This week’s Update features a couple of stories (including one by Seattle’s own Geekwire.com) detailing the recent executive shake up at Expedia. Enjoy....more
6/7/2021
/ Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Hotels.com ,
Market-Sharing ,
Municipalities ,
Occupancy Tax ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update contains a variety of stories, including details of a recent court win for German hoteliers and the recent musings of the always entertaining, Barry Diller. Enjoy....more
6/2/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Authorities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Germany ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update features a number of stories and perspectives on last week’s earnings releases from Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor. Enjoy....more
5/14/2021
/ Airports ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Earnings Reports ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports
This week’s Update features a number of stories on the largest online distributors as well as a story on an interesting new player that focuses exclusively on hoteliers’ “beyond bed” ancillaries and experiences. Enjoy....more
5/3/2021
/ Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Occupancy Tax ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Rebranding ,
Sales Tax ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Legislation ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update provides several updates on stories we featured previously, including details on Expedia’s recent settlement of false advertising claims that we first detailed back in 2016. Enjoy....more
While the debate around health care passports continues, our latest Update offers Booking Holdings’ CEO’s perspective on the growing controversy. We also take a look at two major distributors’ plans for public offerings – one...more
4/20/2021
/ Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Expedia ,
Failure to Notify ,
Fines ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Travelers ,
Vaccine Passports
It was another relatively quiet week in the online travel world as evidenced by our stories below. Expedia Group’s introduction of its Fast Track program designed to recruit unhappy Airbnb hosts and its rollout of AI-enabled...more
4/13/2021
/ Airlines ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Commodities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update provides additional information (and perspectives) on Tripadvisor’s new subscription program (Tripadvisor Plus), parity updates from South Korea and the latest on Fareportal’s antitrust claims against...more
3/29/2021
/ Airlines ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
B2C ,
Booking.com ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Hotels.com ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Price Comparisons ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Search Results ,
South Korea ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update features stories on Google’s recently announced online third-party tracking changes, the (permanent) nature of virtual experiences, growth of “digital” kitchens and important updates on what group events...more
3/15/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Cookies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Private Equity ,
Rental Property ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update takes a close look at Booking Holdings’ recent fourth quarter and year-end earnings release. 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
2/19/2021
/ Airlines ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Passports ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Startups ,
Travelers ,
Trivago ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Vacation Rentals ,
VRBO.com
Unlike our short Update last week, this week’s edition is filled with several important stories....more
2/15/2021
/ Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discount Pricing ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Online Travel Update features updates to a number of stories that we covered previously – online vaccination records, Apple’s privacy policy and the many challenges associated with regulating online platforms’...more
2/5/2021
/ Advertising ,
Airlines ,
Apple ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Expedia ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Passports ,
Privacy Policy ,
Television Commercials ,
Travelers ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Virus Testing ,
Web Tracking
Happy New Year. Our inaugural 2021 Online Travel Update is below. In addition to sharing a new story about Expedia Group, we are once again providing a roundup of some of the major developments and trends that impacted the...more
1/8/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Expedia ,
FinTech ,
Google ,
Health and Safety ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Marketing ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
Travelers
We end 2020 with a heavy dose of antitrust/competition stories (which is a theme likely to continue into 2021), including updates from Russia, Croatia and the European Union. Those of you with properties in those markets may...more
12/31/2020
/ Anti-Monopoly ,
Booking.com ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Payment Systems ,
Russia ,
Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service ,
Transparency ,
Travelers
Last week’s news headlines were dominated with a major milestone in the short-term rental industry as Airbnb’s long-awaited IPO finally arrived. While many will continue to debate Airbnb’s initial valuation, one thing is...more
It’s earning season, and this week’s Update features a number of stories detailing the quarterly earnings releases from several of the largest online travel agencies (OTA) and global distributions system (GDS) companies....more
11/16/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Booking.com ,
Cancellation Rights ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Earnings Reports ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Refunds ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Trivago
Last week was relatively quiet on the distribution front. Enjoy.
Tensions Between Google and Booking.com Become Public -
(“Booking.com and Google Clash in Europe as Regulators Target Both,” October 29, 2020 via Skift...more
What started out as a relatively quiet week in the distribution world ended with a flurry of activity and announcements (some were expected and some were not). I hope you enjoy....more
11/2/2020
/ Airlines ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
Travelers Seeking Increased Transparency -
(“Skyscanner, Expedia, Hopper on need for transparency in travel retailing,” Oct 14, 2020 via Phocus Wire)
In a recent roundtable held at the Open Industry Summit: The New...more
10/26/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Health and Safety ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Transparency ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update features two stories on the growing (temporary?) phenomenon of using hotel guest rooms and other public spaces for those seeking an alternative arrangement to working from home and how those new remote work...more
10/19/2020
/ Airlines ,
Cookies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Office Space ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Remote Working ,
Rental Property ,
Search Engines ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
With this week’s Update, we welcome Amazon back to the distribution discussion with its recent introduction of Amazon Explore. Enjoy....more
10/12/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Business Development ,
Business Opportunities ,
Capital Raising ,
Certifications ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Travelers
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including the big three industry players, Trip.com, Expedia and Booking.com; the always insightful update on the current status of airline distribution; and details on...more
10/5/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Algorithms ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers
This week’s Update features a number of stories on short-term rentals, which is a trend that we will likely see continue as interest continues to grow over Airbnb’s long-awaited IPO. Enjoy....more
9/28/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Marriott ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
Vacation Rentals
Pandemic, protests and riots and now wildfires. To say 2020 has been a challenging year is an understatement.
As I anticipated, with summer now officially behind us, things have again picked up in the distribution world....more
9/18/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Delta Airlines ,
Expedia ,
False Advertising ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals