Expedia Group, one of the world's biggest online travel agencies (OTAs), has revealed an innovation framework designed to solve some difficulties that challenged Thai hoteliers.
The continued growth of tourism in recent years has driven the business of OTAs, with other key operators like Agoda.com, Booking.com and Hotels.com competing in OTA services.
Pimpawee Nopakitgumjorn, director of market management at Expedia, said the group has witnessed an increasing amount of interactions made by consumers and hoteliers on its platform.
In 2017 alone, Expedia facilitated more than 2.3 billion daily interactions on its global marketplace and made more than 22,300 platform enhancements for its hotel partners.
According to an Expedia report, about one-third of bookings at the site are via smartphone, while more than half of browsers at the website are on phones.
To help hoteliers solve some of their business challenges, a new platform -- Partner Central -- has been offered and equipped with a tool known as Real-time Feedback to let hoteliers address any concerns the guest might have on the spot.
In the 12 months to Sept 30, 2018, Expedia reported receiving travel bookings worth US$97.5 billion, with more than 675 million browsers at its website a month.
The company said it helped boost the business of hoteliers in five key tourism destinations of Thailand -- Samui, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Bangkok -- by 35%.
Demands at hotels in other destinations, such as second-tier provinces, is also on the rise, and the group is working with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to address the market.