Expedia partners with Greek travel agency — debt crisis will travel

Author: Dennis Schaal

What Greek debt crisis? Greeks who are in travel mode may be able to find some attractive deals now that the Expedia Affiliate Network began providing air and hotel packages to the country’s largest online travel agency, airtickets.gr.

George Baliouskas, commercial director for airtickets.gr, says many many Greek travelers are on a tight budget so EAN’s pre-pay package rates, combining air tickets with hotels, “will help us offer the best possible value and choice to our customers.”

Much of the travel is focused on outbound packages from Greece and Cyprus to other European cities, many of which are feeling the debt pinch of their own.

The dynamic packages are live on the site, which previously focused on packaged tours, and standalone flights, hotels and rental cars.

Airtickets.gr is said to be Greece’s largest online travel agency, drawing more than 60,000 visits daily.

As in any tight economic climate, discounters have an edge and air tickets.gr and EAN hope to take advantage.

In addition to getting dynamic packages through the EAN API, airtickets.gr in a few months also plans begin targeting travelers who didn’t initially have packages in mind.

The site will begin using EAN’s Smart Cross Sell product, which presents hotel offers after a consumer books a flight.