We’ve found fall to be the busiest of all seasons in the online travel world as everyone returns to work from summer breaks and the dates of the major online travel conferences are fast approaching. As you can see from the...more
9/27/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Booking.com ,
Fees ,
Google ,
Hilton ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
After several slow weeks in the industry, this past week featured a number of important updates, including earnings releases and calls from Booking Holdings and Expedia Group. Transcripts from the two companies’ earnings...more
8/8/2023
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Expedia ,
Fees ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Ryanair ,
Travelers ,
Trivago ,
VRBO.com ,
Wal-Mart
This week’s “vacation edition” Update features only two stories, the subjects of which have been featured in prior Updates. We will be back with our regular Updates next week!...more
This week’s Update features a wide variety of stories, including two on the growing influence of fintech products and their suppliers...more
6/21/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Expedia ,
FinTech ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
TikTok ,
Travelers
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
As evidenced by the stories in this week’s Update, this past week was a relatively quiet week in online travel. Not surprisingly, many of this past week’s headlines featured the recent report by Phocuswright suggesting that...more
This week’s Update features two anti-trust / competition law updates from the EU (the Netherlands) and South America (Chile). Enjoy....more
3/28/2023
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Social Media ,
South America ,
TikTok ,
Travelers
Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending February 3, 2023, is below. This week’s Update features of number of stories detailing the Biden Administration’s growing efforts to address “unfair” fees, including hotel...more
2/7/2023
/ Advertising ,
Airlines ,
Biden Administration ,
Credit Cards ,
Fees ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Travelers
Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Sunday, January 27, is below. This week’s Update provides updates on both DOT’s and FTC’s recent rulemaking efforts around “hidden” industry fees. Enjoy....more
1/31/2023
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Airlines ,
Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Google ,
Hidden Fees ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Travelers ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
It was another relatively quiet week in the online travel world, as evidenced by the stories below. The one obvious exception was the European Commission’s final publishing of the much-discussed Digital Markets Act (DMA),...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
This week’s Update features several stories detailing a recent report by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding mounting consumer credit concerns with buy now, pay later credit products...more
10/4/2022
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Expedia ,
FinTech ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Startups ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
Happy Labor Day to those of you in the U.S. celebrating our last gasp of summer. Last week’s Online Travel Update features several stories regarding Google’s recently announced plan to wind down entirely its “Book on Google”...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
This week’s Update features a variety of topics, including Fareportal’s deceptive sales tactics and Expedia’s self-proclaimed collaborative approach. Enjoy....more
This week’s Update includes two stories detailed Booking Holdings’ recent earnings release and a surprise story regarding Google’s hotel booking platform. Enjoy....more
This week’s Update features stories on Kayak, Hopper (again) and Shiji, and includes an important privacy update from California on loyalty programs....more
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
Happy holidays from snowy Seattle... As you can see from the stories we’ve included below, it was a very quiet week in online travel. Enjoy....more
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
Russian Authorities Impose Anti-Trust Penalty on Booking.com -
(“Booking.com Faces $17.5 Million Competition Fine in Russia,” August 26, 2021 via Skift) (subscription may be required)
Russia’s federal antimonopoly...more
9/27/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Booking.com ,
Fines ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service ,
Search Engines ,
Subscription Services ,
Tax Liability ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
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
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 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