Skift Take

25 Moments that Mattered in 2015: To make our selection of 25 moments, we thought back to the stories that drove reader engagement and sparked discussion among both travel experts and the general public. Some stories were quick blips that represented bigger things while others were narratives that built slowly through out the year. Each one, though, spoke to where we are right now when it comes to the big business of global travel.

After you beat ’em, acquire ’em.

That might be Expedia Inc.’s mantra as it went on a buying spree and the once-Big Four U.S.-headquartered online travel agencies became the Big Two — Expedia Inc. and the Priceline Group.

Expedia acquired Travelocity North America in January 2015, added Orbitz Worldwide in September and piled on in November with a deal to acquire vacation rental giant HomeAway. The rollup formula is working — for now. Expedia Inc. saw its hotel room nights sold leapfrog 36 percent year over year in the third quarter with acquisitions accounting for 8 percentage points of the jump.

The big question for Expedia and its competitors is whether this sort of strategy is sustainable and whether Expedia will trip up over the complexity of its purchases. And what will Expedia do for an encore?

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Tags: 25 moments 2015, expedia

Photo credit: Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Expedia Inc.

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