Duff on Hospitality Law

Our weekly OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 21, 2017 is below. Nothing earth shattering this week...

This week’s GSB weekly client OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 12, 2017 is below.

• • Rhetoric Over AHLA’s Planned Lobbying Efforts Ramps Up [OTA].  Not surprisingly, Priceline Group CEO Glenn Fogel has a slightly different perspective on the OTA’s influence and control over the online travel agency industry. Responding to recent reports (see last week’s Update) outlining AHLA’s plans to lobby Trump administration officials over Expedia’s and Priceline Group’s dominance of the online travel agency industry, Glenn objected to AHLA’s characterization of Expedia’s and Priceline Group’s control as a monopolistic. According to Glenn, such statements, when considering Priceline Group’s share of the global travel industry (as opposed to AHLA’s use of the U.S. online travel industry – a much smaller denominator) constitute “misstatements” and untrue “allegations.” I suspect Glenn’s comments are not the last that we will see coming out of the OTAs regarding AHLA’s planned campaign.

Priceline Group CEO Faults Hotel Association for False Allegations
Skift Travel News, May 11, 2017 
There is ample competition among hotels, online travel agencies, and airlines in the U.S. travel marketplace as all of these sectors have seen a spate of consolidation. It may make sense business-wise for these companies, but none of it is particularly good for consumers or competition.

Our OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending Friday, May 5, 2017 is below.

• • Industry To Again Focus Attention on Distribution Duopoly [OTA].  In an article last week, Bloomberg shared details from an AHLA board meeting where the Association discussed proposed plans for a wide scale lobbying effort of the FTC and incoming Trump Administration officials regarding the practices of on-line behemoths Expedia and Priceline. A consumer marketing campaign based on the popular Monopoly board game was also discussed. The AHLA’s proposed plans also call for the Association and its members to better promote themselves as innovative and technologically savvy – words one often doesn’t use when describing the lodging industry. It will be interesting to watch whether these previously voiced concerns (remember the industry’s response to Expedia’s Orbitz acquisition, anyone?) have a larger effect on Trump administration versus the prior administration.

Hotels Plan Lobbying Push Over Priceline-Expedia ‘Monopoly’
Bloomberg Markets, May 5, 2017
The U.S. hotel industry plans to step up a lobbying and public relations attack on Expedia Inc. and Priceline Group Inc., hoping to convince consumers and members of the Trump administration that the travel-booking giants are monopolistic. The American Hotel & Lodging Association, an industry group whose membership includes Marriott International Inc., Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., devised plans for a campaign saying the online travel companies use unfair practices in their search businesses, according to board meeting documents seen by Bloomberg. The trade group intends to lobby Federal Trade Commission officials on the issue and try to ensure that new members picked by President Donald Trump are friendly to hotels, according to the documents prepared for a January meeting of the group’s board.

This week’s OTA & Distribution Update for the week ending April 28, 2017 is below. Loyalty program updates feature prominently in this week’s Update as well as story on some important changes at Airbnb to lure corporate travelers. Enjoy.