Amazon is expanding its roster of travel brands offering deals for Cyber Week – the fast approaching retail holiday on the heels of Thanksgiving.
“Our last Travel Deals event of the year is our largest yet — Amazon shoppers can save on travel and book deals on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, experiences and more with Cyber Week Travel Deals,” wrote Christopher Razzano, a senior account executive at Amazon, on LinkedIn.
Viator, Princess Cruises, Visit Florida, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Avis, Budget and Resorts World Las Vegas have all opted to partner with the online retail giant to sell travel deals for the occasion.
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In July, Amazon had a similar dedicated page to “Prime Day Travel Deals” — a number of the brands participating in the Cyber Week deals also participated in the summer shopping event including Viator, which has also partnered with Amazon Alexa.
“Consumers are interested in unique experiences, and this Prime Day offering puts cruise vacations in front of a targeted audience that we want to reach,” said Amy Martin Ziegenfuss, chief marketing officer of Carnival Cruise Line, in regard to the July partnership.
And Viator vice president of brand and communications, Laurel Geatrix, said at the time, “As the first travel experiences marketplace to offer an Amazon Prime Day deal in the [United States], we’re excited to bring our more than 300,000 activities, tours and experiences directly to the millions of travelers who shop on Amazon every day.”
While July marked the first occasion for Amazon to provide offerings from a range of travel suppliers, the company also offered a Prime Day deal with Priceline in 2023 and had a partnership with MakeMyTrip. 2021.
There has long been discussion around Amazon’s future of selling travel.
Travel industry experts, though, aren’t convinced that Amazon will be the next big travel tool in terms of discovery or sales.
“There’s so much speculation about what Amazon could do, because it knows so much about our buying habits and because it has great recommendation technology,” Lorraine Sileo, senior analyst and founder of Phocuswright Research, told PhocusWire in July.
She added: “Travel is so complex, and Amazon is … not really into owning the product that it sells, right? … It’s a marketplace. So I could see it becoming a bigger marketplace and offering more,” Sileo said. “Does that make it more like a metasearch? It’s so hard to envision exactly what they have in mind. … For travel, I don’t think this is giving us too much of a glimpse.”
