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Expedia, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Mobiata, creator of best selling mobile travel applications including FlightTrack. The deal marks Expedia’s most significant investment to date in addressing the mobile travel market, and accelerates the company’s ability to enable mobile travel shopping and booking across multiple platforms.
"With the pace at which mobile traffic to Expedia sites is exploding, we wanted the right team to help us address the sizable opportunity swiftly and successfully," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia, Inc. "There’s simply no better company out there doing mobile travel apps with the same level of design sensibility and utility as Mobiata."
In its first two years since it was founded in 2008, Mobiata has developed a host of best selling travel apps, including FlightTrack, which has ranked a Top 5 best selling iPhone travel app for 18 months straight; best selling itinerary manager app TripDeck and best selling hotel booking app HotelPal.
"We are thrilled to be joining the biggest and best online travel company while maintaining the creative passion for mobile travel apps that makes Mobiata unique," said Ben Kazez, president and founder of Mobiata. "Together with Expedia, we believe we can continue to revolutionize the way people plan, book, and manage travel – from anywhere on any device."
Mobile traffic currently accounts for approximately four percent of all visitors to Expedia.com, with mobile bookings up in 2010 nearly five times over the previous year. "Mobile and travel are just made for each other," said Joe Megibow, VP of Global Analytics and Optimization for Expedia. "The mobile device is always with us; it’s always on. Getting mobile right for our customers is something we take very seriously."
With its experience offering mobile travel design and development services to third parties, Mobiata brings to Expedia the proven ability to design and execute the most compelling travel apps available to mobile users.
Mobiata will remain in its headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
