Expedia to revamp agents' booking portal

The portal services the online giant’s Travel Agent Affiliate Programme (TAAP) used by more than 35,000 agencies in over 30 countries.

The upgrade has several new capabilities including enhanced payment options plus Live Agent chat to help with queries. Expedia said 32% of all agent interactions in the US in the first quarter of this year were serviced through Live Agent chat. 

Expedia will also begin publishing guest scores for its hotels later this year. It said: “After a year of success working with hotel partners to create a guest experience score that shows which hotels give great traveller experience, Expedia Group announced today that this score will be made available to travellers in the second half of 2023.”

Expedia Group saw revenue in its B2B division grow 55% year on year in the first quarter. 

Speaking at the Expedia Explore 23: Connect conference, held at its Seattle campus, Peter Kern, Expedia Group vice chairman and chief executive, said: “Our growth in B2B is largely due to the pace at which our tech has been adopted by businesses of all sizes who want to either break into travel or expand their current travel offerings.

“The demand for this business continues to be strong as evidenced by our new partnerships with Mastercard, SoFi and some of our biggest hotel partners,” he said. 

“The work we’ve done in building a widespread B2B network that provides travel to millions around the world through leading names in banking, travel and more will grow as we continue to establish our tech as the primary operating system for the travel industry.”