New Delhi : With travel season kicking off, Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company, has announced the launch of its latest advertising campaign in India.  Conceptualized by Lowe Lintas, the campaign is aimed at igniting the hunger for travel amongst its audience.  It centres on the insight that the world we live in is rapidly changing and with it are the reasons for travel. Today, travel is no longer a luxury but deemed more of a necessity and moreover it adds to ones social status, especially among one’s peers. In today’s stressed world, travel often is the respite that helps people rejuvenate and relax, adding to wonderful and pleasant memories. The campaign hinges on this central theme and has been rolled out nationally across print, digital, radio and television mediums.

Mr. Manmeet Ahluwalia, Head – Marketing, Expedia India said, “The campaign is designed keeping in mind the need for travel and the travel proposition offered by Expedia to consumers in India and globally. The purpose of this campaign is to convey the need to travel for people who often neglect it due to lack of time or not being able to book in advance and end up being the non-traveling population. With 18,000 amazing offers every day, unparalleled in the industry, Expedia ensures that you are never ‘the neighbor who never travels’.

“Our campaign is based on the insight that other people’s travel is always a trigger for you to travel. There was a time people travelled to see new places; today the choice of destination is heavily influenced by the ‘talk value’ on social media platforms. The campaign is focused mainly upon neo travelers from tier 1 cities” he said. Expedia offers a comprehensive inventory featuring more than 2, 00,000 hotels, and 7, 000 holiday activities and attractions from across the world. Also, with its flights+hotels product, travelers can save up to Rs 12000 on their total travel cost. Airasia’s exclusive tie up with the brand further allows it to provide low cost packages for SEA region.

There has been 200% YOY growth in transactions at Expedia.co.in from Q1 2011 to Q1 2013. And In the past few months, it has witnessed double digit growth in transactions and triple digit growth in standalone hotel bookings.  This year, with marketing outlay of 50 crore, Expedia is focused on further strengthening its position in the industry.