Expedia seeks to expand presence in South Korea

 Expedia, the world's largest online travel agency, said Wednesday it will push to upgrade its flight-booking service in South Korea to provide more comprehensive service packages combining hotel, flights and other activities.
Expedia launched its Korean operation in 2011 after forming a joint venture with Air Asia, Asia's largest low-cost airline based in Malaysia.
While most of its revenue comes from hotel booking services due to limited flight options within the network of Air Asia, Expedia said it will work to include full-service carriers for "one-stop total solution" for Korean customers.
"We've been selling hotels here in Korea. Today, we will be looking at launching a full-flight offering to include low-cost carriers as well as full-service carriers in 2016," Jonty Neal, CEO of Air Asia Expedia Travel, said in a press conference.
"We are open to future opportunities for Korean consumers to provide hotel and flight package products we successfully operated in other parts of Asia," Neal said.
Expedia, which spun off from a division of Microsoft, said its real-time booking service is popular among tech-savvy Korean customers, adding it will continue efforts to customize its service in the local market using big data.
The travel agency said it has launched its customer loyalty program "Expedia+" to give points and promotions that customers can use for travel products and services online, and officially established a Korean office last month to expand its local services.
Expedia offers booking services for over 500,000 hotel accommodations and 400 airline partners worldwide, operating localized websites in 30 nations.

Source: YONHAP.