Marketing / 02.27.18

Expedia Moves Into Ticketing, But as a Resale Platform

Access Staff

Original article published on Complete Music Update (02/27/18) by Chris Cooke

Expedia recently announced its U.S. platform will support ticket sales for U.K. events through a partnership with a secondary ticketing website called TicketNetwork. "We know travelers are looking for unique and authentic experiences while in-destination," said Expedia Local Expert VP Jen O'Twomney. "They want to catch a baseball game at a stadium they've never been to, or see a show that isn't playing in their hometown." O'Twomney also cited expanding pressure "to build entire trips around events, to attend a music festival, follow a specific artist on tour, or root for your team at an away game. Adding event tickets to our product offering makes all the sense in the world and gives us another way to help travelers get the most out of their vacation." Expedia emphasizes that "prices are set by third-party sellers and may be above or below face value." The FanFair Alliance's Adam Webb suggests Expedia might want to reconsider its actions, given that it permits the listing of tickets for events that appear to violate U.K. consumer law. "Until then, we would recommend incoming tourists avoid this service, and find their ticket information instead on either the artist or authorized event website," he says.

Read the full story on the Complete Music Update website.

Tags: News