OLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES ANALYSIS

CASE STUDY : OPODO

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Table of contents

Opodo : business description pages 3-4

Customer group target pages 5-6

Opodo online customer services page 7

Opodo’s competitors page 8

Communication strategy pages 9-13

Opodo’s partners pages 14-16

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Business description

Opodo is a pan-European OTA launched in November

2001 in 2001. The french website (www.opodo.fr) was

launched in April 2002.

It was created by nine of Europe's leading airlines - Aer

Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British

Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa and Amadeus.

The name Opodo is the abreviation for “opportunity to do”.

Opodo is now implemented in France, Germany, United

Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland,

Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria.

The mission statement of Opodo is to offer to travelers a

competitive price online travel service, with access to

flights from over 400 airlines, 30,000 hotel properties and

a worldwide fleet of over 750,000 hire cars, as well as

travel insurance.

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Customer groups target

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Travelers who are willing to perchase

online.They feel secure about

perchasing online.

Travelers searching for good deals by

comparing prices online, searching for

promotions.

Travelers preparing their travels

(choosing their destination/ looking for

price advices/ destination information

and tips).

Travelers sharing their experience.

On Opodo’s blog

Non travelers searching for ideas for

their travels and looking at price

range.

According to 2009 Opodo’s 6th French Barometer : Internet users travel more than the others.

Their socio-economic characteristics (younger, more urban, higher income) are that French

Internet users are still the champions of online travel: 74% of the French who have traveled in

2008 are Internet users.

France has 33.2 million Internet users, representing 64% of the French population aged 15 and

over.

Source: http://blog.opodo.fr/2009/4/1/barometre-opodo-crise-vacances-francais.aspx

Evolution of the french Opodo’s market

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Online customers services

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• Flight (price, airline companies, booking)

• Hotels (description, booking)

• Combinaison flight+ hotel

• Car rent (car rental companies, booking)

• Package holidays

• Cruise and ski

• Eurostar booking

• Online paiement

• Activities

MAIN SERVICES

• Promotions

• Travel insurance

• Travel guides (sanitary, travel formalities)

• Visas

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

• Opodo’s blog

• Twitter

• Community group

• My acompt

SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES

Opodo’s competitors

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The 2 main competitors of Opodo on the

european OTA market are Expedia and

Lasminute.

Concerning their main services

Opodo, Expedia and Lasminute have

practically the same offer (hotel, flight

booking, activities, travel packaging…) and

the same positioning : providing quality

travel products to the best price.

However, Opodoo has developed compared

to its competitors a large range of social

media services with the launch of their

blog, their community ‘’Oh my globe’’ and

their twitter adress.

Customer’s communication strategy

The main strategyof Opodo concerning customer’s communicationmethods is : Social media communication.

Opodo social media communication:

Opodo’s blog (http://blog.opodo.fr/) : the blog provides customersreviews, news about Opodo, destination, airlinecompanies), advices and tips when travelling abroad…

Opodo community :’’Oh my blog’’ (http://www.ohmyglobe.com/).The community « Oh my blog » is used for customers to share theirreviews, their travel experiences : sharingphotos, comments, advices…

Opodo twitter (http://twitter.com/Opodo_UK). The twittersite givesinformation about the lastest news concerning the differentproducts (flight, hotel promotion, last minute flight tickets…)

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The advantages of using social media strategy

Drive trafficand

increasethe

linkability

Promoting new

products

Feedback on customerssatisfaction

Increasethe number

of customers

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Moretransparency

TrustAllows

communication

More information

1: Company’s advantages

2: Customer’s advantages

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Opodo’s partners

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OPODO SUBSIDIARIES

1- Promovacances : an

OTA mainly specialize a

travel packaging.

2- Karavel : an other

OTA, which has a range

of products dedicaded to

luxury.

OTHER PARTNERS

1-Airline companies :

400 airlines

2- Hotels and hotel

chains: 30 000 hotels

3- Tourim office

OPODO OWNERS

1- Amadeus (Global

Travel Distribution

System) owns 50%

shares of Opodo since

2004. Amadeus is the

world leader in travel

technology and his

mainly used by travel

agencies for flight, ticket

booking…

2- Europe's leading

airlines - Aer Lingus, Air

France, Alitalia, Austrian

Airlines, British

Airways, Finnair, Iberia,

KLM, Lufthansa and

Amadeus

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