With the Fourth of July holiday falling on Monday, last week was a relatively slow week in the online travel industry. Enjoy....more
The “vacation edition” of our weekly Online Travel Update is below. Our regular Online Travel Update will be back next week....more
Like prior weeks’ Updates, this week’s Update features stories on the growing phenomenon of fintech and its effect on the travel industry. Enjoy....more
This week’s Update features stories on Hopper and its latest fintech offering, Agoda’s new “eco” oriented discount program and Expedia Group’s Peter Kern’s summer travel plans (watch the video). Enjoy....more
Last week’s Update features stories on two less frequently used social media platforms – Instagram and Snapchat – and details the brewing battle among banking companies for travel industry legitimacy. I hope you enjoy....more
6/13/2022
/ Advertising ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Booking.com ,
Capital One ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Instagram ,
Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Rental Property ,
Snapchat ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
Last week’s Update features a variety of stories, including updates on several platforms that we don’t routinely cover – Kakao, Agoda and Trip.com. Enjoy....more
With earnings season upon us, it was difficult to limit this week’s Update to just 12 stories. For those of you seeking a deeper dive into the latest on online booking platforms, Expedia Group and Booking Holdings I encourage...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
5/2/2022
/ Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Expedia ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fake Reviews ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Influencers ,
New Rules ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
Social Media ,
Sustainability ,
Travelers ,
Trivago ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Last week was all about loyalty as we saw a number of stories on the new roles that technology and online platforms are playing for hoteliers seeking to update and expand (or even launch) their loyalty programs. We include...more
This week’s Online Travel Update features a variety of stories, including a follow up story on Uber’s ongoing transition from ride hailing app to super app. Enjoy....more
4/25/2022
/ Advertising ,
Airlines ,
Anti-Monopoly ,
Booking.com ,
Capital Raising ,
Car Rentals ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Russia ,
Travelers ,
Uber
After a few quiet weeks, last week produced a number of stories that caught our attention and made it into our weekly Update, including two interesting stories on customer reviews. Enjoy....more
4/12/2022
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Booking.com ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Competition ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Defamation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Expedia ,
Google Maps ,
Health Inspections ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Libel ,
Marketing ,
Online Reviews ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tortious Interference ,
Travelers ,
Yelp
This week’s Update features a variety of topics, including Fareportal’s deceptive sales tactics and Expedia’s self-proclaimed collaborative approach. Enjoy....more
What a week it has been watching the horrible events unfold in Ukraine. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those in Ukraine or with family in Ukraine....more
3/14/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Russia ,
Ryanair ,
Travelers ,
Uber
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
Our first Update of 2022 includes a number of stories on the evolving marketing tactics of both hotels and their distribution partners. Enjoy....more
1/24/2022
/ Advertising ,
Booking.com ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Travelers ,
VRBO.com
For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week, happy holidays. This week’s Update features a wide variety of stories, including PhocusWire’s annual list of the 25 hot travel startups. Enjoy....more
11/29/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Advertising ,
Amazon ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Startups ,
Sustainability ,
Travelers ,
Wyndham
Last week was earnings week for many of the public online travel companies, and we’ve included stories summarizing those releases for several of the largest – Expedia Group, Airbnb, Booking Holdings and Sabre. We’ve also...more
11/15/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Act ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
India ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Ryanair ,
Surcharges ,
Travelers
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including stories regarding Expedia’s planned roll up of its loyalty programs and Marriott’s recently announced loyalty program partnership with Japanese e-commerce platform,...more
10/18/2021
/ Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
E-Commerce ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Marriott ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Personal Data ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers
Skift’s annual Skift Global Forum, which was held this past week, produced a number of newsworthy items for this week’s Update. Enjoy....more
10/4/2021
/ Airlines ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
Last week was earnings release week for three of the major online travel platforms – Expedia Group, Booking Holdings and Tripavisor. This week’s Update includes transcripts from the three platforms’ earnings calls as well as...more
9/15/2021
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Capital Raising ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Revenue Growth ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update features stories on the divergent paths of two of the leading metasearch sites – Kayak and Trivago – and updates on recent efforts by airlines JetBlue and RyanAir to grow their direct bookings. Enjoy....more
9/14/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
European Commission ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Scams ,
Search Engines ,
Search Results ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Transparency ,
Travelers ,
Trivago
It was a relatively quiet week in the online travel world. Booking’s announcement last week about its launch of a new fintech business spurred several additional stories last week, two of which are included in this week’s...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including details on the recent change in leadership at Booking.com in the Asia-Pacific region. Enjoy....more
7/6/2021
/ Airlines ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Authorities ,
Cookies ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Travelers
This week’s Update features a number of important stories, including details of Tripadvisor’s official launch of Tripadvisor Plus in the United States and an important update on the 1-800 Contacts FTC enforcement action....more
7/2/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
Cruise Ships ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Expedia ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hilton ,
Hotels ,
Keyword Search ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Pricing ,
Trademarks ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals ,
VRBO.com
This week’s Update features two stories detailing the role that online buy now pay later companies hope to have in the travel industry’s recovery. Enjoy...more
6/14/2021
/ Airlines ,
Apple ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Payment Plans ,
Payment Systems ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals ,
Verizon