Interview: Trivago Building Big Team in Shift Toward Direct-Hotel Relationships
Photo Credit: Johannes Thomas, Trivago's managing director in charge of hotels, wants to reduce the company's reliance on advertising from online travel agencies. Trivago
Skift Take
Oh, it's downright trendy. Trivago's new tilt toward building direct ties to hotels takes place as TripAdvisor is signing up chain after chain for its book-on TripAdvisor Instant Booking product, Google has debuted a similar initiative, Booking.com has created its BookingSuite hotel division, and Expedia has debuted a mobile app for hotels to manage rates and access analytics.
Search for a hotel in New York City on travel-comparison site Trivago.com and the booking links you'll see are overwhelmingly to online travel agencies, from Expedia and Priceline.com to Booking.com and lesser-known sites.
In fact, in a search for an October 18 stay, you have to scroll down to the 11th listing, well below the "fold," for a blue-highlighted link to an official hotel website, in this case to the Holiday Inn 6th Ave. - Chelsea in New York City.
In an exclusive interview [see Q&A below] with Skift, Johannes Thomas, Trivago managing director and head of hotel relations, says the company has shifted strategy over the last year toward emphasizing direct relationships with hotels in part because they are the best source of "exceptional" content about their properties.
Asked whether Google's and TripAdvisor's moves to accept hotel bookings on their own sites is an opportunity or a challenge for Trivago, Thomas says, "I think it is both. I think it is a big task an
