Good Sunday morning from Seattle . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, March 28, 2025, is below. This week’s Update features stories on a variety of topics including Perplexity’s big booking...more
Good Sunday morning from Seattle . . . Our Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, January 17, 2025, is below. Other than Perplexity’s newly announced partnership with TripAdvisor (readers, please read the story...more
This week’s Update again features a wide variety of stories, including an important update on the much beleaguered spokesman for metasearch site, Trivago. Enjoy....more
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
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 includes two stories detailed Booking Holdings’ recent earnings release and a surprise story regarding Google’s hotel booking platform. Enjoy....more
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
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
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
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
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
This week’s Update features a number of updates on previous stories, including our recent story on Expedia’s apparent abandonment of indirect and direct channel rate parity provisions in Australia. Enjoy....more
Russian Investigators Looking into Booking.com’s Practices - (“Russian competition watchdog opens investigation into Booking.com,” Reuters on Dec. 30, 2020) On Monday, December 30, Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly...more
Algorithms Under EU Scrutiny - (“Algorithms might raise collusion concerns, Franco-German study says,” MLex Insight on Nov 8, 2019) As many of you probably already know, algorithms are the heart and soul of most online...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update features a number of stories on recent changes at Google with regard to the way in which it displays vacation rentals and the market’s response to those changes. Enjoy....more
Fall has definitely arrived here in the Pacific Northwest. This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update is below and features stories on TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Vacasa and the soon-to-be-effective, Strong Customer...more
This week’s Update includes additional background information regarding the ongoing resort fee saga, which many of you requested. Enjoy....more
The week’s stories remind us how quickly things continue to change in the distribution landscape. Enjoy....more
Regulation of Large Online Platforms is Coming to Japan - ("Online platforms may face stricter rules, enforcement in Japan, panel says, MLex, November 5, 2018) Following up on a story (and prediction) included in last...more
Navigating Disruptive Climates, hosted by Washington Hospitality Association, was held on October 22-24, 2017 at the Tulalip Resort Casino in Tulalip, Washington. My presentation at the conference, "The War Rages: Hotels vs....more