A partnership between Expedia and Groupon providing local travel deals launched in the US in last June may now not be replicated in Europe.
Speaking at a TTI conference last week Expedia and Hotels.com Northern Europe market management boss Seamus MacCormaic said he hoped it wouldn’t be extended.
Despite initial indications of a fast roll-out of the Groupon Getaway service being part of the strategy, with UK first and then mainland Europe, MacCormaic confirmed it had not been extended to the EMEA region.
He added that he understood the partnership was formed in the US to broaden Expedia’s reach.
“Maybe we believed they (Groupon) could do it quicker. It’s not something I would like to see expanded here, which was our intial intention, because of all the touch points we have.”
At the time of launch Expedia said hotel content for Groupon Getaways would be sourced by the existing hotel team. The OTA also said flights, package holidays, cruises and tours and activities would become part of the mix.
