full 30 vacation days off, as do their peers in Brazil. Germans take 28 of a possible 30 days off, while British, Norwegian and Swedish workers take all 25 days they're given.

"We conduct this study each year and I am consistently surprised to see how differently each nation treats vacation time," said John Morrey, general manager, Expedia.com. "Studies consistently show that an ideal work-life balance leads to happier and more productive employees. Your vacation days are not a gift, not a luxury. They're yours to use. So this year, instead of letting those days quietly expire, take that time and connect with the world outside of your office."

Asian workers take the fewest days off and work the longest weeks. Korean, Singaporean and Taiwanese workers report a median of 44 hour work weeks. Americans work 40 hours, the most common figure. The Dutch work 35 hours a week, the fewest among the 22 nations surveyed.

The survey also found that:

Italian and Japanese workers leave the most days 8 on the table. Brazilian, British, Canadian, Danish, French, Norwegian, Singaporean, Spanish and Swedish workers take every single day they're given.
An inability to coordinate vacations flummoxes many workers. "Coordination with family & friends" was the most-cited reason for failing to take vacation days, as was the option to roll unused days over to the following year.
Monetary worries rank highly.Workers in five countries the US, UK, Canada, Japan and Ireland say that the main reason they don't use all of their vacation days is because they believe they cannot afford to take their entire vacation balance.
Mean bosses are everywhere.More than 50% of workers in Italy, Taiwan, Korea and Japan believe their bosses are not supportive of vacation or they're not sure if their bosses are supportive. The most supportive bosses are Norwegian, Swedish and Brazilian, in order.
Vacations are frequently postponed due to work issues. More than 7 in 10 Taiwanese employees have cancelled or postponed vacation due to work reasons. Fewer than one in four workers in the Netherlands (23%) and the UK (22%) have done the same.
Many workers lug their job with them to the beach. Brazilians report connecting with work most frequently while on vacation, with 66% of workers claiming they "regularly" check in. Indians, at 55%, were the next likeliest to remain tethered to the office. However, a full 62% of German workers claim to "never" check in while on holiday, as do their peers in the UK (58%) and Denmark (52%). Americans were split evenly: 34% regularly check in, 34% sometimes do and 32% never do.
The beach is the world's most popular vacation destination. Between beach vacations, romantic getaways, city excursions and outdoor trips, the beach wins handily 18 of 22 countries cite the beach as their preferred holiday. Koreans are the world's most romantic vacationers, with a full 45% of workers citing the romantic getaway as their favorite. Taiwanese vacationers prefer the outdoors.

ABOUT EXPEDIA

Expedia.com is the world's leading online travel site, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of vacation packages,flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and in-destination activities, attractions, services and travel apps. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com customers can get the best rates available online for all types of travel.

Expedia Partners

WORKING WITH EXPEDIA AS A PARTNER

Why partner with Expedia?

Expedia, Inc. is the world's leading online travel company with more than 90 localized points of sale in more than 60 countries. Expedia connects you with the largest travel marketplace and demand covering North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

As an Expedia hotel partner, you'll benefit from:

New, incremental business: More than 79 million gross room nights are booked annually on the Expedia's websites.
Unmatched exposure: More people shop for travel on Expedia websites worldwide than any other online travel company. On average, more than 53 million global travelers come to Expedia branded points of sale every month. Hotels that join the Expedia marketplace also benefit from distribution through Expedia's 13,000 global affiliate sites.
Above-the-line marketing exposure: Expedia invests in local advertising such as television commercials, billboard campaigns, and search engine optimization strategies to increase our brand awareness and ultimately drive shoppers to our websites.
Access to different types of consumers: Expedia has a portfolio of consumer brands, which includes Expedia, hotels.com®, Egencia, Hotwire, and venere.com and reaches consumers with different purchasing patterns and travel profiles - everything from luxury-minded early bookers and business travelers, to last-minute deal seekers.

Working with Expedia is made easier through:

A portfolio of innovative connectivity options
Streamlined access to rate and availability management tools
Innovative online media and marketing tools that help you access more demand
Local market revenue management expertise and business intelligence reports

How do I sign up to partner with Expedia?

Contact Us to connect with an Expedia representative who can work with you to get all of your property information, room types, and rate plans into our system so travelers can start booking your rooms on Expedia's websites. Remember that you can be automatically connected via the ResRequest channel manager.

What to expect with the onboarding wizard

On the first page of the wizard, you will review and confirm that the basic property information, property location, and contact information is correct. When click Continue on this page, our system displays the basic commercial terms for working together with us.

The commercial terms show you the basic arrangements we'll ask you to agree to later in the process. You're not signing anything yet, but it gives you an understanding of what the terms will be so you can decide whether you want to continue. At this point--or at any point in the process--you can also ask to be contacted by an Expedia representative who can answer questions you may have.

After you decide to continue, the wizard will guide you through the process of providing the following:

Details about your property and its amenities
The currency you want to use for your rates or for invoicing
Any taxes and fees that apply
Your room types and rate plans
Your financial information (for sending or receiving payments)
Photos of your property to be displayed on Expedia websites

After we have all your information and you've been able to review and confirm it, you'll be presented with a contract to sign. This is the last step in getting on board with us. In most cases, your property will be online and you can start getting bookings through Expedia within hours of accepting the contract.

You can pause in the process at any point and continue later. Also, on all the pages of the wizard, you will have access to FAQs like this one that provide more information about some of the information you're being asked to provide.

WHO CAN I TALK TO?

Below are contact details of the Expedia representative for your area. Contacting this person will help you kickstart your Expedia connection.

Southern Africa
Area Manager: Ross Kata (rkata@expedia.com )
- Botswana
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe

South Africa
Cape Town and Capes: Market Manager Amanda Owen (aowen@expedia.com)
Rest of South Africa: Market Manager Darren Karshagen (dkarshagen@expedia.com)

East Africa
Market Manager: Louise Dreisig (ldreisig@expedia.com)
Market Associate: Katia Zerbinati (kzerbinati@expedia.com)
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Rwanda

Thanks for your interest in partnering with Expedia. We look forward to working together with you!

COST ESTIMATES

The cost estimates below are published by ResRequest based on our understanding. Commercial terms quoted here are estimates and require confirmation by your Expedia area representative.

Expedia offers different contracting models in order to adapt to different countries and hotel types:

· Expedia Collect (Merchant model)
· Expedia Traveler Preference Contracts (Dual Model: Prepay-Post Pay options to customers)
· Hotel Collect (Agency model, customer pays at hotel)

Each contract has its own particularities, but the basic compensation is based on BAR-25%, package discount on rates (10% average) and base allocation depending on the size of the property. It is however necessary that you first check with the teams above before confirming any commercials, as they vary depending on the contract based on destination, property type and several other criteria.

Expedia, Expedia.com, Airplane logo and Vacation Deprivation are trademarks or registered trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. © 2011 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-50

SOURCE (excluding ResRequest introduction & costing section): Expedia, Inc.
Web site: http://www.expedia.com/

March 2013

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