On the first episode of Expedia Talks, a special series powered by Expedia Group, we speak with Alfonso Paredes (SVP, Commercial Partnerships, Expedia Group) about finding synergy in a competitive travel market, looking for common goals among collaborators, and how tech is helping build bridges instead of walls in the new tourism and hospitality scene.
Expedia Group rolled out a few partnerships recently – SoFi, Mastercard, Wheel the World and WalmartPlusTravel.com. Wheel the World aside, by enabling other giant retailers, does Expedia risk losing business on the B2C side of things? Why would consumers continue to use Expedia’s brands if they have other channels they can book on and have the same experience?
“Not only does it not take business away from the B2C, but I believe we’re lucky to have that B2C arm that gives us so many tools and technologies that we can reshape and give back to our partners”, says Paredes. Elaborating further, he said, “Expedia’s [B2C arm] has all the knowledge and all the experience around the travel journey – we get all that information then put it back into product and tech, and then reshape it, and bring it back to our B2B customers.”
The conversation naturally flowed to the topic of Expedia’s One Key – it’s latest all-inclusive loyalty program that allows customers to earn and redeem rewards across three of its travel brands — Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. The One Key program also allows users to earn OneKeyCash, which is essentially cashback that can be used on future bookings.
“One Key is the tip of the iceberg and is the answer to all of the work Expedia has been doing in recent years”, said Paredes on the first episode of Expedia Talks, “trying to bring all the platforms together, all the migration together, and OneKey is the solution to all of our quests.”
It wouldn’t be a conversation with the SVP of Commercial Partnerships if we didn’t ask him about forming collaborations in the new travel and hospitality landscape. What does Expedia look for in its friends and partners, what goes into creating lasting ties and how does technology factor into Expedia’s partnership ecosystem?
“The one who has to win is the traveller”, explained Paredes. “When you travel, you want to have that experience that you remember forever. This is what we’re trying to do and make sure our partners want to do the same.”
He continued, “We’re very focused on new business, we continue growing our existing business, the growth is phenomenal – we expect to keep growing that and meeting partners face to face.”
Listen to the first episode of Expedia Talks for more insights.
Stay tuned for more episodes in this series. Subscribe to the WiT Podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
