By the Caribbean Journal staff

Expedia, Inc. has purchased Travelocity for $280 million in an all-cash transaction, the company announced Friday.

The deal to buy Travelocity from Sabre Corporation comes after Expedia and Travelocity’s strategic marketing agreement in 2013, which saw Expedia power Travelocity’s technology platforms in the US and Canada.

“Travelocity is one of the most recognized travel brands in North America, offering thousands of travel destinations to more than 20 million travelers per month,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer. “The strategic marketing agreement we’ve had in place has been a marriage of Travelocity’s strong brand with our best-in-class booking platform, supply base, and customer service. Evolving this relationship strengthens the Expedia Inc. family’s ability to continue to innovate and deliver the very best travel experiences to the widest set of travelers, all over the world.”

It’s not yet clear what kind of impact the move will have on the Caribbean travel market, which receives a substantial portion of travel bookings from Expedia.

In a statement, Sabre President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Klein explained the decision to sell Travelocity.

“Our primary focus at Sabre is to provide mission-critical software solutions to our global airline, hospitality, and travel agency customers – and to help them support their customers every day,” he said. “We have had a long and fruitful partnership with Expedia, most recently by partnering to strengthen the Travelocity business, so our decision to divest Travelocity is a logical next step for us both.”

The deal makes Expedia, one of the world’s largest travel companies, even bigger, adding to a portfolio that includes Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Egencia and a number of other companies.