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Many people are eager to book a trip to their favorite summer getaway location, but are unsure of Covid outbreaks or vaccination, testing, or quarantine requirements.
Online travel shopping company Expedia Group on Thursday launched COVID-19 Travel Advisor, an online tool that provides information on current travel restrictions to potential and existing customers of seven of the company’s brands.
“Right now, a lot of people are thinking about booking trips as the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccine continues, but at the same time, they are flooded with conflicting information about where and how they can travel safely,” Stacey Symonds said. , senior information experience director at Expedia Group, in a statement.
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“It can be difficult to find these details from a reliable source, so we have teamed up with Sherpa to seamlessly integrate a solution into our applications, websites and customer communications,” he added. “Our goal is to reduce the friction of travelers at a time when they need additional support and enable them to make responsible decisions.”
Expedia Group is partnering with Sherpa, a global provider of travel identification requirements for the travel industry, to offer the tool. Sherpa’s technology has also been deployed in similar joint efforts with American Airlines and Caribbean Airlines, the OneWorld airline alliance, and the guided vacation company The Travel Corp.
On April 8, 2021, Expedia Group introduced the COVID-19 Travel Advisor, a technology-enabled tool that provides consumers with up-to-date information on worldwide travel restrictions.
Expedia Group
“Travel is critical to our global economy and is an important part of the human connection,” Max Tremaine, co-founder and CEO of Sherpa, said in a statement. “Since the pandemic began, our focus has been firmly on helping our travel partners restore consumer confidence and travel confidence.”
A pilot phase of COVID-19 Travel Advisor that began in late November attracted 1.6 million users and in March alone Expedia Group recorded 1.8 million visits to the tool through its brands , 97% more than in February, which means “many repeated uses as travelers” are planning several upcoming trips, according to the company.
Online travel agencies such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and other brands of the Expedia group, such as the online holiday home rental site Vrbo, are experiencing a leap in business, with online consumer travel planning in these sites nearly 25% compared to the pre-pandemic period, according to a recent study by Expedia Group Media Solutions.
“At Vrbo, we experienced a record demand for vacation rentals during the first few months of the year and we are encouraged to see other Expedia group brands on a path to a strong recovery,” said Jeff Hurst, president of Vrbo. co-marketing leader at Expedia Group, he told CNBC.com. “People are eager to reconnect securely with family, friends and co-workers, but navigating evolving travel restrictions can be difficult.
“With the COVID-19 Travel Advisor, we are breaking this barrier, so that travelers can easily access reliable information to unlock their next trip,” he added. “So far we have seen success with this tool and continue to advance in our technology to support the needs of travelers, hosts and industry partners.”
The brands that incorporate Expedia’s new COVID-19 travel advisor are Ebookers, Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Vrbo and Wotif.