TORONTO — The Expedia Travel Agent Affiliate Program (TAAP) rolled out the new TAAP 3.0 portal across Canada in late November.

The new platform has been highly praised by travel agents now using the TAAP 3.0 portal on a daily basis, said Expedia.

“The objective of the new platform was to simplify and streamline travel agent processes,” says Diego Pedrani who heads Expedia TAAP program globally.

“The response has been quite overwhelming and very rewarding as agents have responded so positively to the new Portal,” says Pedrani. “The positive comments from agents have been great but we saw an almost immediate jump in transactions which says to me, we got it right.”

The booking process for travel agents using the Expedia portal hasn’t changed but the log-in and back end processes have been streamlined significantly.

Login has been modified to a single step process and TAAP 3.0 automatically generates unbranded vouchers for agents to self-brand, print or forward to their customers. One of the most impressive features is the automatic generation of a GDS string. Agents simply cut and paste the GDS string into their GDS and it generates a passive segment which in turn downloads into the back office system.

It’s been a busy time for the TAAP team rolling out 17 new portals worldwide in a few short months. France, UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand were launched throughout November and December 2013. The roll out continued with Scandinavian countries and South East Asian markets launching through January and February.

For more information about Expedia TAAP go to expedia.ca/TAAP or e-mail support@expedia-agents.ca.