Expedia.com®, the world’s leading online travel company, today launched a new platform to support its Expedia® Travel Agent Affiliate Programme (TAAP). The Expedia Access portal was developed to help travel agents manage their Expedia Affiliate account. TAAP is currently used by more than 15,000 travel agencies across the world.

Through TAAP, travel agents gain access to Expedia’s vast selection of travel products and services. It also permits travel agents to book through the Expedia website and earn commission when doing so.

Expedia Access was developed in close consultation with Expedia travel agent affiliates. It delivers a host of benefits to TAAP-affiliated travel agents in one easy to use website. These include:

·      Simplified log in procedures and reporting

·      Personalisation and rebranding capabilities:

o     By adding individual travel agency logo and messages, the functionality supports the download of invoices and itineraries into Microsoft Word /Outlook for easy dispatch to clients

·      Activity reports that allow travel agents to regularly monitor bookings and commission

·      News, promotions and incentive status

“The Expedia Access platform reflects the close consultation we have had with Travel Agents,” said Diego Pedrani, global head of the Expedia Travel Agent Affiliate Programme. “We have included as many agent requests as possible in the system. Personalising itineraries and invoices with the agents’ own logo is a request we have heard often, as is the ability for agents to check their commission at a glance. We have developed these and many other features to streamline the administrative process.”

Expedia Access also helps agencies enrich their own websites. The platform offers technical specifications that allow an Agent to place an Expedia search widget on their own site, while still earning commission on bookings consumers make through the agents’ site.

The new platform can be viewed at http://access.expedia.co.uk.  Agents already using TAAP will be migrated across to the new platform in the coming weeks. Agents who have not yet tried the programmeme are encouraged to do so, and to compare the rates and availability for the thousands of destinations available through Expedia.