SILVERRAIL TO POWER EXPEDIA'S MOVE INTO GLOBAL RAIL SALES
17/11/2015
Written by Frederic Kalinke
London, 17th November 2015. SilverRail Technologies and the Expedia group (NASDAQ: EXPE) today announced a strategic technology partnership to power Expedia’s global expansion in the rail business.
Rail is an increasingly popular mode of regional transport throughout Europe and Asia. According to Phocuswright, rail is now the fastest growing sector in travel, with over €30 billion in rail tickets sold in Europe alone[1]. City-centre to city-centre access, private and government investment, speed advancements, and a lower environmental impact than other means of travel helped propel significant growth in the rail industry.
“We know rail is a highly sought-after form of transportation, especially across Europe and Asia, and we want to ensure our customers have a full variety of travel choices when they visit our sites. We’ve had a great playbook with our other lines of business, and we are eager to implement a similar strategy for rail,” said Greg Schulze, senior vice president, Global Tour and Transport at the Expedia group. “SilverRail offers a strong technology platform designed specifically for the rail business and a wide array of train providers. We are optimistic this platform will continue to grow so our travellers have the broadest possible set of rail options. The growth of rail, and the significant business opportunity it presents, is a trend we can no longer neglect; we look forward to begin selling rail tickets and learning more about the nuances of this unique product.”
SilverRail’s global rail ticketing platform simplifies the process of accessing multiple rail companies through a standard interface. This will enable Expedia to deliver a simple, consistent search and booking experience to which their customers have become accustomed.
“Selecting the right technology launch partner was very important. SilverRail came out on top both for their technology and also their deep travel and rail industry knowledge,” mentioned Schulze.
“This is undoubtedly one of the most significant partnerships we have signed,” comments Aaron Gowell, CEO of SilverRail. “We are thrilled to be working with Expedia to bring rail into the world’s largest travel ecommerce platform.”
Development has already begun, with platform launch expected in 2016.
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For further information, please contact:
Sophy Norris, Flagship Consulting, 01392 248 934
Tarran Street, Expedia, Inc., (503) 504-9683
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About SilverRail (www.silverrailtech.com)
Silver Rail Technologies is a transformative technology business with one mission – enable the renaissance of rail travel by making global rail content more easily available, accessible and affordable.
SilverRail is currently processing over 1 billion online rail searches per year. Over 80 providers and carriers are connected via the company’s ‘SilverCore’ distribution platform – the world’s first unified platform for global rail. More than 20 million bookings are made on SilverRail’s various systems each year. SilverRail is currently serving over 1,500 corporate customers worldwide.
About the Expedia group
The Expedia group (NASDAQ: EXPE) is one of the world’s leading travel companies, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:
- Expedia.com®, a leading full service online travel agency with localized sites in 32 countries
- Hotels.com®, the hotel specialist that offers Hotels.com® Rewards and Secret Prices through its mobile booking apps and localized websites in more than 65 countries
- Hotwire®, a leading discount travel site that offers Hot Rate® Hotels, Hot Rate® Cars and Hot Rate® Airfares, as well as vacation packages
- Travelocity®, a pioneer in online travel and a leading online travel agency in the US and Canada
- Orbitz Worldwide, a global travel portfolio including Orbitz, ebookers, HotelClub and CheapTickets, brands and business-to-business offerings, including Orbitz Partner Network and Orbitz for Business
- Egencia®, a leading corporate travel management company
- Venere.com™, the online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
- trivago®, a leading online hotel search with sites in 52 countries worldwide
- Wotif Group, a leading portfolio of travel brands operating in the Australia/New Zealand region, including Wotif.com®, Wotif.co.nz, lastminute.com.au®, lastminute.co.nz and travel.com.au®
- Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities, experiences and ground transportation in hundreds of destinations worldwide
- Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
- Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, a provider of exceptional value and expert advice for travelers booking cruises and vacations through its network of 200 retail travel agency franchises across North America
- CarRentals.com™, the premier car rental booking company on the web
The company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers the opportunity to reach a highly valuable audience of in-market consumers through Expedia® Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for thousands of affiliates, including some of the world’s leading airlines, top consumer brands and high traffic websites through Expedia Affiliate Network. For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.
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