Expedia Teams Up With Creators, Celebs And Key Partners To Launch Travel Shops
17 Sep 2024 by Roberto Lopez in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Celebrities, Cuisine, Escape, Europe, Event, Fame, General, Home, Hotels, Islands, Latin America, Money, Pleasure, Power, Restaurants, Television, Theater, USA
Expedia Group is meeting travelers where they are: on social media. Expedia has announced 100+ new Travel Shops curated by social media creators, tastemakers and brands. These are first-of-its-kind shoppable storefronts for creators to share and save their travel recommendations on the Expedia app. The headliner shops are part of an exclusive, invite-only wave of Travel Shops ahead of its wider all-access launch next year.
“Every day, people are liking and buying products recommended by influencers they trust, but until now there hasn’t been a simple way to shop travel recommendations. Travelers are already getting inspiration through Instagram and TikTok, so creating a path to go from looking to booking is a natural evolution that meets travelers where they’re at,” said Lauri Metrose, SVP of Global Communications at Expedia Group. “Our invite-only launch phase includes more than 100 influencers and partners who can now monetize and share their travel picks with millions of followers. In 2025, Travel Shops will expand even more, so anyone can create their own Shop.”
In addition to storefronts from travel influencers like Brett Conti, Renee Roaming, and Oneika Raymond, travelers can explore and book hotel collections from a select group of well-traveled partners, travel experts, media publications and brands:
- Jaime Camil: Actor, producer and director who starred in “Jane the Virgin,” “La Fea Más Bella” and “Coco” shares favorite hotels for relaxing with family, heritage travel, and celebrating Día de Muertos in Mexico.
- Virgil van Dijk: The Liverpool FC captain’s Travel Shop features the footballer’s favorite hotels across Liverpool, his favorite family getaways, as well as his top hometown haunts in the Netherlands.
- Arsenal FC: The first sports franchise to integrate with Travel Shops invites its global fan base to book stays on Hotels.com inspired by away games and players’ favorite hotels.
- Media publishers: Trusted media titles Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Variety are the premier media partners to create Shops for their readers and social followers to discover new and noteworthy places to go and stay.
- DMOs and Tourism Boards: Destinations around the world, including Travel Alberta, Visit Orlando, Visit The USA and Go Dominican Republic are using Travel Shops to attract travelers by highlighting the must-see experiences and accommodation options their destinations have to offer.
Expedia designed Travel Shops to be simple to use and to earn commissions. Creators can easily generate links to their Travel Shops, Collections or individual properties they want to highlight and share with their followers. Next year, any traveler can create their own Shop and monetize their social content. Join the waitlist here.
Since the Travel Shops Beta launch in May, more than 100 partners have created Shops that represent their personal taste, preferences and style. Travelers can explore collections of boutique hotels in the city, relaxing luxury resorts or soon-to-be-available adventurous excursions hand-picked by a diverse group of trusted global creators.
Travel Shops is currently available on the Expedia iOS app in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.