Cathay and Expedia Group join hands to refresh Cathay Holidays site

Cathay has partnered with Expedia Group to refresh the one-stop travel hub Cathay Holidays with a new booking site that offers customers a brand-new booking experience ahead of their trips. 

Cathay Holidays is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Airways, specialising in packaging premium leisure packages mainly for individual frequent travellers.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from Cathay said the new site partnered with Expedia offers an improved booking experience that enables customers to earn miles for hotel bookings, travel activities, and options to bundle with Cathay Pacific flights.

Initially available in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, the new site will gradually be available to more markets, not limited to the APAC region.

"Our primary objective is to position and market Cathay Holidays as the unique 'elevated travel hub' for customers seeking their next quality adventure with ease. To achieve this, we emphasise four key proof points: nearly a million hotel choices, Cathay’s pick of curated experiences, thousands of activities and our Cathay premium travel lifestyle ecosystem where customers can earn and burn Asia Miles and maintain status," said the spokesperson.

Customers can explore a vast selection of 900,000 properties and 200,000 travel activities in 250,000 destinations worldwide provided by Expedia Group through the new booking site, according to the release. 

Cathay Holidays also offers an exclusive collection of travel experiences curated by its expert travel advisors. Cathay members who book with Cathay Holidays can earn Asia Miles, which can be used to redeem flights, hotels, and more to elevate their next adventure. ​

With Cathay's "Miles Plus Cash" function available on the booking site in the near future, customers will be able to pay for their hotels and experiences with miles, cash, or a combination of both, giving them more choice and control over how they spend their miles.

To expand the reach of the campaign, it is amplified via digital platforms, including video portals, programmatic display networks with retargeting strategy, SEM, and performance marketing to capture the lower funnel.

Meanwhile, the partnership is further amplified by third-party travel portals and influencers and collaboration with Cathay's creative partner, Leo Burnett Hong Kong, and media partner, Digitas.

Cathay's director of customer lifestyle Paul Smitton said: “At Cathay, we are committed to building deep, engaging relationships with our customers by offering them curated travel lifestyle products and experiences throughout their lifetime.

"We are extremely excited about the launch of our reimagined Cathay Holidays travel hub, which makes it even easier for our valued customers to book their unforgettable adventure and brings us one step closer to achieving our vision of becoming one of the world’s greatest service brands," Smitton added.

Expedia Group's vice president for strategic partnerships Stephen Cheng said: “The strategic collaboration with Cathay Holidays strengthens Expedia Group’s commitment to delivering exceptional experiences for travellers and empowering our airline partners."

"By utilising our industry-leading White Label Template technology to power the new Cathay Holidays travel hub, we can augment their offerings, helping travellers unlock a wider range of options and a seamless booking experience," Cheng added.

Don’t miss: Marriott International and Cathay strengthen partnership to offer enhanced travel benefits

This is not the first time Cathay has doubled its efforts in enhancing consumer experiences through partnerships. Back in February, Marriott International's travel programme, Marriott Bonvoy, expanded its travel benefits through collaborating with Cathay Membership programme to create a seamless customer journey for their respective customers.

Cathay and Marriott Bonvoy members can enjoy an array of benefits such as two-way points transfer, hotel stay redemptions and enhanced flight and travel package experiences.

Join us this coming 26 June for Content360 Hong Kong, a one-day-two-streams extravaganza under the theme of "Content that captivates". Get together with our fellow marketers to learn about AI in content creation, integration of content with commerce and cross-border targeting, and find the recipe for success within the content marketing world! 

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