As part of the efforts to jump to the mobile game, Expedia announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Mobiata, creator of popular mobile travel applications like FlightTrack, which was ranked a Top 5 best-selling iPhone travel app for 18 months straight. In addition, Mobiata also makes itinerary manager app TripDeck and hotel booking app HotelPal.
At the moment, mobile traffic accounts for about 4% of all visitors to Expedia.com, but mobile bookings are up in 2010 nearly five times over the previous year. The idea is that with the acquisition of Mobiata, Expedia will get the “proven ability to design and execute” the most compelling travel apps.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but we do know Mobiata will remain in its headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI.
Commenting on the deal, Expedia’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: “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. There’s simply no better company out there doing mobile travel apps with the same level of design sensibility and utility as Mobiata.”