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
For those of you in the U.S. and Canada, happy Independence Day. This week’s Update features a number of important legal updates – both in the U.S. and in the EU. The next 6-9 months should prove to be interesting as the EU...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
For those of you in the United States, I hope you enjoyed your long holiday weekend – the unofficial kickoff to summer. Our weekly Online Travel Update is below. It’s been a few weeks since we featured a story on banks’...more
Welcome to our weekly Online Travel Update. Expedia’s many announcements at its Explore 23: Connect conference this past week garnered most of the industry headlines, while Uber moved closer to becoming a full online travel...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including updates on Ryanair’s attempts to stop platforms’ scraping of fares and other content from its website. We will continue to keep monitor Ryanair’s claims against...more
This week’s Update features an important update from my partner Eryn Hoerster on recently proposed federal legislation designed to reign in alleged drip pricing abuses. Readers of our Update know that we’ve featured several...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
This week’s Update features another heavy dose of earnings-related stories, including details from last week’s Booking Holdings release. If you are interested, we’ve linked below a copy of the transcript from Booking.com’s...more
Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending January 13, 2023, is below. This week’s Update features an interesting update on OTAs’ current loyalty programs and future ambitions and the recent (somewhat concerning)...more
Our first weekly Online Travel Update for 2023 is below. With many still celebrating the recent holidays, last week remained rather quiet in the online travel world. Enjoy....more
Happy New Year! We are once again providing a roundup of some of the major developments and trends in the online travel industry that caught our attention this past year. Wishing everyone a successful 2023....more
1/3/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Booking.com ,
Capital One ,
Climate Change ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Hotels ,
Influencers ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Travelers ,
Uber
Good Sunday afternoon from Seattle . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending November 11, 2022, is below. Booking Holdings features prominently in this week’s Update as its planned acquisition of Etraveli...more
This week’s Update delves back into resort fees and includes a story detailing planned future regulation of the fees by the FTC. While resort fees may not technically be an “online issue,” potential federal regulation will...more
11/10/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
Booking.com ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Cruise Ships ,
Digital Platforms ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Public Comment ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Travelers
Three of the four stories we feature in this week’s Update detail recent or ongoing examinations by competition regulators of the trade practices of several online travel platforms. Relatedly, we also include again a link to...more
11/10/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Big Tech ,
Booking.com ,
Capital One ,
Competition Authorities ,
Digital Platforms ,
EU ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
India ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rewards Programs ,
Spain ,
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
As you can see from the list of stories, it was a relatively quiet week in the world of online travel, with Booking.com garnering most of the attention. From my perspective, as Booking.com gets closer to delivering on Glenn...more
Sonesta Moves Small Group Bookings Online -
(“Sonesta Introduces Hybrid Concierge, a Digital Meeting Planning Service,” September 9, 2022 via Lodging Magazine)
Sonesta announced plans last week to offer groups the...more
This week’s Update features stories detailing several new booking platforms and Choice’s new direct billing product. Enjoy....more
It’s earnings season, and this week’s Update for the week ending August 5, 2022, is focused on recent quarterly releases from Booking Holdings and Expedia Group. I’ve also attached second quarter earnings call transcripts for...more
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including updates on CWT and Booking.com. Enjoy....more
It was another slow week in the online travel industry. Following up on our observations from a few weeks ago, we feature a story on banks’ now undeniable interest in travel. We also include a story on payments. This story is...more
With the Fourth of July holiday falling on Monday, last week was a relatively slow week in the online travel industry. Enjoy....more