Booking Holdings

Priceline's Jeffery Boyd is going out -- from the CEO post, at least -- at the top, and the guy with a banker's demeanor will come to be viewed as a rock star of online and mobile travel. We don't know about groupies, but there certainly are a ton of imitators.

The changing of the guard is now official -- in more ways than one.

One of Expedia's answers to Booking.com is the Expedia Traveler Preference Program, giving consumers the choice to prepay for a hotel (merchant model) or pay at the hotel (an agency model like Booking.com's). Booking.com's sole use of the agency model gives it a speed advantage as the merchant model is more complicated when signing on and retaining hotels.

The Expedia-Travelocity deal won't likely trigger a lot of consolidation because there aren't a lot of U.S. pieces left worth buying.

By no means comprehensive, but by all means insightful, the report is a brief summation of how digital trends are impacting the travel industry and how travel companies can keep ahead of the pack.

Priceline is anxious to see what it terms its Booking.com "experiment" in the U.S., replete with offline branding campaign, succeed. Given the volatily in subsidiary Booking.com's core European market, growth in the U.S., alongside Priceline.com, would serve as a hedge against Europe's troubles.

Frequent travelers have plenty of incentive to earn miles through Rocketmiles, but the startup will have to expand its hotel options and offer a cleaner experience than its competitor for sustainable growth.

HomeAway's Brian Sharples isn't worried about online travel agencies getting into vacation rentals. InterContinental, Marriott and Hilton have the OTAs on a relatively tight leash, and won't stand for a serious flirtation with those dreaded vacation rentals.