one million subscriber milestone . Prime gives consumers access to flights and hotels at highly competitive prices , presents travelers with the most relevant travel combinations and ultimately encourages loyalty .
WHAT IS EDREAMS ODIGEO ’ S CORE FOCUS IN THE YEAR AHEAD AS WE EMERGE FROM THE PANDEMIC ?
As a business we will continue to focus on the areas which took priority over the last 12 months : our team , our customers and our business . It has been absolutely critical that we have got all three correct as the travel industry dealt with an unprecedented global situation . We are immensely proud of how our team adapted to remote working . As a company operating in the travel industry there were significant challenges and pressures , everyone in the team was incredibly engaged and committed to working together to the benefit of our customers .
At the beginning of the pandemic , we launched a weekly presentation and Q & A with me and other members of the management team , this is an initiative we will keep in place as it ’ s been a fantastic forum to give business updates and for our team to ask questions . The most effective way of bringing our creative brain power together has been through ‘ online festivals ’. Each ‘ festival ’ has a different theme and employees can dropin to different sessions to share ideas and feedback on concepts . We try hard to make sure eDreams ODIGEO is a positive and motivating place for people to work . It is so important that our teams find their roles enjoyable and are with a company that inspires them .
Our customers have faced incredible disruption throughout the pandemic , with over two million canceled flights and refunds needing to be managed . Over the last 12 months we have worked incredibly hard on behalf of our customers , often working with airlines that have made it difficult to authorize and process refunds , causing significant delays for our customers . Our self-service platform was enhanced to provide customers with a self-service online tool that enables them to autonomously manage their bookings , including changes and cancelations .
We will continue to focus on using our tech expertise to give customers the ability to seamlessly plan their end-to-end journey on one platform , from flights , to hotels , car hire , train and other ancillaries – our OTA model is well-placed to capture the consumer preference for convenience .
Our business has retained high levels of liquidity and a strong balance sheet throughout the pandemic . We have spent the last 12 months ensuring we are well-positioned to cater to post-pandemic traveler priorities . We have done this through product development and innovation , and this will continue to be our core focus in the months ahead .
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST SHIFT IN TRAVEL OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS ?
We are optimistic about the future and expect travel to rebound to pre-Covid levels . The rollout of vaccination programs around the world is incredibly promising , and we have already seen how responsive travelers are to announcements and progress , with an uptick in search enquiries being seen as a result . We also saw last summer how willing people were to travel when restrictions allowed . Consumers quickly came back into the market and almost 50 % of our bookings returned within two months . This year with vaccination programs underway across the world we expect a stronger bounce back .
The shift from offline to online has been accelerated due to the pandemic and this has translated into how our customers are accessing our products . Mobile bookings make up 58 % of total bookings , up from 18 % in 2015 . The use of mobile also reflects changing booking habits brought about by the pandemic , with last minute bookings for travel on the rise .
The other big shift we will see is the increased shift to automation , as health and hygiene will continue to be a big factor in travelers ’ decision-making . With health and hygiene front and centre people will be keen to complete journeys through airports autonomously via mobile and computer enabled security checks .
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