October 16, 2008: Expedia has signed new agreements with several key supply partners in the Asia-Pacific region, underscoring its commitment and growing presence in Asia-Pacific.
The company said with the latest launch of an Expedia-branded site in India (expedia.co.in) and the roll out of localized hotels.com sites in Hong Kong (hongkong.hotels.com), Japan (japan.hotels.com), and Korea (korea.hotels.com), Expedia now operates 13 websites to serve Asian travelers.
Expedia has also expanded support of its growing number of supply partners in the region, with a total of 10 offices, including newly opened operations in Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul.
The company said it has signed new partnerships with several regional hotel chains, under which the properties of each chain will now be available on all Expedia- and hotels.com-branded points of sale globally.
The new partnerships collectively account for the addition of more than 1000 hotel properties to Expedia’s marketplace. In addition, the company said it has renewed its global partnership agreement with Asian chain The Peninsula Hotels, and continues its long-standing relationship with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. Japan-based RIHGA Royal Hotels and Hotel Monterey Group have also renewed their agreements to offer their properties on Expedia sites worldwide.
Finally, Expedia and hotels.com travelers across the globe who are searching for hotels in Asia will soon see the addition of nearly 400 branded properties through Expedia’s existing global agreements with Accor Hotels and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Expedia said it continues to invest in tools to make it easier for suppliers to navigate the global marketplace. To date, more than 200 Asia-Pacific hotels in five countries have implemented Expedia QuickConnect, which enables independent hotels and small- to medium-size hotel chains to exchange rates, availability and booking information with Expedia sites in real time. Further, Expedia has launched JoinExpedia.com in 39 languages, enabling hotels throughout the world to quickly and easily sign up to sell their product on Expedia sites worldwide.
Expedia also said that it is partnering with Hainan Airlines, a rapidly growing Chinese carrier, for global distribution and private-label services, allowing Hainan Airlines travelers to book Expedia hotels and packages on its own Web site.
