There’s big news in the travel world: Expedia is buying Travelocity for $280 million in cash. The acquisition follows a 2013 deal in which Expedia powered the backend of Travelocity’s North American website and provided the travel service access to Expedia’s supply and customer service program.
At press time, no details are available on Travelocity’s future. In a statement published by Expedia and Travelocity parent company Sabre, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said “Travelocity is one of the most recognized travel brands in North America, offering thousands of travel destinations to more than 20 million travelers per month. The strategic marketing agreement we’ve had in place has been a marriage of Travelocity’s strong brand with our best-in-class booking platform, supply base, and customer service. Evolving this relationship strengthens the Expedia Inc. family’s ability to continue to innovate and deliver the very best travel experiences to the widest set of travelers, all over the world.”
Expedia’s acquisition of Travelocity is just the latest in a series of consolidations within the travel booking industry. Expedia already runs Hotwire, and rival Priceline owns Booking.com, Kayak, and OpenTable.
[via New York Times/DealBook]