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One-on-one with Expedia Worldwide’s Scott Durchslag

November 15, 2011 | Online Travel

Scott Durchslag is president of Expedia Worldwide, where he manages the strategy and operations of the eponymous travel booking site along with Hotels.com, TripAdvisor and Hotwire, among others.

When many hoteliers think about Expedia, words that come to mind include “booking,” “online travel agent,” or if they’re being less diplomatic—“the enemy,” “a necessary evil,” or “those guys who charge us a boatload to distribute our rooms.”

That’s not how Scott Durchslag sees the relationship. Durchslag is president of Expedia Worldwide, where he manages the strategy and operations of the eponymous travel booking site along with Hotels.com, TripAdvisor and Hotwire, among others.

The word he’s looking for to describe the relationship between Expedia and hotels—in fact, the word he’s looking for to describe the relationship between all players in the travel supply chain—is “partner.”

Sounds like a nice, public relations-friendly answer, doesn’t it? On the contrary, Durchslag doesn’t worry too much about making sure all of his partners like him. He’s more concerned about the traveler. He’s convinced that when travel suppliers—like hotel companies, airlines and booking agents—work together to make the consumer travel experience easier on all levels, from end to end, business will prosper.

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