BELLEVUE, Wash. and SOUTHLAKE, Texas—Expedia and Travelocity announced entry into an exclusive, long-term strategic marketing agreement, whereby Expedia will power the technology platforms for Travelocity’s existing websites in the U.S. and Canada, while providing Travelocity access to Expedia’s supply and customer services.
Upon the implementation of the agreement, Travelocity will focus its efforts on promoting its brand and marketing the broad offering of travel services and supply made available through this agreement. Travelocity will remain wholly-owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation, and independent of Expedia, Inc. Travelocity-owned lastminute.com in Europe and the Travelocity Partner Network are not included in this marketing arrangement.
“Over the years, Travelocity has become one of the most recognized travel brands in the US and Canada. Going forward, this agreement will enable Travelocity to focus on further building its brand while at the same time providing consumers with an enhanced suite of travel products and services,” said Expedia, Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. “This announcement stands as a true testament to the advanced capabilities that our significant technology investments over the past several years enabled us to build. We believe volume generated through the agreement will add further scale to Expedia’s global supply and customer service capabilities.”
“Since launching in 1996, Travelocity has grown from a pioneering Internet start-up to one of the leading brands in travel,” said Carl Sparks, president and CEO, Travelocity Global. “In staying true to our core values of meeting the needs of both consumers and travel suppliers, we have elected to evolve and strengthen our business model in the US and Canada by working with Expedia, Inc. to offer a top-notch booking platform and a more robust supply of travel options, allowing us to focus increased resources on building our competitive strengths in marketing and retailing.”
Both parties plan to begin development and implementation immediately, with an expected launch in 2014.
