Dennis' Online Travel Briefing

In its rough outlines, Expedia begot Trip.com Group while Kayak and ITA Software begot Google Travel. Get ready for a flurry of clones in fintech, superapps, and subscription services in travel. In fact, it's already happening.

Did Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Tripadvisor, Oyo, and Marriott, among others, squirm a bit upon learning of Chinese regulators' latest antitrust crackdowns, this time against ridesharing giant Didi and food-delivery and hotel booker Meituan? If not, they should.

Hotwire is calling out the online travel industry for its failure to focus on anything but price, price, price. As a discount travel business, that message drips with irony.

Expedia's Vrbo isn't a global Airbnb killer, nor does it have to be. Vrbo will pick its spots, but that will be a disappointment to those hosts, frustrated and angry with Airbnb, who are looking for some company to take Airbnb down a peg.

Tripadvisor CEO Steve Kaufer told Skift that Tripadvisor Plus is "a super-high priority for the company." The program may find enthusiasts at the property level, but so far the largest hotel chains don't appear to be leaping on board.

Google eventually will monetize its vacation rental listings, but paid advertisements in its Things To Do vertical will happen sooner. Conscientious objectors Airbnb, Expedia/Vrbo and Booking, which aren't participating with Google in vacation rentals for now, will likely have something to say about the shape of that money grab.

Tripadvisor and Trip.com Group maintain that their strategic partnership is as strong as ever even though the Chinese company just sold 20 percent of the shares it owns in Tripadvisor and is likely to sell a lot more this year. Rhetoric aside, you can't spin away that fact.

Behind the scenes, China's competition crackdown on internet platforms could eventually have a larger impact on Trip.com Group's partnerships, business practices, and mergers than is generally appreciated. Although a reversal is unlikely, even Trip.com's 2015 acquisition of Qunar has drawn scrutiny.

Airbnb seemed to be disciplined about its marketing spend during the first quarter, and didn't return to the bad old days of 2019 in terms of freewheeling spending. The true test will be this summer when rivals crank up their performance marketing campaigns.

Vrbo indeed seems to be stealing a bit of market share from Airbnb in the U.S. in recent months, albeit from a much smaller base. Vrbo's aggressive marketing campaign earlier this year appears to be paying off.