EDreams ODIGEO claims success for its Connect platform

Users report sales growth of up to 50% during first year of operation

Leading European OTA eDreams ODIGEO has claimed that some users of its Connect platform have seen sales rise by up to a half in its first year of operation.

The platform eDreams OGIGEO Connect (eOC) was launched in October 2017 as a means of allowing independent accommodation providers to list their properties to travellers globally across all four eDreams ODIGEO brands: eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo and Travellink.

The lodging platform’s year-of-operation celebration follows its completed integration of budgetplaces.com as part of the company’s “income diversification strategy”.

Over the past year, the company has compiled 30,000 of its agreements with key supply partners, allowing the group to offer exclusive flight-and-hotel proposals to travellers worldwide and to list over 2.1 million properties on its new platform.

Louis Bouchayer, director of lodging at eDreams ODIGEO, said: “Accessing an additional segment of travellers has allowed hotels to gain exposure and register increases of up to 50 percent in their room sales, with an increase in the reservation period and average length of stay, 21 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

“We are delighted to be able to work directly with these businesses to improve both their competitiveness and ours.”

EDreams ODIGEO claimed the launch of eOC has seen a number of benefits for accommodation partners:

• Customers can book flight-and-hotel packages, combining airfares with room rates in all types of establishments;

• Customers can save up to 40 percent compared to the same services booked separately;

• Establishments have access to information on trends and behaviour habits that eDreams ODIGEO collects from the more than 18.5 million customers it serves in 43 different markets around the globe;

• Hoteliers will benefit from a longer reservation window, because according to company data, users book their flights more than 45 days before they fly, and the average trip length is six days;

• A lower cancellation rate is guaranteed, as travellers who have booked both flights and accommodation are less likely to cancel.

Head of online sales at Palladium Hotels Group Francisco Javier Domínguez, said: “From the first contact, the configuration of the hotels, to the day-to-day management and resolution of incidents, working with eDreams is extremely simple.

“If we add that its areas of influence allow us to have a presence in markets of high interest and that its flight-and-hotel business model fits perfectly into our distribution strategy, we are convinced that eDreams ODIGEO will be a long-time partner of importance in the commercialisation of Palladium Hotel Group and all its brands.”