A Leader in On-Line Travel Services Essay

The locomote industry is billion dollar sign a year care. Year round people from all walks encounter the roads and departing plane seats in search of travel advantage. at that slip is no doubt that the travel industry will continue to be in demand, however, while vacationers, business travelers and everyone in between anticipate expenditure a good chunk of change to get from point a to point b, no person wants to part with their hard earned money. Thankfully, slightly genius out there understood this.Along with the evolution of the technical advances came a miraculous source for locating the outdo deals in travel, from flights to hotels to cable car rental. Based on the number of travel websites available, no longer do discounted travel options belong solely to commissioned travel agents. Today, everyone from housewives to grandpas to beer-guzzling football fanatics hand over the capability of obtaining their own travel deals. Parented by Expedia, Inc and based in Washing ton State, Expedia. com revolutionized the way people travel the world, and as time continues, its run only get better.With a bit of research, a pen and around paper, soon-to-be travelers are able to decide what airline or hotel best suits their needfully (and their wallets) all with just now a few clicks of the mouse. While adversarys such as operateocity and Priceline convolution much of the same serve, Expedia. com continues to be a leader in the travel industry (PR Newswire, p. 1). Thousands of hotels, airlines and other travel accommodators have joined in to vie for the travelers business, and the wooing has resulted in deep discounts and sometimes little extras, such as free hotel nights. Expedia. oms early long time were a bit primitive, but as the demand for travel options increased, the business flourished. Expedia. com has become a household name among travelers and will continue to be a source for deal seekers around the world. Expedia. coms big spread came in 1 996 when Richard Barton, who, at the time, was responsible for creating CD-ROMS for Microsoft, presented the idea of offering travel options on-line (NetIndustries, p. 1).Microsoft Network1 reluctantly began assisting in web exposure in order to start out business for the experimental beau monde (NetIndustries, p. ). While discounted airline tickets were the only crossroad Expedia was offering at the time, the investment Microsoft placed in expert innovations for the company greatly expanded the number of people coming across Expedia. coms website. A few short years would prove that Expedia. com was not just some fly-by-night dot-com. In 1999, Microsoft Network spun off a portion of their interest in Expedia for public availability a buy the farm that increased Expedia. coms worth within hours (NetIndustries, p. 1).With success under their belt, Microsoft opted to dish out its entire interest in Expedia. com to the States Networks, Inc. 2. Led by chief executive officer Erik Blachford, Expedia. com is wholly owned by InterActiveCorp (PBM, p. 1). Teaming up with Classic Custom Vacations, Expedia merged Travel and Travelscape. com, Inc. , Expedia. com found itself in the perfect position to expand the types of travel services offered, and could continue fulfilling their mission of utilizing electronic sourcing in order to lead the best travel options to its users (About Expedia. com, p. 1).Services available through Expedia. com include discounted flights, hotel accommodations, railcar rental, cruises and even vacation packages, all for domestic and international destinations. Additionally, the company offers pleader to travelers who are unsure of the type of travel they are seeking. By clicking the activities assay on the website, destination seekers are able to view events taking place all over the world (Expedia. com, p7).Additional services include printable maps, an easy 1. Microsoft Network, a major software developer, assisted Expedia. om by p roviding technological resources, to include premium web exposure, which played a major character reference in Expedia. coms growth. 2. USA Networks, a media based operator, changed its name to USA Interactive upon completing its purchase of Expedia. com. USA Interactive also owns Expedia. com competitor Hotels. com (SJP, 2002). to maneuver website and 24/7 customer service. Along with success, Expedia. com endured its share of struggles. In early operations, Expedia faced several(prenominal) lawsuits, including one from competitor Priceline. om for infringing on a patented name your price service. Other competitors, such as Travelocity. com were heating things up by adding new features and services to their websites. Expedia. coms defense was to play-up the features and services they already used by launching a major marketing private road using tags like Dont just travel. Travel right, and Where do you want to go today? (NetIndustries, p. 1).While the marketing campaign was a success, profit success was short-lived when some airlines stopped compensable commissions to on-line travel agents, including Expedia. om. While competitors such as Priceline. com tagged on hefty $10. 00 surcharges to customers using airlines who didnt pay commissions, Expedia was able to negotiate with several airlines in order to avoid charging additional fees to customers, while continuing to offer those airlines services without feeling too much of a punch (NetIndustries, . 1). Overcoming these challenges, Expedia continues its success by utilizing a product line pricing strategy, which entails offering a variety of products at personad pricing, or bundling packages and charging accordingly.A mere 11 years old, Expedia. com has become established nationally as well as internationally. Today, Expedia. coms success continues. It employs 1,758 people, and averages sales at an estimated $590 million (NetIndustries, p. 1). The future includes cogitate on the business traveler, w hose needs are being met by providing the widest range of products possible, and offering little comforts such as the Expedia. com Cafe3. Cornering the market with the best deals, Expedia. com will continue to lead the on-line travel industry without wanting a beat.