This week’s Update features a variety of stories – short-term rental, airlines, resort fees and antitrust developments in both the United States and the EU. Enjoy....more
12/28/2020
/ Airlines ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Service Providers ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Fees ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Marketplace ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rental Property ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Search Engines ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
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
This week’s Update features our next PhocusWire Hot 2021 Startup, Volara. For those of you who have implemented (or considered implementing) voice-activated guest solutions, Volara is likely a familiar name. Enjoy....more
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
With this week’s Update, we welcome Amazon back to the distribution discussion with its recent introduction of Amazon Explore. Enjoy....more
10/12/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Business Development ,
Business Opportunities ,
Capital Raising ,
Certifications ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Travelers
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 Update features important updates on the status of rate parity in the EU and introduces yet again, new tools by Google for safety conscious travelers. Suppliers Come and Go on Google’s Short-Term Rental Platform ...more
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
It was a relatively quiet week for the distribution industry. Enjoy.
Family Travel Club Launched in the Midst of a Pandemic -
(“Online Family Travel Club Launched by Wall Street Journal Alums Unbowed by Pandemic,” Jul 20,...more
8/3/2020
/ Booking.com ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Fair Trade Commissions ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
South Korea ,
Travelers
It was a relatively quiet week on the distribution front. This past week, Airbnb garnered a lot of attention from the usual suspects and the not so usual…Enjoy. ...more
7/24/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Marketing ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Unions
Several themes emerged in this week’s stories, including the bullish return of short-term rentals and the continued direct booking efforts by airlines and the metasearch sites seeking to serve them. Enjoy....more
7/17/2020
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Expedia ,
Health and Safety ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Devices ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Rental Property ,
Singapore ,
Surcharges ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
Perhaps it was Canada Day or the Fourth of July holiday weekend, but last week was relatively quiet in the distribution world. Enjoy....more
7/10/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Expedia ,
Generic Marks ,
Hotels ,
Lanham Act ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Rental Property ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO