Expedia has signalled an all-out attack on the European travel market, saying it will mount an aggressive marketing campaign on the continent next year, in a strategic effort to seize market share from rivals Thomas Cook and Tui Travel.

Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of the world’s leading travel group, said he hoped to exploit his rivals’ preoccupation with integrating their newly merged businesses, and claimed they were weighed down by the costs of running bricks-and-mortar operations.