Articles tagged “edreams Odigeo”

Innovation comes in many forms. Sometimes it's a new technology. But for a growing number of online travel companies, it's all about disrupting traditional business models.

Spain's eDreams Odigeo is building a big subscription program that it claims would be tough to imitate. But do big rivals really want to?

Subscriptions are relatively hot in travel although AirAsia's limited new plan might be seen as a sign of weakness rather than strength. AirAsia Super+ is essentially a marketing plan to jumpstart the airline's flights and food delivery businesses.

Well, looky here. It isn't just short-term rentals and digital nomads "reinventing travel." eDreams Odigeo claimed a piece of that boast as it projected turning travel's business model upside down and having more than seven million members in its Prime subscription program by mid-2025.

Like any online travel agency, eDreams Odigeo spends plenty on marketing to obtain new customers, but is currently spending next to nothing outside its own channels on getting travelers to sign up for its "Prime" subscriptions. No YouTube or banner ads, but this could change soon.

The subscription model continues to show promise in travel.

Smaller online travel agencies try to make money by grabbing nickels and eurocent coins ahead of the steamrollers of global advertising behemoths. The underreported story of why China's largest travel company acquired a tiny Dutch travel group highlights the phenomenon.

Online travel agency eDreams Odigeo has been pretty explicit in its bookings breakdown. Similar businesses should also expect a rocky few months ahead as the world deals with the outbreak and spread of coronavirus.

Not surprisingly, the CEO is backing his own turnaround plan, but he’ll have to deliver if the company is ever going to live up to its lofty IPO.

The dream of being a turnaround artist who swoops into a distressed company to restore growth is appealing to many people. But CEO Dana Dunne is finding that the turnaround of eDreams Odigeo that he has been pursuing since 2015 is a long hard slog.