By the Caribbean Journal staff

One of the world’s largest hotel companies has announced a new booking partnership with Expedia.

Spanish hotel giant Melia has announced a “strategic technology relationship” with Expedia that will enable the global chain to offer package bookings directly on its US web site.

Melia, which has 380 hotels around the world and a large presence in the wider Caribbean, will now give its customers the opportunity to combine their stays at Melia with flight bookings from one of 500 Expedia Group partners.

The new relationship comes after Marriott International announced its “Vacations by Marriott” site powered by Expedia.

“By using Expedia Group’s technology, we will be able to enhance our customers’ journey and at the same time, we can now attract longer length of stays which are booked further in advance and with lower cancellation rates”, said José María Dalmau, Senior Vice President Global Business Development at Melia Hotels International. “Besides being a big win for us, this means a significant improvement in our customers’ experience, as they can book everything to make their stay possible in just a few clicks on our site.”

The new options are already live on Melia’s Web site.

“The collaboration with Melia Hotels International shows the importance and commitment of our heavy investment in technology innovation, and how this is paying off for our hotel partners. Agreements such as this one shows what extent hotel chains are looking to work with us on these ground-breaking initiatives which deliver value beyond distribution”, said Luis Hurtado de Mendoza, Senior Director, Key Accounts EMEA-LATAM, Expedia Group.