This week’s Update takes a close look at Booking Holdings’ recent fourth quarter and year-end earnings release. Enjoy....more
This week’s Update features a number of stories highlighting last week’s Skift Online Travel and Distribution Summit, as well as Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson’s incredible impact on Marriott and its view on online travel. Enjoy....more
3/1/2021
/ Airlines ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Marriott ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
United Airlines ,
Vacation Rentals
For readers who have been following our Online Travel Updates since its inception, we thank you for your continued support. In this year of 2021, June will mark our six-year anniversary of publishing these weekly updates...more
2/19/2021
/ Airlines ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Passports ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Startups ,
Travelers ,
Trivago ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Vacation Rentals ,
VRBO.com
Unlike our short Update last week, this week’s edition is filled with several important stories....more
2/15/2021
/ Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discount Pricing ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update contains something for everyone – currencies and payments, infringement claims and acquisitions. Enjoy....more
1/25/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Breach of Contract ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Trivago ,
Unjust Enrichment
This week’s Update features a variety of stories (all of which pale in comparison to the tumultuous events last week in Washington, D.C.), including two stories about the recent antitrust claims brought by Fareportal against...more
Happy New Year. Our inaugural 2021 Online Travel Update is below. In addition to sharing a new story about Expedia Group, we are once again providing a roundup of some of the major developments and trends that impacted the...more
1/8/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Expedia ,
FinTech ,
Google ,
Health and Safety ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Marketing ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
Travelers
We end 2020 with a heavy dose of antitrust/competition stories (which is a theme likely to continue into 2021), including updates from Russia, Croatia and the European Union. Those of you with properties in those markets may...more
12/31/2020
/ Anti-Monopoly ,
Booking.com ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Payment Systems ,
Russia ,
Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service ,
Transparency ,
Travelers
Last week’s news headlines were dominated with a major milestone in the short-term rental industry as Airbnb’s long-awaited IPO finally arrived. While many will continue to debate Airbnb’s initial valuation, one thing is...more
This week’s Update features a heavy dose of short-term rentals as the long-awaited Airbnb IPO finally arrives and many hoteliers seek to capitalize on growing (COVID-induced) traveler demand in this segment. Enjoy....more
12/15/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
International Tax Issues ,
Marriott ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Startups ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Litigation ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
Beginning with this edition, we’ve rebranded the name of our weekly Update from “OTA & Travel Distribution Update” to “Online Travel Update.” Why, you ask, did we change the name that has served us so well these past five...more
11/25/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
B2B Transactions ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Startups ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including the first of many upcoming profiles of PhocusWire's 2021 Hot Travel Startups focused on distribution and online travel. Enjoy....more
11/23/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
European Commission ,
FinTech ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Startups ,
Travelers
It’s earning season, and this week’s Update features a number of stories detailing the quarterly earnings releases from several of the largest online travel agencies (OTA) and global distributions system (GDS) companies....more
11/16/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Booking.com ,
Cancellation Rights ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Earnings Reports ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Refunds ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Trivago
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
11/2/2020
/ Airlines ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
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
10/26/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Health and Safety ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Transparency ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update features two stories on the growing (temporary?) phenomenon of using hotel guest rooms and other public spaces for those seeking an alternative arrangement to working from home and how those new remote work...more
10/19/2020
/ Airlines ,
Cookies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Office Space ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Remote Working ,
Rental Property ,
Search Engines ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including the big three industry players, Trip.com, Expedia and Booking.com; the always insightful update on the current status of airline distribution; and details on...more
10/5/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Algorithms ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers
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
9/28/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Marriott ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
Vacation Rentals
Pandemic, protests and riots and now wildfires. To say 2020 has been a challenging year is an understatement.
As I anticipated, with summer now officially behind us, things have again picked up in the distribution world....more
9/18/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Delta Airlines ,
Expedia ,
False Advertising ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
As summer was coming to a close last week (and people everywhere were doing best to hang onto the last few glimmers), there was little noteworthy news coming out of the distribution world. Enjoy....more
9/14/2020
/ Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Opt-In ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Travelers
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update includes Google prominently featured in the news and a new agreement for Choice Hotels. Enjoy....more
8/31/2020
/ Advertising ,
AirBnB ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Collection ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers
Parity Commitments Extended by Expedia and Booking.com -
(“Expedia, Booking.com voluntarily extend 'price parity' antitrust commitments, Aug 14, 2020 via MLEX Insight)
While the European Commission continues its...more
8/24/2020
/ Airlines ,
Asia ,
Booking.com ,
Collaboration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-Commerce ,
European Commission ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Search Engines ,
Travelers ,
Traveling Employee
Below is an abbreviated version of this week’s OTA &Travel Distribution Update. Enjoy....more
8/14/2020
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Direct to Consumer Sales ,
Financial Distress ,
Foreign Relations ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Revenue Growth ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
This week’s Update takes a deep dive into all things Expedia, and includes several stories regarding Expedia’s recent disastrous quarterly earnings release, an actual copy of the release as well as a copy of a complaint...more
8/11/2020
/ Advertising ,
AirBnB ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Downturn ,
Expedia ,
Financial Distress ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Revenue ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
Trivago