Duff on Hospitality Law

Not a moment too soon, Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards on Tuesday provided mandatory employee notice posters for hotel worker protections that take effect Wednesday, July 1. Seattle hotels must post these notices immediately.

Four sweeping new ordinances affect Seattle hotels with 60 or more guest rooms. The ordinances require panic buttons for employees, set maximum housekeeping workloads, require larger hotels to fund employee healthcare coverage, and offer employees greater job security. (Read Foster Garvey’s prior coverage of these ordinances.)

This week’s Update contains a number of stories on the growing significance of metasearch, particularly as properties compete for the attention of even fewer travelers. However, we begin this week’s Update with a story on EDreams, which has been successfully growing its subscription-based travel model. Enjoy.

EDreams Subscription Model Adds Hotels
(“EDreams Now Has a Half Million Paying Travel Subscribers,” Jun 17, 2020 via Skift Travel News)
Since November, EDreams’ Odigeo has added 50,000 members to its subscription services, bringing its total membership to close to 500,000. Although the Barcelona-based online travel agency began with flights only, the service has now expanded to include hotels (adding 2.1 million hotels since November). For those of you unfamiliar with the service, EDreams’ two brands – Edreams Opodo and GO Voyages – offer members travel discounts in exchange for their annual membership fees. Faced with the pandemic’s many challenges, EDreams is currently running a promotion offering new members a free six-month trial subscription. It will be interesting to see whether this service (or others like it) gains enough traction to warrant parties’ re-examination of existing rate parity commitments and their limited exceptions.

After weeks of Updates detailing the disastrous effects of COVID-19 on the lodging industry, this week’s Update includes stories on (potential) signs of an industry recovery. I hope you enjoy.

Despegar Presses Ahead with Planned Best Day Purchase
(“Despegar Agrees to Revised Terms in Acquisition of Best Day Travel Group,” Jun 11, 2020 via Business Wire Mergers & Acquisition News)
Following its mid-April announcement that it was re-evaluating the previously announced purchase of Mexican distributor Best Day, this past week, Despegar announced that it was moving ahead under newly negotiated terms, including a revised purchase price and payment terms. With its purchase of Best Day, Despegar will further solidify its position as the leading Latin American online distributor.

We cover the gamut of distribution topics in this week’s Update – OTAs, GDS, search, short-term rentals and wholesalers. Enjoy.

Is OTA Supremacy Undeniable?
(“Online Travel: Can Anyone Challenge The Supremacy Of Booking And Expedia?” Jun, 2020 via Hospitality Net - Latest Industry News)
Similar questions have been asked frequently across the industry as pundits, analysts and experts have warned that the struggling lodging industry is destined to repeat its post-9/11 practices of effectively turning over control of its room inventory to online distributors. Several of this week’s stories look closely at this issue and try to answer the question of whether hoteliers are bound to repeat history or will perhaps use this opportunity to forge a new path.

This week’s Update again features more stories than usual. With so many in the lodging industry using the current downturn as an opportunity to question “business as usual,” we want to be as inclusive as possible. Enjoy. 

Trip.com Offers Some Good News and Some Bad News
(“Trip.com Group Highlights Signs of a China Travel Rebound Despite a Sobering Outlook,” May 28, 2020 via Skift Travel News)
Trip.com’s recent first-quarter earnings release offered a little something for everyone. The optimists will point to the reported increases in domestic travel within China and South Korea, and the unexpected strong performance in the luxury segment. The pessimists will point to Trip.com’s dismal first-quarter earnings (operating loss of $211 million compared to an operating profit of $123.7 million a year earlier), projected $153-$181 million operating losses in the second quarter and the non-existent international travel market. Despite the daunting task ahead, Trip.com CEO, Jane Jie Sun remains optimistic and expects to continue the company’s focus on domestic leisure travel in the near term.