Good Sunday morning from Seattle . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, July 12, 2024, is below. Marriott and its launch of a new small and medium sized business travel platform garnered most of the...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including interviews with two of the online travel industries major influencers, Ariane Goren of Expedia and Drew Pinto of Marriott. I hope you enjoy....more
This week’s Update features a wide variety of topics – Hopper, Capital One vacation rentals, Expedia layoffs and Hilton campgrounds....more
The big news last week of course was Peter Kern’s announcement that he is stepping down as Expedia Group CEO in May. Peter’s announcement came as part of an otherwise robust quarterly earnings release for Expedia. What...more
This week’s Online Travel Update is below. With summer now in full swing, it is no surprise that last week was another relatively quiet week in the online travel world. Speculation continues around the Expedia / Hopper...more
For the first time, our weekly Update delves into the world of artificial intelligence (AI). We’ve tried for several months now to avoid joining the chorus of voices proselytizing about the likely effects of AI, but as the...more
Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending February 17, 2023, is below. This week’s Update features a number of stories coming out of last week’s quarterly earnings releases by several of the largest online travel...more
With the Fourth of July holiday falling on Monday, last week was a relatively slow week in the online travel industry. Enjoy....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 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
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
States Consider Privacy and Data Security Legislation - It’s that time of year again, when we see a flood of legislative activity at the state level on privacy and data security laws. A couple of recent examples are below....more
With 2020 now upon us and 2019 in the rearview mirror, I thought this would be a good time to take a look back at the stories (and the themes that the stories represent) we covered in 2019 that I believe will have the largest...more
...As for the Update, it was a relatively quiet week on the distribution front as opinions and viewpoints regarding the recently announced Expedia/Marriott agreement continue to roll in. What this agreement might ultimately...more
This week’s Update is by far one of the most substantive Updates we’ve had in some time. Enjoy....more
This week’s Update includes additional background information regarding the ongoing resort fee saga, which many of you requested. Enjoy....more
This week features another travel-shortened OTA & Travel Distribution Update. We will return with our regular format next week....more
While Marriott’s entrance into the vacation rental business garnered most of the attention this week (we’ve included one of the many stories written this week about Marriott’s move), a few other stories warranted inclusion in...more
Travel Agency Hit With TCPA Class Action Over Cuba Texts - Law 360 - Cybersecurity & Privacy on Aug 10, 2018 (subscription required) An online travel agency that arranges trips to Cuba got slapped with a proposed class...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending June 8, 2018 is below. This week’s Update is a lengthy one and includes our sixth and final installment of our series in anti-trust challenges to hoteliers’...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 18, 2018, is below. This week’s Update features our fourth installment in our 6-part series on alleged anti-trust abuses by hoteliers arising from their...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending April 6, 2018 is below. A variety of stories are featured in this week’s Update, including an interesting follow up story on Red Lion’s somewhat unique (and...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending Friday, January 12, is below. This week’s Update features stories predominantly on OTAs....more