Online travel agency Expedia confirmed that plans are in the pipeline to launch a Middle East version of the travel booking website in the next “18 months to 24 months”.
Hari Nair, vice president of market management, EMEA, Expedia said in comments published by Hotelier Middle East: “This is a huge area of opportunity for us. Expedia is really optimistic about this region. We see it as a winning horse. We have seen high double digit growth here.”
Two years ago, Expedia launched an Arabic version of its sister website Hotels.com, but plans to launch Expedia in the region have been put back due to the complex nature of the booking site.
“The challenge for the Middle East is that is not one country, so we need to have a website for each country in the region,” said Nair. “Hotels.com is only hotels, but Expedia is air, cruise, cars, hotels etc.”
There are currently more than 70 Hotels.com sites worldwide, while Expedia has launched in 20 different countries.
Last week, Nair told Arabian Business that Western travellers spend more on luxury hotels in the Middle East than their Arab counterparts.
Holiday makers from the US, UK and rest of Europe visiting the Middle East tend to choose four or five-star hotels according to the booking website, whereas Arab travellers are less likely to discriminate between star ratings.
“Folks that come from the US and UK tend to pick the four or five star hotels more, whereas domestic bookings are more equally spread across all star hotels,” Nair said.
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