EDreams ODIGEO reports surge in mobile bookings

They represented 30% of total flight bookings in January to March period Continue reading →

Mobile channel bookings soared by 35% for eDreams ODIGEO in the year to March.

They represented 30% of total flight bookings on average in the January to March period.

Mobile app downloads rose by 74% year-on-year and the company reported a 9% increase in annual bookings, with the core markets of France, Italy and Spain reaching six million.

However, net income fell by 6% to €10.5 million, while adjusted earnings [EBITDA] rose by 12% to €107.3 million

The company reported a 40% reduction in customers needing assistance, due to a 400% increase in self service help centre visits, resulting in a 10% reduction in contact rate.

Looking forward, the European OTA expects to achieved more than 11.7million bookings and adjusted EBITDA of €115 million in the current financial year.

The projection came despite the company warning of “markedly soft” revenues and profit in the first half of the current fiscal year with first quarter adjusted EBITDA down by 10-14%.

This is as a result of:

• Accelerated investment in the transition to mobile and evolution in change of the revenue model
• Change in Easter seasonality over the previous year
• Comparison against an “excellent performance” in the first quarter of the previous financial year “where many of our improvements already kicked-in and we had not started to change our revenue model”.

Reviewing the past year, chief executive Dana Dunne said: “These strong results underscore the excellent improvements we have made to the business.

“Our diversification into new products in both the flight and non-flight categories, including preferred seating, baggage, dynamic packages, car hire and hotels, contributed significantly to the strong growth in bookings and revenue margin this year and our acquisition of budgetplaces.com will enable us to accelerate the growth of our dynamic packages business.

“The strategic initiatives we’ve implemented and investments we’ve made over the past two years have allowed us to lead the industry on mobile, faster product releases, lower costs per booking and most importantly, more satisfied customers.

“As a result it has enabled us to be Europe’s leading online travel company, helping millions of customers find and book the best value and most convenient travel, in the most convenient way.”

He added: “Looking ahead we will continue to grow market share by diversifying our revenue streams, assessing pricing structures, increasing repeat bookings and aim to become the one-stop-shop for travel.“