PhoCusWright - Expedia CEO part II

During his closing speech at PhoCusWright, Dara mentioned briefly an effort at Expedia to re-platform their technology infrastructure. So what does re-platform mean? Often the plumbing aspects of travel technology are not a common topic at any show including PhoCusWright, but here the re-platform initiative has a direct bearing on how Expedia works with suppliers. It concerns re-engineering their middleware to better match customer needs with supplier content. In today's online world, OTAs need to provide more flexibility to all their suppliers to manage the delivery of dynamic pricing based on different customer segments. Dara talked about this in relationship to hotels, but airlines are also are demanding a better way to showcase and target their services to specific travelers. This includes selling premium seat assignment or other amenities that can help differentiate their products. A great example is Virgin Atlantic's upper class which provides unique seating and amenities at a lower price point. Traditionally Expedia will show Virgin Atlantic the same as other airlines. Expedia's re-platforming initiative will help suppliers better target customers and use differentiated services to influence the sale at the time of booking.