With the holidays rapidly approaching and the yearend only one week away, it is no surprise that the last week was fairly quiet. The one notable exception, however, was Trip.com, which released its financials on Thursday,...more
Despite what the calendar might say, winter has definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest. This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including a story or two on online travel agencies (OTAs), and stories on Vacasa’s...more
This week’s Update features stories about a number of emerging corporate travel startups, all of which expect, in one way or another, to take advantage of expected changes in the post-COVID corporate travel industry. Is it...more
For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week, happy holidays. This week’s Update features a wide variety of stories, including PhocusWire’s annual list of the 25 hot travel startups. Enjoy....more
11/29/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Advertising ,
Amazon ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Popular ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Startups ,
Sustainability ,
Travelers ,
Wyndham
We begin this week’s Update with the announced acquisition of Getaroom by Booking Holdings. Enjoy....more
11/22/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Airlines ,
Apple ,
Booking.com ,
CEOs ,
Data Privacy ,
Delta Airlines ,
Hotels ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Priceline ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
Last week was earnings week for many of the public online travel companies, and we’ve included stories summarizing those releases for several of the largest – Expedia Group, Airbnb, Booking Holdings and Sabre. We’ve also...more
11/15/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Amazon ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Act ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
India ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Ryanair ,
Surcharges ,
Travelers
Our cruise industry friends make an appearance in this week’s Update, one of their first appearances in some time. Enjoy....more
11/9/2021
/ Advertising ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Cruise Ships ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Fair Trade Commissions ,
Hotels ,
Huawei ,
Marriott ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
South Korea ,
Travelers ,
Trivago
This week’s Update features yet another story about Hopper as well as an important update on the future of keyword restrictions. Enjoy....more
11/1/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Hotels ,
Keyword Advertising ,
Keyword Search ,
Marriott ,
Mergers ,
Online Reviews ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Travelers ,
Virus Testing
This week’s Update again features a number of stories on fintech and its emerging influence on the travel and lodging industries. Enjoy....more
10/25/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
B2B Organizations ,
B2C ,
Capital One ,
Capital Raising ,
FinTech ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Investors ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Startups ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
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
10/18/2021
/ Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
E-Commerce ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Marriott ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Personal Data ,
Refunds ,
Rental Property ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers
Fall has definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest. It was a relatively quiet week in the online travel world. This week’s Update features a story on one of the most widely used Global Distribution Systems – Amadeus – as...more
Skift’s annual Skift Global Forum, which was held this past week, produced a number of newsworthy items for this week’s Update. Enjoy....more
10/4/2021
/ Airlines ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Expedia ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
MCR Hotels Trial Runs Attribute Pricing -
(“One of the US's largest hotel owners is charging guests $25 to use the swimming pool and $20 to check in early — but is cutting room prices in return,” August 18, 2021 via...more
9/27/2021
/ Airlines ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Capital Raising ,
FinTech ,
Hotels ,
Keyword Advertising ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rebates ,
Startups ,
Travelers ,
UK
Where did summer go? It was another quiet week in the online travel world, though I expect things may pick up in the weeks ahead as everyone returns from their summer breaks. 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
9/27/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Booking.com ,
Fines ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service ,
Search Engines ,
Subscription Services ,
Tax Liability ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor
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
9/15/2021
/ Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Capital Raising ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Revenue Growth ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update features stories on the divergent paths of two of the leading metasearch sites – Kayak and Trivago – and updates on recent efforts by airlines JetBlue and RyanAir to grow their direct bookings. Enjoy....more
9/14/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
European Commission ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Scams ,
Search Engines ,
Search Results ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Transparency ,
Travelers ,
Trivago
It was a relatively quiet week in the online travel world. Booking’s announcement last week about its launch of a new fintech business spurred several additional stories last week, two of which are included in this week’s...more
This week’s Update features details on two recently filed lawsuits — one by American Airlines against Sabre and the other against Southwest Airlines by airfare discounter, Skiplagged. Enjoy....more
7/20/2021
/ Airlines ,
American Airlines ,
Booking.com ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Payment Systems ,
Rental Property ,
Search Results ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Subscription Services ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals ,
VRBO.com
This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including details on the recent change in leadership at Booking.com in the Asia-Pacific region. Enjoy....more
7/6/2021
/ Airlines ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Authorities ,
Cookies ,
Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Travelers
This week’s Update features a number of important stories, including details of Tripadvisor’s official launch of Tripadvisor Plus in the United States and an important update on the 1-800 Contacts FTC enforcement action....more
7/2/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
Cruise Ships ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Expedia ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hilton ,
Hotels ,
Keyword Search ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Pricing ,
Trademarks ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals ,
VRBO.com
This week’s Update features two stories detailing the role that online buy now pay later companies hope to have in the travel industry’s recovery. Enjoy...more
6/14/2021
/ Airlines ,
Apple ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Payment Plans ,
Payment Systems ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vacation Rentals ,
Verizon
This week’s Update features a couple of stories (including one by Seattle’s own Geekwire.com) detailing the recent executive shake up at Expedia. Enjoy....more
6/7/2021
/ Expedia ,
Google ,
Hotels ,
Hotels.com ,
Market-Sharing ,
Municipalities ,
Occupancy Tax ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update contains a variety of stories, including details of a recent court win for German hoteliers and the recent musings of the always entertaining, Barry Diller. Enjoy....more
6/2/2021
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Booking.com ,
Competition Authorities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Expedia ,
Germany ,
Hotels ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Rental Property ,
Short-Term Lease ,
Travelers ,
Vacation Rentals
This week’s Update features a number of stories and perspectives on last week’s earnings releases from Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor. Enjoy....more
5/14/2021
/ Airports ,
Booking.com ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Earnings Reports ,
Expedia ,
Hotels ,
Marketing ,
Online Travel Vendors ,
Travelers ,
TripAdvisor ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports