Expedia TAAP has started 2012 with a Blast, 160% up on booking value compared to the same week last year. 84 different destinations were booked by Travel Agents in the first week of 2012 with EMEA taking the lions share on the back of the strong AUD/EURO exchange rate and great Early Bird Air fares in the market.  

EMEA took 31.5% of the traffic, APAC 25.8%, America’s 21.4% and Oceania 21.3%. Top 10 destinations were Netherlands, Thailand, Los Angeles, New York, Regional UK, Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, San Francisco. As usual the top destinations accounted for only 30% of bookings given the long tail of Expedia’s directory of destinations. Bookings ranged through destinations such as Wollongong, Vallarta Mexico, Dodecanese Islands Greece, Daegu South Korea, Santiago Chile, Helsinki Finland, Pittsburg PA and Alice Springs. Top destinations such as NYC, LAX, SIN, HKG, LON, PAR, AKL always produce strong bookings due to the competitive nature of Expedia’s inventory and rates but the list of booked destinations grows longer each week.  

“This is a very exciting period for the growth of Expedia TAAP” said Stuart Udy Expedia Manager of Travel Agent Distribution APAC. “We saw substantial growth through 2011 with new agencies signing up and exploring the vast offerings of the product we have on our screens. We have literally thousands of destinations on offer so as Aussie Travellers start roaming further afield, Aussie Travel Agents through Expedia TAAP, have the tools to support their clients.”

Expedia Travel Agents Affiliate Program is approaching the second anniversary of the launch of the program in AU and NZ claiming over 3,400 Agencies in APAC and over 20,000 worldwide. Once Travel Agents are registered, they earn commission on bookings made through the Expedia.com.au website.