Articles tagged “connected trip”

The vacation rental industry often touts the esprit de corps among industry lifers. Greeted with Booking.com ads for hosts at an Expedia partner conference in Sin City this week, Expedia officials weren't feeling that vibe.

As part of its "connected trip" and loyalty strategy, Booking Holdings argued it can convince hotels and other partners to offer up substantial discounts and perks, and this would spur incremental bookings. But do hotels really want to be a cog in building the Booking.com brand?

Shouldn't Booking.com have launched flights at least a decade ago? In retrospect, yes, but now it is making up for lost time, and the upside could be substantial.

Booking CEO Glenn Fogel's "connected trip" strategy has drawn critics, but he did make a compelling case for the need for it, and just how broken the travel experience still really is.

Tripadvisor's travel-planning help by text for Tripadvisor Plus subscribers plays to the company's strengths — user reviews and a global roster of hotels, restaurants and things to do listings. It really can't compete, though, with a real travel agent who has visited the destination and knows the hotel general manager personally.

Booking.com faces tough-going in U.S. short-term rentals. Its business model has hosts perceiving they pay lower commissions to Airbnb, and the latter is has a big brand advantage. At the same time, Booking.com needs to defend Airbnb incursions on its own European turf.

For years, industry analysts would muse: When is Booking.com going to launch flights? Well, now that business is showing strength, albeit from a small base. Seen as strategic, that airline ticket business comes at a price — lower profit margins.

The geographic business mix of Booking Holdings has always been a tightly held secret. The trajectory of the uneven recovery, with the U.S. being its strongest and Europe the weakest regions, prompted the company the tell-all. The dynamic proved disadvantageous for Booking's short-term rentals.

JetBlue has a strong brand and plans to curate the short-term rental inventory it offers with the backing of its own customer service abilities rather than relegating that to a partner. This expansion is worth a try, but will come with brand risks.

Will it be hotels or alternative accommodations that bounce back first? Booking Holdings officials said they see a shift toward alternative accommodations when travelers are booking stays at least two months in advance. But this trend won't necessarily stick over the long term.