Tag: OTA

Briefing: The battle for bookings pivots on tech

Posted on by Guy Lean

According to Hipmunk, an online travel company, one-half of millennials say they’re “travel hackers”, meaning they know the best way to get a good travel deal. Research from Google states that only 23% of leisure travellers are confident they can find all of the same hotel and flight information on their smartphone that they can on their desktop. In the battle for bookings consumer behaviour is being swayed by on-going technological changes, opportunities for efficiency and value, and curiosity about new products.

In these videos experts discuss booking technology:

While the booking portals that travellers are using are changing, booking a holiday is still generally considered a big ticket purchase and requires a lot of consideration, planning and saving. Infact research from WordPay found that in the US, 72% of people still use instalment-based payments for vacation packages.

This also means that travel researchers are using multiple devices to ensure they have the best deal. A report from Google shows 94% of leisure travellers switch between devices as they plan or book a trip, and two thirds of leisure travellers double-check prices on a desktop after shopping.

More and more websites and opportunities for ‘travel hacking’ continue to appear. A website called Dream Cheaper is now even offering to help find travellers a better deal after they have booked.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Ctrip and OTAs globally

Posted on by Guy Lean

In January Ctrip invested US$180m in MakeMyTrip Limited, India’s largest online travel company and also entered the UK market by buying a majority stake in Travelfusion, a UK-based meta-search website.

The words OTA and disruption have almost become synonymous in the hospitality industry. Ctrip is a major OTA in China and is now making an impact across the globe. Ctrip’s pricing methods are also relevant to rate parity discussions across the industry.

In these videos experts discuss Ctrip and the OTAs’ disruptive potential across the globe.

Constant deals and consolidation in the OTA market means that the powerful are getting more powerful, and as discussed above rate parity is not yet an issue the industry has put to bed.

Ctrip was launched in 1999. It’s net revenue for 2015 was US$1.7 bn. Accommodation reservation revenues increased 44% year-on-year, reaching US$713 m, and transportation ticketing revenues increased 51% year-on-year, reaching US$688m.

Ctrip’s agreement with MakemyTrip means that it “may beneficially own up to 26.6% of MakeMyTrip’s outstanding shares. Upon completion of the investment, Ctrip will acquire the right to appoint a director to the MakeMyTrip board of directors.”

Ctrip claim that its relationship with Travel fusion will “enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of [Ctrip’s] IT system by leveraging Travelfusion’s advanced technology” as well as “further extending [Ctrip’s] leadership in China’s international travel market”

Last Year Ctrip also acquired a stake costing $400m in eLong, its rival OTA in China.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: OTAs vs hotels in the rate debate

Posted on by Guy Lean

Rate parity agreements, which have allowed OTAs to match any low price openly offered on hotel sites, have recently been a sore point between OTAs and hoteliers.

This year, regulators across Europe have been scrutinizing these clauses. In July, France passed a law banning rate parity. Before this in January, a German Court upheld a 2013 decision to stop an OTA using a ‘best price’ clause.

This briefing offers a variety of perspectives on the OTA/hotel relationship:

Regulators who have been looking at these agreements include the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK, as well as Competition Authorities in France, Italy and Sweden.

In 2013 in Germany the OTA Hotel Reservation Service was stopped from applying a rate parity clause on the grounds that it restricted competition and did not benefit the consumer.

One way hotels have been able to get round these clauses is by offering discount to loyalty members. Ibis hotels is currently advertising that its website prices are 5% cheaper than anywhere else, but reading the small print, this is only if you have a membership card.

The British Hospitality Association has supported the decisions in France and Germany and has encouraged the UK government to follow suit.

They have argued that rate parity is unfair because, according to BHA, when an OTA matches a low room rate it is also taking up to 35% of the rate as commission. The organisation say agreements between hotels and OTA’s are, “too costly and one sided at this point.”

