Priceline hopes to capitalize on consumer appetite for the experiential with the launch of Priceline Experiences, offering more than 80,000 activities users can book. Priceline Experiences also enables the OTA to offer its customers a more complete trip-planning experience without having to leave Priceline.com. Denise Bialek, Priceline’s senior director of ancillary products, said last week’s launch of Priceline Experiences, powered by ticketing platform Musement, marks the OTA’s first significant foray into offering bookable activities. Priceline did have a “small-scale” offering of activities in the past, but Priceline Experiences is a “significantly bigger initiative,” the OTA said.
We’ve been very focused on air, car, hotel and cruises for many years,” Bialek said. “I’m really excited that this is the official entry into the in-destination part of the experience. This is a very different type of product for Priceline if you look at our history, so we’re just really excited to finally bring this to market. The two main drivers behind the launch of Priceline Experiences, Bialek said, were consumer demand, especially as the pandemic wanes and travelers are increasingly looking for bucket-list experiences, and the need to book experiences in advance. “The activities space is not unlike any other industry right now where they’re dealing with staffing shortages and other challenges,” she said. “It’s now become more important than ever to book these things in advance, because they have to plan.”