Articles tagged “direct booking”

Red Lion Hotels is bucking the direct bookings push adopted by the likes of Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotel Group, Choice Hotels, Wyndham, and other big hotel players. Here's why.

Marriott is already one of the biggest players in the hospitality industry and in a few months, it'll be the biggest. Whatever the company decides to do — whether that's speaking up for LGBT rights and issues or pushing more direct bookings — is having a larger impact on the industry as a whole, and we spoke with CEO Arne Sorenson for his take on those issues, and other big challenges facing hospitality.

Shifting consumer demands for new destinations and more experiential trips may have finally caused a big impact on the way tour operators sell vacations.

By letting guests bid for rooms and getting hotels to engage in this practice, more guests are encouraged to book direct and understand the benefits of doing so.

Loyalty isn't necessarily a dying breed among millennials if a brand knows how to make a program appealing to their spending and lifestyle habits outside of travel. That means doubling down on experiences and diversifying how points are earned.

We knew this day would come.

Your move, Expedia and Priceline.

Now that Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and InterContinental have all joined the fray, it'll be interesting to see how the online travel agencies respond.

Marriott may have won Starwood in the bidding war of the year (thus far), but it's clear there's a lot of work that lies ahead for the company as it prepares to close its big deal by mid-year.

Online travel agencies and the looming Starwood-Marriott merger won't get Hilton down, according to Hilton's CEO. Solid first quarter earnings suggest a stable year ahead for the company. But will alienating online travel agencies and pursuing an asset-light strategy ultimately result in success? We'll have to see how the rest of the year plays out.