Serko has partnered with hotel provider, Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN), to allow Serko Online users to book select Expedia-sourced hotels through Serko Online.
According to the Auckland-based tech firm, the deal adds more than 120,000 properties to Serko Online’s already extensive hotel inventory and "opens the door" for Serko Online customers to consolidate their hotel bookings with the rest of their itinerary in Serko Online.
"As many as 40% of business traveller’s book hotels through leisure sites, like Expedia, rather than their Online Booking Tool (OBT) because they believe it helps their company save money," says Darrin Grafton, CEO, Serko.
"But booking outside of programme means corporations lose visibility of where their travellers are staying, travel spend is harder to reconcile, and duty of care obligations are not met.
“Enabling Expedia hotels to be booked through Serko Online, confronts this problem head-on and is another step towards Serko transforming business travel for the better."
Echoing Grafton's comments, Expedia Affiliate Network Director Australia & New Zealand, Raphael Lanfant, says both companies "share a commitment" to create a smarter hotel shopping tool for agents that provides multiple options for their travellers.