Thomas Cook Looks to Expedia for Vacation Rental Access
Skift Take
Offering vacation rentals to customers might be some way off, but it shows Thomas Cook is at least thinking creatively about its place in the travel industry. If it is something people want — and they clearly do — then the company needs to at least consider it.
Thomas Cook Group is hoping to use its partnership with Expedia to start offering vacation rentals to its customers.
The two companies announced a formal alliance back in September 2017, which went live this summer. Initially the deal covered shorter getaways and Thomas Cook’s hotel-only offering, with Expedia providing the technology and inventory. But both sides are now looking to expand the relationship.
Expedia said in a statement that it would “add select Thomas Cook sun and beach hotels to our available inventory,” but declined to go into any further detail about when, and in which markets. Thomas Cook also envisions the partnership deepening over time.
“One of the elements of the contracting allows us to distribute our package holidays, as well, onto their [Expedia's] sites,” Paul Hemingway, business change director at Thomas Cook, told Skift.
“So that's another area where we see an opportunity to boost the distribution of our package sales. Expedi
