The Paradigm Shift of Travelport, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz and Expedia
The Travel Industries' Top Five Companies
Individual travelers, corporate travelers and travel agencies, all benefit from the solutions provided by the top five travel companies: Travelport, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz and Expedia. The limited attention span of consumers means that the travel industry has had to acclimate to the swift change in consumer demographics. User friendly and efficient e-commerce travel websites help the everyday consumer.
Over the past ten years, there has been a huge shift in consumer demographics. In part, this shift in demographics is attributed to the ease of technological accessibility. According to the census bureau, 42 percent of Americans have a computer with internet access in their homes. Worldwide, over 102 million people have access to the internet. In regards to the continuously growing demographic and ease of internet access, these issues increase the importance of a strong, user-friendly Website and diverse creative marketing, the top five succeed in providing consumers solutions to these issues. With a diverse consumer demographic pool and the consumer's short attention span, a strong impression and strong resources are significant to a successful campaign. A strong impression translates to repeat business. The millennium travel trend equates to a forward-thinking corporation continuously evolving alongside swift marketing strategy and implementation. The following provides a brief overview of each of the top five companies in the travel industry.
Travelport Overview
International travel conglomerate, Travelport has strategically aligned itself with companies like Galileo, GTA and Worldspan. Strong leadership and marketing, along with mergers and acquisitions have contributed to the ever evolving and ever growing company, Travelport. Travelport's successful internet based commerce offers personalized solutions to a larger world demographic. Travelport's merger with Worldspan has given them additional technologically advanced software solutions in order to provide more range for travel agencies worldwide. Travelport's strategic alignment allows them to offer their consumers more range in travel solutions. Travelport has successfully evolved to the millennium's high standards.
Travelocity Overview
Travelocity is a leading provider of consumer-direct travel services for the leisure and business traveler. It markets and distributes travel-related products and services directly to individuals through Travelocity.com and its various brand Web sites and contact centers, and Web sites owned by its supplier and distribution partners. Travelocity customers can access offerings, pricing information about airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, vacation and last-minute travel packages, and other travel-related services. For business travelers, Travelocity BusinessSM provides the integrated online corporate travel technology and full-service offering of their GetThere® product along with the online expertise of Travelocity. Travelocity is the leader in European online travel through its European brand, lastminute.com. Read more about the lastminute.com acquisition.
Priceline Overview
Priceline.com is the leading travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers. No other travel service gives customers more ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting all the best published prices, leisure travelers can narrow their searches using priceline.com's TripFilter™ advanced search technology, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which delivers the lowest prices available.
Priceline.com operates one of Europe's fastest growing hotel reservation services through Activehotels.com, Activereservations.com, Bookings.net and priceline.co.uk. The company operates the following travel web sites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com also is an investor in an Asian travel service, also called Priceline, that operates in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Orbitz Overview
Orbitz Worldwide, the online travel division of Travelport, was formed through the combination of Orbitz and the online travel assets of Cendant's travel distribution services division. Orbitz was originally formed by a group of leading U.S. airlines in 1999 to participate in the rapidly growing online travel industry. The airline investors in Orbitz consisted of American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and United Air Lines. The Orbitz website was launched in 2001. In November 2004, Orbitz was acquired by Cendant and assumed responsibility for Cendant's domestic online travel business, which included CheapTickets, a leading online travel brand focused on the value-conscious traveler, and later Flairview Travel, which operates the international online hotel websites, HotelClub.com and RatesToGo.com. In February 2005, Cendant acquired ebookers, a leading international online travel brand with an online presence in 13 countries in Europe. Orbitz Worldwide now operates as one of three business units within Travelport.
Expedia Overview
Travel is one of the largest industries in the world, bringing together people, cultures and destinations across the globe. With more than $17 billion in annual gross travel bookings, Expedia, Inc. plays a leading role in facilitating travel, whether for business or for pleasure, and is committed to providing travelers with the very best resources to serve their travel needs.
Their portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com®, hotels.com®, Hotwire®, Expedia® Corporate Travel, TripAdvisor® and Classic Vacations®. Expedia, Inc.'s companies also operate internationally with sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Japan and China, through their investment in eLong™.