Travel Industry Earnings Coverage

The advantage that Travelzoo has that other new entrants in hotel booking don't is those 24.5 million registered members/newsletter subscribers. If Travelzoo can tweak its hotel booking engine and get it going, then at least it already has an audience.

The Priceline Group won't admit it but its management is feeling the heat from Expedia Inc.'s moves. Adding Orbitz Worldwide to Expedia Inc. will only increase Expedia's inorganic growth, which is growth nonetheless.

Hotels are ambitiously opening new rooms, entering new markets, and increasing rates in order to take advantage of growing outbound travel, however, their growth should be tempered by memories of what too much supply and too little demand felt like during the downturn.

There indeed is magic in the MyMagic+ wristbands for The Walt Disney Co. as it is making for a more efficient operation and is helping to increase visitor spending. Abracadabra.

American and US Airways reacted fairly quickly to the competitive threat from the low cost carriers, but this battle will be ongoing in 2015.

Delta is certainly feeling its oats these days with a windfall from the drop in fuel prices and its top-performing stock. No need right now to make any concessions on fares or to pay lip service to distribution through online travel agencies.

Having seen airline fashion icons go bust, we warm to an airline smart enough to go classic.  

Qunar is the fastest growing online travel company by far among the Big Three in China, although it is less than half the size of industry leader Ctrip. Can Qunar keep it up? Ctrip is feeling the pressure and is having to dial back on profits to ensure it will stay on top.

For chains such as Hilton Worldwide, which attract their share of business travelers, figuring out a way to fill rooms on the weekends is a constant challenge. Hilton is making progress, though, and perhaps the trend of road warriors tacking on leisure trips could be a contributing factor.

The Priceline Group is moving much closer to Ctrip with a minority stake and CEO Darren Huston points to a series of additional moves in China in the next few years. Ctrip, though, hasn't always played well with other partners so it remains to be seen whether familial relations between these new second cousins will be long-standing.