Articles tagged “ahla”

Cracking down on Airbnb "Super Hosts," or those who use the platform on a "professional" full-time basis to operate illegal hotels, is becoming a serious hot button issue. If Airbnb wants to become more widely accepted, it has to assure local and state governments that its platform isn't becoming a front for illegal hotels.

While it's pretty clear that the hotel industry and Airbnb are at odds with one another, it's still obvious that more transparent data is sorely needed to understand the true impact of Airbnb and other home sharing platforms on cities and communities.

Advertising such as bidding programs can be a higher margin business than transactions for online travel agencies. It looks like Expedia, at least, wants to get involved in that bidding revenue that Google and metasearch players have generated for years.

Independent hoteliers are indeed exploring alternatives to the big online travel agencies, including finding ways to spur more direct bookings, but sometimes it seems like a steep, uphill battle.

Expedia's acquisition of Orbitz Worldwide would indeed limit consumer choice. However, what the American Hotel & Lodging Association doesn't mention is that Expedia-Orbitz would only control about 15 percent of the overall U.S. travel market when you consider hotels' own websites, phone lines and offline options in general.