Articles tagged “booking holdings”

TripAdvisor is increasing its roster of Instant Booking partners, including hotels and online travel agencies, although it hasn't landed any of the bigger OTAs like Expedia or Booking.com and that limits comprehensiveness.

Airbnb's business model (3% commissions) is more host-friendly than HomeAway's (10% commissions). It's good news, except that it runs contrary to all the company's marketing messaging.

Booking.com knows a few things about website creation and it plans on sharing these skills with hotels and becoming a key tech provider to them in the near future. The distribution business would still be primary, but Booking.com officials are bullish about its prospects in the B2B sector.

Well this is bound to be interesting. Amazon appears to be going it alone to launch its own travel service for independent hotels in drive markets. Amazon has huge marketing power, but don't expect Amazon Travel to turn the hotel industry on its head any time soon.

These are cliches, but true: It's mostly about the team and their ability to execute. Business models help, too: As Priceline's Glenn Fogel says, "Good execution of an OK idea is a lot better than lousy execution of a brilliant idea."

Airline, hotel and car rental apps are rated by users as being well below the quality of travel booking apps. That they trail the travel booking apps isn't a huge surprise, but the the size of the ground they would have to gain to catch up is fairly daunting.

The empire strikes back. Google is experimenting with new ways to monetize users who may search for a brand after viewing an online travel agency's TV commercial. The online travel agencies, meanwhile, will continue to look for ways to reduce their dependence on Google.

Hotel Urbano is focused on being a Big Data-infused travel company with an online travel agency platform in Brazil, one of the largest emerging markets in the world. Hotel Urbano claims it is not only riding that demand, but is also creating it.

There have been a flurry of acquisitions in hotel tech B2B solutions companies in 2014, and cash-rich Alibaba is going to be a player in the category.

Is Sabre worried about Booking.com getting into the hotel B2B game? Not overly, but in acquiring Genares, Sabre is proving that the best defense is a good offense.