The Buzz, An Economic Development Podcast | Episode 83: Duane Parrish, S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
Labor & Employment Symposium - Topics: Investigations into Sexual Harassment Allegations; State and Local Law Update
Private Equity's Inversion Excursion: Pepper Hamilton Talks Tax With the Deal
Pennsylvania Tavern Games Licenses
As you can see from the list of stories, it was a relatively quiet week in the world of online travel, with Booking.com garnering most of the attention. From my perspective, as Booking.com gets closer to delivering on Glenn...more
We begin this week’s Update with the promised overview of the DOJ’s recent guidance on the ADA and website accessibility. Enjoy....more
For readers who have been following our Online Travel Updates since its inception, we thank you for your continued support. In this year of 2021, June will mark our six-year anniversary of publishing these weekly updates...more
This week’s Update features a number of stories detailing the disastrous effects of COVID-19 on some well-known distributors. No one is immune from this current downturn....more
This week’s Update features a number of updates on previous stories, including our recent story on Expedia’s apparent abandonment of indirect and direct channel rate parity provisions in Australia. Enjoy....more
This past week, we saw a number of stories (including the one listed below) describing Booking.com’s potentially precarious financial position, which reveals just how broad of an impact this pandemic is having on the travel...more
South Korean Competition Authority Takes a Hard Look at Parity - (“Comment: Use by online-travel agencies of MFN clauses under study by South Korean antitrust watchdog,” MLex Insight on Dec 5, 2019) South Korea’s Fair...more
Consumer protection concerns are a re-occurring theme in this week’s Update. Proposed Legislation Targets Resort Fees - ("House Bill Would Halt Undisclosed Resort Fees," Benzinga.com on Sep 27, 2019) This past...more
A good mix of stories in this week’s Update, including another name change for one of the largest OTAs. Enjoy....more
Ettsa demands Europe-wide harmonisation of hotel booking rules - Travel Weekly (UK) - News on Aug 30, 2019 - The European technology and Travel Services Association (Ettsa) has demanded EU regulators enforce tighter...more
This week’s Update features a number of stories on important developments in the EU. Enjoy....more
This week’s Update includes status reports on several ongoing distribution-related court cases involving both hoteliers and distributors....more
Sales Principles Introduced for Online Booking Sites in the UK - ("Hotel Booking Sites Get Consumer-law Compliance Principles from CMA," MLex, March 1, 2019) (subscription required) By September 1, 2019, hotel booking...more
Expedia Gets Tough - ('Expedia sues United in fight over ticket-distribution costs," Seattle Times - Business, February 6, 2019) Although several sources reported late Friday that Expedia and United have agreed to...more
Expedia Expands Its Voice-Activation Résumé - ("Expedia Brings Voice Bookings, Cancellations and Rewards to Google Assistant," Skift Travel News, October 9, 2018) It was less than two years ago that we featured...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including an additional story on last week’s announcement by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority regarding its recent commenced enforcement efforts against several...more
This week’s Update features a number of “legal” updates to stories we have been following for some time. Enjoy....more
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) announced on 28th June 2018 that it is taking enforcement action against several hotel booking sites over potential breaches of consumer protection law. The CMA has not named...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update is below and features stories on both traditional OTAs and short-term rentals. Enjoy....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
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
On 27 October 2017, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it had launched investigations into several hotel booking websites on the grounds that they were potentially misleading consumers....more
CMA Seeks to Educate UK Hoteliers [PARITY] - ("Competition watchdog urges hotels to take advantage of demise of price parity," The Caterer - Latest Hospitality News, July 5, 2017) - If you recall, one of the key...more
European and national competition regulator interest in hotel prices and price parity clauses continues. On 5 July 2017, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a one page memo, intended to educate hotels on...more
We have followed over the last years Europe grappling with the issue of most favoured nation clauses and hotel booking. Our last update regarded a joint monitoring project between the CMA and the European Commission, designed...more