Expedia News

Well, this is a surprise. Expedia's two top executives resign unexpectedly. And Barry Diller moves in.

Creating the connected trip means online travel agencies will have to become high-powered, tech-first, traditional travel agencies. It sounds cool but probably isn't feasible without major upheaval across the global travel market.

From the wishful thinking and hype of years ago, the connected trip is beginning to draw real investment and become a thing. It will take a very extended period of time to make it a more meaningful development. In that faraway horizon, will there indeed be any differentiation among the leading providers?

EDreams is certainly putting a lot of effort into its Prime subscription offering. The test will be how it goes down in other markets and how it performs over a number of years. Do the numbers stack up over the long term and will people keep renewing?

While it focuses on arresting a drop in Chinese arrivals, Thailand should spend equal or more time assessing why European arrivals are declining. It's the higher spending market. The reasons are different, and it's time for Thailand to look internally rather than blame external factors like Brexit, the baht, and a trade war for Europe's shrinkage.

In a very crowded and highly competitive short-term rental field, it makes sense that Expedia Group's Vrbo would try to stand out, albeit as a travel business serving families. Why go after the backpackers and younger generation when that isn't your core customer anyway?

Trivago's incoming CEO Axel Hefer signaled Thursday that the company would change its auctions to appeal more to advertisers. Most promising is how it will now let Booking.com and other advertisers bid for different types of customers for essentially the first time.

Expedia Group's stance on resort fees could have been drafted by a United Nations diplomat. Expedia doesn't want to alienate hotels and seeks to pick up market share based on Booking Holdings' more forceful position. But it's hitting resort-fee-charging hotels right where it hurts — in the prominence of their listings.

No pain, no gain, right? Expedia's Vrbo unit, which is almost an afterthought when it comes to discussions about Airbnb, Booking.com, and Google, has been undergoing a difficult transition. In itself, changing the leadership isn't the answer, but along with other changes, perhaps it won't hurt.

The road back to a flywheel of growth would be a lengthy one for Booking Holdings. Google has a ton of data, too, as do other competitors. Can Booking Holdings create a product that is really deeper and differentiated from its rivals? That's CEO Glenn Fogel's bet.