TripAdvisor’s rumored sale garnered most of this past week’s headlines, though reaction to Expedia’s recent earnings release and in particular, Peter Kern’s announced departure, came in a close second. Salacious headlines out...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including the latest on Hopper and its apparent ongoing transition. Enjoy....more
10/12/2023
/ Airlines ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Asia Pacific ,
B2B Organizations ,
Booking.com ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Travelers
This week's Online Travel Update is below. As evidenced by the number of stories in this issue, it was a busy week in the online travel world, ending with what appeared to be a distributor dogpile on competitor Hopper. Enjoy....more
For those of you in the U.S. and Canada, happy Independence Day. This week’s Update features a number of important legal updates – both in the U.S. and in the EU. The next 6-9 months should prove to be interesting as the EU...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including an update on the major online booking platforms’ latest quarterly marketing efforts. Highlights include...more
6/13/2023
/ AirBnB ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Booking.com ,
Capital One ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Travelers
For the first time, our weekly Update delves into the world of artificial intelligence (AI). We’ve tried for several months now to avoid joining the chorus of voices proselytizing about the likely effects of AI, but as the...more
6/6/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Expedia ,
Fees ,
FinTech ,
Hilton ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Hyatt ,
Marriott ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Travelers
Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, December 9, 2022, is below. Payments again feature prominently in this week’s Update as American Express (not to be outdone by Mastercard’s recent announcement)...more
This week’s Update covers a variety of topics, including persistent rumors regarding a possible Sabre sale and proposed new federal regulations governing airline fee disclosures that may one day serve as a foundation for...more
Our “vacation edition” of our weekly Online Travel Update is below. Our regular Updates will resume next week. Have a great week everyone....more
8/22/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Rewards Programs ,
Startups ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update leads with an important Data Privacy Update from Eva Novick, the newest member of our firm’s privacy and data security team. If you currently operate a loyalty program (or plan to introduce one soon), I...more
2/21/2022
/ Airlines ,
Amazon ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Cruise Ships ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Data Privacy ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Travelers
We begin this week’s Update with the announced acquisition of Getaroom by Booking Holdings. Enjoy....more
11/22/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Airlines ,
Apple ,
Booking.com ,
CEOs ,
Data Privacy ,
Delta Airlines ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
Sabre Likely to Face Anti-Trust Challenge -
("DOJ Poised to Sue to Block Sabre’s Deal for Farelogix," Bloomberg News on Aug 16, 2019)
Following up on a story we featured back in April...According to reports coming out...more
This week’s Update features a heavy dose of Airbnb as it celebrates a milestone. Enjoy....more
2/4/2019
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Business Travel ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Discount Pricing ,
Hotels ,
Military Service Members ,
Online Platforms ,
Partnerships ,
Predictive Analytics ,
Priceline ,
Travelers
Despite a Change in Name and Business Model, Priceline is Back -
("Remember Priceline? After a Comeback and a Name Change, It’s Betting Big on China," Wall Street Journal - Business, December 28, 2018)
Booking Holdings...more
Our weekly client OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 11, 2018 is below. This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including the third installment in our six-part series dissecting recent...more
5/21/2018
/ Airlines ,
Appeals ,
Cruise Ships ,
Data Privacy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Dismissals ,
ECPA ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Keyword Search ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Orbitz ,
Priceline ,
Tourism ,
Tourists ,
Travelers
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending March 30, 2018 is below. This week’s Update features a heavy dose of OTA updates....more
4/9/2018
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Brazil ,
Car Rentals ,
Competition Authorities ,
Customer Information ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Expedia ,
Hackers ,
Hotels ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Orbitz ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Priceline ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Travelers
This week’s OTA & Distribution Update for the week ending February 23, 2018 is below. Other than Airbnb’s much publicized rollout of its 53 new product lines (an exaggeration, but not by much), last week was a relatively slow...more
3/5/2018
/ AirBnB ,
Booking.com ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Hotels ,
Name Changes ,
Online Distribution ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
Websites
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update is below and features a variety of stories – EU regulation, AI-powered chatbots, direct booking, connectivity and taxes....more
2/19/2018
/ AirBnB ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Denial of Rehearing ,
EU ,
Expedia ,
Germany ,
Hotel Tax ,
Hotels ,
Municipalities ,
Online Platforms ,
Priceline ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Social Media ,
Stock Prices ,
Trivago
This week’s rather short OTA & Travel Distribution Update is below....more
2/12/2018
/ Airlines ,
Dividends ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Distribution ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Payment Systems ,
Priceline ,
Travel Delays ,
Travelers ,
Wells Fargo
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending January 19 is below. This week’s Update includes a heavy dose of short-term rental stories as well as details on Italian regulators’ recent efforts against...more
1/29/2018
/ AirBnB ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
European Commission ,
Expedia ,
Fines ,
Homeowners ,
Italy ,
Local Ordinance ,
Mobile Payments ,
Online Distribution ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Registration Requirement ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
Trivago ,
Websites
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending Friday, January 12, is below. This week’s Update features stories predominantly on OTAs....more
1/22/2018
/ AirBnB ,
Car Rentals ,
China ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Generation Z ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Marriott ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Distribution ,
Priceline ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Sales & Use Tax ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Tax Penalties ,
Travelers ,
Travelocity ,
Websites
This week’s Update for the shortened week ending Wednesday, November 22, is below....more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending November 10, 2017 is below. Senator Kobuchar’s recent request for an DOJ and FTC investigation into OTAs’ purportedly anti-competitive practices leads this...more
11/20/2017
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Expedia ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Homeaway ,
Hotels ,
Investigations ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Priceline ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Trivago ,
Twitter ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Websites
Navigating Disruptive Climates, hosted by Washington Hospitality Association, was held on October 22-24, 2017 at the Tulalip Resort Casino in Tulalip, Washington. My presentation at the conference, "The War Rages: Hotels vs....more
11/13/2017
/ AirBnB ,
Booking.com ,
Contract Terms ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Facebook ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Microsoft ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Orbitz ,
Priceline ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Trivago
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending October 27, 2017 is below. This week's Update includes a number of substantive stories on OTAs, particularly, European authorities’ renewed interest in OTAs’...more
11/6/2017
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Competition Authorities ,
Consumer Watchdog ,
Distributors ,
EU ,
Expedia ,
Financial Reporting ,
Germany ,
Homeaway ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Office of Fair Trading ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Price Match Guarantees ,
Priceline ,
Revenue Recognition Standard ,
Travelers ,
Trivago ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Websites