Expedia 2014 Annual Report Download - page 8

Wotif Group. In November 2014, Expedia, Inc. completed the acquisition of Wotif Group, a leading
Australian online travel company, and, after spending a considerable amount of time exploring options for the
Wotif Group sites and operations, subsequently made the decision to shift them onto Expedia, Inc.’s technology
platforms.
Travelocity. After entering into an exclusive, long-term strategic marketing agreement with Travelocity
during the third quarter of 2013, under which Brand Expedia powered the technology platform, supply and
customer service for Travelocity’s existing websites in the United States and Canada, Expedia, Inc. announced in
January 2015 that it had acquired the Travelocity brand and associated assets from Sabre Corporation (“Sabre”)
and had terminated the strategic marketing and other related agreements.
Hotels.com Worldwide. Hotels.com is focused entirely on marketing and distributing hotel rooms.
Hotels.com, with more than 85 localized sites worldwide and market leading mobile apps on all major platforms,
offers travelers a broad selection of hotel properties. Because of its single product offering, Hotels.com is often
our first entry point into a region allowing us to evaluate the market opportunity prior to adding additional brands
and product offerings. Welcome Rewards®, the Hotels.com loyalty program, established in 2008, offers travelers
the ability to earn one free night for every ten nights stayed.
The Hotwire Group. Hotwire offers a travel booking service that matches flexible, price-sensitive travelers
with suppliers who have excess seats, rooms and cars they offer at lower rates than retail. Many of these deals are
presented “opaquely” where the brand of the travel supplier is not revealed until after the customer books.
Hotwire travelers may enjoy significant discounts by electing to book travel services without knowing certain
itinerary details such as brand and exact hotel location, while suppliers create value from excess availability
without diluting their core, brand-loyal traveler base. Through its U.S. and international sites, Hotwire partners
with leading hotel companies worldwide, brand-name domestic and international airlines, and major car rental
companies in the United States. Hotwire also operates CarRentals.com™, an online car rental marketing and
retail firm offering a diverse selection of car rentals direct to consumers. During July 2014, Expedia, Inc.
completed an acquisition of Auto Escape Group, one of Europe’s leading online car rental reservation companies.
Auto Escape Group has joined with the CarRentals.com brand, allowing it to expand internationally to provide
our customers more choices across the globe and help our supply partners expand their marketing reach.
Expedia Affiliate Network. Our private label, business-to-business brand Expedia Affiliate Network makes
hotel services available to travelers through third-party company-branded websites, including some of the leading
regional online travel companies and airline suppliers. EAN offers an Application Programming Interface and
template solution and generally compensates partners on a revenue or gross profit-share basis.
Egencia. Our full-service travel management company offers travel products and services to corporations
and corporate travelers. Egencia maintains a global presence in more than 60 countries across North America,
Europe and Asia Pacific. Egencia provides, among other things, local telephone assistance with expert travel
consultants, centralized online and mobile booking tools for employees of its corporate customers, unique supply
targeted at business travelers, and consolidated reporting for global, large and “SME” (small and medium size
enterprise) business segments. Egencia charges its corporate clients account management fees, as well as
transactional fees for making or changing bookings. In addition, Egencia provides on-site agents to some
corporate clients to more fully support the account. Egencia also offers consulting and meeting management
services. We believe the corporate travel sector represents a significant opportunity for Expedia through
Egencia’s compelling technology solution for businesses seeking to optimize travel costs and improve
employees’ travel experiences by moving the focus of the corporate travel program to online and mobile services
versus the traditional call center approach.
eLong. Expedia’s majority-owned mobile and online travel service company, based in Beijing, China,
specializes in travel products and services in China with a particular focus on driving online hotel bookings.
eLong uses web-based distribution technologies, mobile apps and websites, and 24-hour call centers to provide
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