Articles tagged “direct booking”

Hotel CEOs to investors: "Trust us, it was all worth it."

Sometimes, being bigger really can be better. Or at least that's what Marriott is telling itself.

Direct booking is not really a war where one side must lose. Both the large hotel chains and online travel agencies could wind up better off if they act rationally on pricing.

Red Lion Hotels is obviously a much smaller chain than a Hilton Worldwide or Marriott International. Still, Red Lion's deal to offer its member-only rates on Expedia.com and Hotels.com represents the start of some shifting in the direct-booking landscape. Expedia is a powerful force in hotel distribution and there will be more of these changes to come.

The big talking game we saw during the first quarter may have softened a bit in the second, but it's clear hotel CEOs are committed over the long term to pursuing and winning the direct bookings war.

Priceline Group Interim CEO Jeffery Boyd is too much of a gentleman and a professional to get into a public shouting match with his hotel-chain partners. Still, behind the scenes, he doesn't intend to sit back and let hotel chains withhold their lowest rates without taking retaliatory steps.

Wars aren’t won overnight. If hotels really want to make some inroads in taking back market share from online travel agencies, and owning the customer relationship entirely, they need to wage an all-out offensive that goes well beyond direct bookings.

Choice thus joins its peers and fellow Room Key partners, Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental, Hyatt and Wyndham in luring customers to book direct.

Quintessential North American vacation destinations like Orlando, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean remain popular with travelers despite global vacation booking trends shifting to more diverse countries and cities.

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.