Dennis' Online Travel Briefing

Given Google's global market clout, none of its product introductions and activities should be dismissed. But Expedia's CEO Peter Kern got feisty and made a good point that Expedia has transaction data, which can be more useful for hotels and tourism boards, than mere search data. Unless Google ups its booking game, and then all bets are off.

Before the pandemic turned the world sideways, nearly 12 percent of Airbnb's revenue last year came from its top 10 cities. But among them, cities like Lisbon and San Diego are taking radical steps to limit their short-term rental portfolios. Are investors overlooking the likelihood of vastly more stringent regulations?

If Airbnb hasn't already devoted resources anew to HotelTonight and expanding its hotel business, the short-term rental giant assuredly will once it goes public. After all, in addition to Google, Airbnb sees online travel agencies, with their wide breadth of accommodations' offerings, as its most significant set of competitors. 

Regulators in China, Europe, and the U.S. can certainly screw up on execution of their goals with over-regulation, under-regulation, or initiatives that are off-target. But there's something happening around the globe that points to a new and potentially hopeful era for competition and innovation.

When GetYourGuide criticized Google for promoting an uneven competitive playing field, some GetYourGuide partners accused GetYourGuide of similar transgressions in the way it markets its Originals tours. GetYourGuide vowed to make amends, the results of which will only become clear in a few months.

Booking.com, Airbnb, Marriott, and every high-end retail shop on the Champs-Élysées want to see the proliferation of Alipay and other digital payment services to capture the spending of Chinese travelers. But Alipay's key cross-border payments strategy, despite a record-setting IPO, has run into major snags.

Give Tripadvisor credit for its attempts mid-pandemic to diversify its various revenue streams at a time when Google is rising. But the latest push to get price-conscious travelers to book their entire trips on Tripadvisor will be a tough sell.

If the U.S. Department of Justice indeed takes imminent steps to begin the process of leveling the playing field for Google's travel advertisers and competitors in other verticals, the size of the impact would depend on the specifics. There will be a lot of wrangling — and this could be the beginning of the beginning.

With thousands of hotels going out of business and up for sale, and vacation rentals business booming in certain destinations, there will be a ton of disruption and convergence in hospitality. Savvy short-term rental operators can pick off some direct bookings, but the mega online travel agencies will hardly notice.

Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern is waging a simplicity campaign. Turning the Expedia and Hotels.com loyalty programs into a single plan might make sense. But one thing definitely on the agenda is trimming marketing through Google, a company Kern characterized as a "shark."