Thomas Cook-Expedia hotel booking platform launches

Online travel giant now preferred hotel provider for city and domestic holiday business Continue reading →

Thomas Cook’s new city break and hotel-only booking platform in partnership with Expedia has gone live.

The online travel giant is now the preferred provider of hotels for Cook’s city and domestic holiday business.

Expedia also provides the booking platform for all city break and hotel-only sales across Thomas Cook distribution channels in Europe.

The tie-up will provide Cook customers with access to more than 100,000 hotels, all of which meet standards for quality and health and safety, according to the operator.

The properties supplement Cook’s own-brand hotels and a portfolio of selected partner hotels in sun and beach destinations.

Cook said Expedia’s “superior technology” would increase online bookings which have grown 37% in the year to date.

It follows a hotel sourcing deal with Webjet which launched this year, which covers the bulk of the operator’s complementary sun and beach hotel offering.

Peter Fankhauser, chief executive of Thomas Cook Group said: “The launch of the Expedia Group alliance is an important step forward in our strategy for profitable growth. Plugging in the Expedia Group technology will transform our city break and hotel-only business, offering more choice for our customers and unlocking efficiencies across our organisation.

“The collaborative approach we’re taking to improve our complementary business for customers is already showing real benefits, and we look forward to harnessing the growth potential that Expedia Group brings.”

Ariane Gorin, president, Expedia Partner Solutions said: “We are happy to team up with Thomas Cook to bring their customers a broader travel selection, aligning perfectly with our strategy to power industry partners. Expedia Group’s platform technology provides partners with optimized tools to help travellers search from the widest range of options when booking their holidays.”