This Summer Expedia and Booking.com both announced pan-European changes to their agreements with hotel partners.

These agreements can work both ways, and stop OTAs offering reduced rates, and can also apply to other distribution partners such as high street travel agents.

There is still debate as to how much the removal of rate parity clauses will ultimately affect the enormous power of the OTAs.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: OTA giants are eating up the industry

Posted on by Guy Lean

According to a report from IBISWorld, online travel agents are expected to account for 51% of the UK travel industry’s total revenue in 2015. This has risen from just 10% a decade ago. Online travel agents are now powerful entities in the hospitality world and are growing and consolidating. Industry leader Expedia has announced the acquisition of two travel agents in as many months.

In these videos, hospitality experts discuss how the OTAs have gained such power and what this means for hoteliers. Includes comment from Expedia’s Christopher Michau:

A Report by Euromonitor International ‘Online Travel Intermediaries: A Fast Changing Competitive Landscape’ found that on-line travel intermediaries grew 8% CAGR over the 2008-2013 period. This reflects activity both from OTA’s and online booking platforms owned by hotel brands. But in an industry where online booking is growing so rapidly in popularity, the OTAs more specialist expertise gives them an advantage, as discussed by Brian Reeves above.

The Euromonitor Report also states that: ‘The online travel agency sector is seeing increasing consolidation, with Expedia and Priceline emerging as its dominant players.’

For 2014, gross bookings for Expedia Inc increased by 28% from 2013 and revenue increased 21%. Currently Expedia Inc includes (among others); Expedia.com, Hotels.com, trivago (a metasearch website), and Travelocity. The last of these, Travelocity, was acquired in January 2015 for $280 million. This month Expedia has also announced an agreement to acquire Orbitz Worldwide, which comprises of a travel technology solutions company and travel planning sites such as cheaptickets.com.

The Priceline group had $39.2 billion gross bookings in 2013. The Connecticut, USA, based group owns and operates Booking.com which takes over 750,000 room nights reservations a day.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: like, share and embed travel experiences

Posted on by pmalone

Online feedback has transformed the hospitality industry. Comment cards and guest books have always allowed customers to share their thoughts on their stay, but now these experiences, both good and bad, are being shared immediately online and it’s influencing where customers choose to spend their money.

Consumers want to get a glimpse of holiday destinations before they go. They are getting their ideas directly from other visitors, not just marketing teams.

So how are hotels dealing with review websites? In what new ways can the holiday experience be shared? And can digital communities be integrated into the marketing plan? Comment from:

  • Charlie Osmond, Chief Tease, TripTease on content creation & social media driving business growth
  • Sinai Pedreschi, Director of Sales & Marketing, The Stafford London on TripAdvisor and customer feedback
  • Satyan Joshi, Industry Manager – Travel, Google on the impact of video reviews on hotels and OTAs
  • Christopher Michau, VP – Global Partner Group, Expedia France SAS on integrating social media into the travel business model
 


If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: the threat and opportunity of Online Travel Agents

Posted on by pmalone

Online travel agents have embraced the digital world as a new business platform. They have taken full advantage of the low costings, have shaken up the industry, and have forced prices down.

The efficient booking processes appeal to today’s time-strapped, bargain-hunting customers.  While this is a fantastic way for brands to distribute their product to a large market, there is a risk that appearing on OTA sites will reduce direct engagement with the hotel’s own online presence.

In this briefing we have expert discussion on the changing relationship between OTA’s and hoteliers. Comment from:

  • Amine Moukarzel, President of Golden Tulip Hotels on the vital role of online travel agents
  • Pascal Gauvin COO – India, Middle East & Africa of InterContinental Hotels Group with tips on managing the OTA relationship
  • Russel Sharpe, COO in the Hotel Division of Landmark Hospitality on OTAs being a necessary evil
  • Satyan Joshi, Industry Manager for travel at Google on the way hoteliers view the OTA footprint
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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