Our weekly OTA & Distribution Update for the week ending September 15, 2017 is below. The week’s short Update features a heavy dose of OTA stories.
("Priceline’s Booking Defends Commissions After Swiss Launch Probe Into ‘Abusive’ Pricing," Skift Travel News, September 14, 2017)
Switzerland’s pricing watchdog announced last week plans to open an investigation into the pricing practices of Booking.com after finding evidence that commissions charged some Swiss hoteliers could be abusive.
Expedia Adds Another Distribution Partner [OTA]
("Thomas Cook partners with Expedia for hotel sales," Reuter - Internet News, September 14, 2017)
Tour Operator Thomas Cook announced plans last week to make Expedia’s hotel inventory (as opposed to Thomas Cook’s own branded properties) available for certain in-city standalone and domestic holiday sales.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other news:
Forbes Business, September 12, 2017
The question remains: will Airbnb continue to expand its platform to online travel, further encroaching on OTAs market share?