Distribution Strategies

Online travel company Expedia has expanded its operations in Sao Paulo.

Published: 18 Aug 2010

Online travel company Expedia has expanded its operations in Sao Paulo.

The company is expanding its team in Sao Paulo but further details weren’t disclosed.

Expedia has also shared that now over 850 hotels in Brazil work with Expedia, a nearly 90 percent increase from 12 months ago.

Travel bookings to Brazil made on Expedia and Hotels.com sites worldwide have grown nearly 100 percent in the past 12 months, with intra-Latin America bookings growing more than 250 percent over the same period of time.

In fact, travellers across the globe have booked more than 150,000 room nights at Brazil hotels through Expedia and Hotels.com just this year.

The highest number of travellers visiting Brazil after booking on Expedia sites are coming from the U.S., U.K., France and Italy.

Shift in business mix

The initiative comes at a stage when Expedia has been reiterating that its business mix is shifting to hotel and advertising and that, too, increasingly global.

As a percentage of worldwide revenues in the second quarter of 2010, hotel accounted for 63 percent, advertising & media accounted for 13 percent, while air and all other revenues each accounted for 12 percent. Advertising and media revenue (including net revenue from TripAdvisor) increased 39 percent for the second quarter, driven by a 55 percent increase in third-party revenue for TripAdvisor.

Gross bookings from Expedia, Inc.’s international businesses were $2.2 billion in the second quarter, accounting for 33 percent of worldwide bookings, up from 31 percent in the prior year period. International revenues were $301 million, representing 36 percent of worldwide revenue, consistent with the prior year period. EMEA represents roughly one fourth and APAC approximately five percent of Expedia, Inc.’s worldwide business.