Jill Lloyd, Expedia's senior PR manager EMEA, said the decision had been "a very tough choice".

"All the agencies we invited to pitch presented compelling creative ideas founded in solid strategic thinking. Ultimately, Fleishman-Hillard demonstrated a particularly clear understanding of our specific goals and we felt they were the best fit to work with us."

She said the company had seen the benefits of a "glocal approach".

"Now we are looking for an agency with the structure and capabilities to complement our approach."

As part of the brief, Fleishman will provide guidance and support for multi-market campaigns and will collaborate with Expedia's existing creative, media planning and social media agencies.

The agency will be responsible for pan-European campaigns co-ordinated from the UK hub, and local agencies will also manage strategy and executive of country-specific initiatives.

Richard Kanareck, Fleishman-Hillard MD, said: "Expedia is one of the original online power brands and an industry trailblazer. There's a huge, renewed momentum behind them as a brand and in terms of innovation, we're delighted to work with them across Europe to further build their consumer voice."

Expedia's agencies in the Netherlands, Spain and the Nordics are unaffected by the consolidation. Trade PR, SEO and social media strategy were also outside this pitch and remain unaffected.

In other agency news, Bite's Tom Berry is joining Fleishman-Hillard to lead its London technology practice. Tom has been a board director at Bite for seven years and will become a director and partner at Fleishman.

Richard said: "Tom's a hugely skilled and well-networked communicator, and an entrepreneurial, inspiring and colourful personality. His arrival will help strengthen further our content and integrated marcomms capabilities, on top of what is already a strong media relations and international co-ordination expertise."