Briefing: OTA giants are eating up the industry

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.

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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: A new era for hotel F&B?

After 187 years one of the London’s oldest hotel restaurants, Simpsons-in-the-Strand, part of The Savoy, could be closing according to The Londonist. This could indicate a shift in attitudes towards food and beverage in the industry. But while it may be the end for this traditional establishment other hotel brands are taking on more F&B projects and finding new ways to make them stand out. How integral are restaurants to a hotel experience? Our experts discuss the importance of F&B:

The Savoy is managed by Fairmont Hotel and Resorts and has six restaurants and bars. Simpsons-in-the-Strand offers a very traditionally British dining experience but may be bought and rebranded by another operator, according to the report.

On 16 January IHG acquired Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants for $430 million. Kimpton operates 71 hotel-based destination restaurants and bars. This is not the only area where IHG is showing an interest in F&B. IHG’s Hotel Indigo boutique brand has launched a new “food and drink philosophy” focusing on “Locally crafted” products. The brand is running a competition in the UK to find “Britain’s favourite local food artisan” and has celebrity chef Jimmy Doherty on the judging panel.

Finally, DoubleTree by Hilton has pulled in award winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli for it’s new property in Liverpool, which opens in April this year.

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.

Robot Staff: How technology is changing guest experience

It has been reported this week that a hotel at a theme-park in Japan is to be staffed by Robots. The Henn-na Hotel is scheduled to open in July and alongside some human staff it will have, ‘remarkably human-like robots who will be able to greet, carry luggage to rooms, make cups of coffee – and even smile’, according to the Telegraph article.

Our experts discuss changing technology in hotels:

This remarkable plan is taking technology in hotels yet another step in to the future. But whilst guests interacting with robots sounds extraordinary it is only highlighting the trend for changing guest touch points and the emphasis on experience in hotels.

Another new product launched this year was the very first Virgin Hotel in Chigaco. A new player in the hotel industry, the brand promises to be innovative much like Virgin’s other ventures. The hotel has its own app which guests can use to interact with staff and other guests, and to request services. The app can control the room thermostat, order room service, plays music from a built in music library, and displays messages from staff for updates on hotel events and the processing of the guest’s requests.

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.

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