Expedia, online travel agent? Not only. The American group is strongly positioned as a technology supplier for professionals in the sector, as explained in an exclusive interview by Greg Schulze, senior VP, Strategic Travel Partners of the Expedia group.
L’Echo tourisme: You recently launched the Open World B2B platform. What is it precisely?
Greg Schulze: Open World is positioning itself as a platform for the travel industry. It is the result of several years of technological development.
Expedia has become a leading technology company, with thousands of engineers and data scientists. In recent years, we have opened up our technological solutions more to players in the sector, according to their specific needs.
Is this a new generation GDS?
Greg Schulze: GDS are important partners for Expedia. They are involved in distribution, and in the computerized management of airports and companies. Open World is a larger platform. It is the extension of the partnerships we have forged with thousands of travel companies. It’s more than a GDS, especially in terms of content. Since its creation, Expedia distributes accommodation, airlines and cruises to the consumer… Today, we open our inventory to all professionals, but we also offer them other services such as payment or other related functionalities. conversational, for example.
The program dedicated to TAAP agencies, used before Covid by 35,000 travel agencies, including 2,000 in France, will it be in Open World?
Greg Schulze: Absolutely. TAAP will be part of the Open World platform. France is also one of the key markets for this program for travel agencies.
You are an online agency and technology provider. B2B represented 17% of your turnover in 2019. Is it destined to grow until it represents, on par with B2C, 50% of your activity?
Greg Schulze: Our desire is for both the B2B segment and the B2C segment to develop. The industry generates hundreds of billions of dollars in travel spend every year. Even if we are a major travel company (in B2C, editor’s note), we represent a small part of this market. Today, we have more opportunities in B2B than in B2C, at Expedia. We want our technology and expertise to serve a significant number of industry players. If you are a travel agent, you can benefit from all our investments.
Greg Schulze: Expedia therefore has “more opportunities in B2B than in B2C”. It’s a new vision of your strategy…
Greg Schulze: It’s not a revolution for us, but an evolution, a change. But we still have powerful brands (B2C), developed over 25 years. And we are proud of it.
Our One Key Loyalty Program will encourage our customers to experience other Expedia brands.
You are developing a unique technological platform, a unified loyalty program, One Key, planned for 2023. Is this also the prelude to the abolition of certain brands?
Greg Schulze: That’s an interesting question. Within the Expedia group, we have a lot of added value in our different brands. No change on this subject: we will continue to develop our brands and the loyalty program will be part of this strategy. Our loyalty program will encourage our customers to experiment with other Expedia brands. The loyalty points obtained through the seasonal rental specialist Vrbo will, for example, allow you to buy plane tickets or hotel rooms on Expedia. There is no reason to reduce the number of marks.
The traveler is more and more sensitive to respect for the environment and local populations. Can Expedia go so far as to remove “unfriendly” products?
Greg Schulze: The industry must go further on the subject of responsible tourism. I think we have to have an active role. As an online travel agency, we have removed captive animal shows. We position ourselves as a responsible company. But it is sometimes difficult, since we are also a market place that does not directly operate hotels and planes. We then rely on the requirements of our partners.
Against the background of inflation, the prices of travel services have risen sharply. Do you think demand will subside after the summer?
Greg Schulze: I’ve been in the travel industry for over 20 years. I have seen bear and bull cycles. Despite everything, people continue to travel. Especially since, for two years, we were unable to travel internationally as we would have liked. And despite the inflationary trend, there are still attractive promotions for travelers.
