The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

EXPEDIA, the world’s largest online travel company, generated more than 140,000 room nights for Bahamian hotels in 2012, a company executive telling Tribune Business this country was its “fastest growing market” last year.

The more than 140,000 room nights generated represented a greater than 40 per cent increase year-over-year, according to Marco Tagliatti, Expedia’s vice-president of lodging supply in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Expedia group offers hoteliers a global platform to showcase their properties to an audience of 55 million monthly users.

While Mr Tagliatti said it was too early to project how many room nights would be generated for the Bahamas through Expedia’s network this year, he added: “Based on two weeks of data, we see a strong pick-up of average daily rates (ADR) and revenues.”

When compared to other Caribbean countries, Mr Tagliatti said the Bahamas was Expedia’s fourth largest market, and the fastest growing in 2012.

According to the company, the demand for travel to the Caribbean on Expedia group websites worldwide has achieved notable growth from the US, Canada, the UK, Brazil, Italy and Germany.

For the first three quarters of last year, annual global travel bookings for the Caribbean across all Expedia group sites was more than $300 million.

When compared to the same period in 2011, travel bookings for the Caribbean were up over 20 per cent year-over-year, and the average daily rate (ADR) was nearly $230, representing an increase of 4 per cent. The average length of stay in the region remained four nights.