An Inside Look at our Learning Lab at ESTO 2018

We spent the weekend kicking off the annual information-packed U.S. Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO), where we were excited to host our 4th annual Learning Lab, bringing our latest research and insights to Phoenix – a big thank you to everyone who joined us!

ESTO 2018 expedia team

We shared our study which unpacks trends on the growing category of bleisure travelers, as in those who are extending business trips for leisure. Looking across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India and China, the research reveals the influences, preferences, priorities, resources, financial factors and more of these travelers—who can make a big impact to destinations by deciding to stay longer for leisure.

During our Learning Lab we offered a look at how to put those insights into action with digital advertising tools designed for destination marketers, empowering destinations to engage travelers throughout the consumer journey—from inspiration to in-trip. In fact, you can read about one of our tools, our destination 360 reports, on the blog here. These reports act as an instant health-check for destination marketers, tracking key metrics of your destination’s performance across more than 200 Expedia Group sites, which reach 75 countries and 35 languages.

Last, but definitely not least, also welcomed two of our industry partners, Jorge Franz from Visit Houston and Leroy Bridges from Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, who both shared how they used data to reach new audiences, such as bleisure travelers.

Thank you to the U.S. Travel Association for the opportunity to be an Education Partner at ESTO and to the DMOs our team had the pleasure of connecting with at the event. We hope to see you next year at ESTO 2019.

We welcome you to explore more insights from our team of subject matter experts at Expedia Group Media Solutions here.

Monya Mandich

Vice President, Media Solutions Marketing

Monya Mandich is the VP, Marketing of Expedia Group Media Solutions and oversees all integrated marketing and communications activities for the brand. In her role, she is responsible for raising awareness of digital media opportunities for partners across the Expedia Group suite of leading global travel brands. With nearly two decades of experience, she evangelizes a thought leadership approach both externally and internally centered on data-driven insights, which has resulted in travel and marketing industry recognition and accolades. Monya previously managed strategic partnership development, executing strategies for top-tier partnerships, maximizing traffic and revenue for Expedia.com. She started her career in the travel space at VacationSpot.com, where she ran the B2B marketing and customer acquisition efforts for the vacation rental booking site. Monya is on the board of directors for Destinations International and the U.S. Travel, and also participates on the advisory committee for U.S. Travel's Project: Time Off, which aims to shift thinking around the health, business and economic value of personal time off, Monya was also recognized as one of HSMAI’s Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing. She is a graduate of Western Washington University and lives in the Seattle area with her family.

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