“I believe the social and travel puzzle has yet to be solved and this is our crack at it,” said Dan Lynn, CEO of AirAsia Expedia. “We figure that instead of paying advertising platforms like Google or TripAdvisor money to drive traffic, we would give it to consumers to share with their friends and, in turn, they earn cash rewards and enjoy free travel.

“We found it didn’t cost too much to start something like this up and we are testing it in Asia first, to see how it works.”

Backick works on a “social reward scheme” and aims to encourage digital savvy travellers to tap into their online community to maximise the amount of cash rewards (backicks) earned. On booking any of the 100,000 hotels available worldwide on backick.com travellers can immediately pass on the discount coupons to their network of friends, and earn backicks when these coupons are used for hotel stays. (See article on Backick here)

Lynn, who’s said his joy from working in travel comes from “getting stuff” done, noted that the entrepreneurial culture was very much encouraged by Expedia and AirAsia. “If someone has a good idea and we feel it can be done, we will do it and test it.”

At the same time, a global feature recently launched by Expedia that gives customers the choice of whether you pay first or at the hotel will likely be rolled out across Asia too.

The Expedia Traveler Preference programme enables travelers booking rooms at participating hotels to decide whether they want to pre-pay for the room or pay at the hotel.

Until now, online travel agencies have given guests one option on how to book each property: either pre-pay for the room, using the merchant model, or pay at the hotel, a bow to the commission or agency model.

The feature of “pay later” is one that’s touted by TUI-owned AsiaRooms.com as a competitive advantage. “It’s how we run the business and have found this policy to be a great value proposition for our customers,” said Clarence Lin, brand development lead for AsiaRooms.

Lynn said that can either be an advantage or disadvantage depending on currency fluctuations. “Some people like to know what it costs upfront and so they prefer paying at the time of booking. You don’t know what the exchange rate will be like by the time you use the stay.”

The new programme gives people a choice which is what customers want, said Lynn.

Pleased with the latest Hitwise data that ranks Expedia as the top online travel agency site in Singapore, ahead of ZUJI and Misa Travel, Lynn said the OTA was doing well in the Philippines while Thailand was “a bit slower than I want”.

He cited the Philippines as a market of promise for online travel which is still in its early stages of growth. “People are searching for places to travel to and it’s a great destination with lots of places to visit.”

One trend that’s emerging in Singapore he said was last minute weekend getaways and staycations. “We see the trend where on Thursday, people start wondering where to go for the weekends and they either book somewhere overseas or a hotel at home.

“Low cost airlines are fuelling that trend for more frequent, shorter breaks.”

Meanwhile, AirAsiaExpedia has finally found its chief marketing officer in Dolly Chin (right), who is tasked with spearheading the company’s regional marketing strategy alongside the executive team based in Singapore. Besides taking the marketing helm, Dolly will also be assuming a dual role as the General Manager of Expedia, Southeast Asia driving the delivery of strategic initiatives across the market.

Prior to joining AirAsiaExpedia, Dolly served as Vice President of Marketing at Electrolux where she led the marketing efforts of various brands under the group, across Asia Pacific. Dolly also served in executive marketing and business development roles at major technology firms including Dell, Nokia and Palm, Inc.