Duff on Hospitality Law

This week’s Update for the week ending December 15, 2017 is below. Nothing too earth shattering this week.

Google Now Featuring Travel Packages [METASEARCH]
("Google now offers discounted tours and activities for bundling vacation packages," The Verge, December 14, 2017)
With each passing week, Google seems to introduce yet another new feature for those using the search engine (a/k/a metasearch site) to search travel related products and services. Google’s latest features allow travelers to (1) evaluate whether flights or hotels should be booked now or later, (2) track changes to hotel room rates via email and (3) search, book and package with other travel components (via a third party provider) tours and activities. Anyone still doubting whether Google has big plans for travel?

This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending December 8, 2017 is below. OTA powerhouses, Expedia and Booking.com, feature prominently in this week’s Update.

Expedia Seeks to Leverage Legacy PMS Platforms [OTA]
("Expedia sets sights on legacy tech with ambitious ‘travel platform’ for hotels," Tnooz News Feed, December 7, 2017)
At this year’s annual Expedia Travel Partner Conference, Expedia made clearer than ever its ambition to become a technology solutions provider to the lodging industry, not just a booking engine. In a series of presentations at the Conference, Expedia executives discussed the three pillars of the “Expedia Travel Platform” – operations (Expedia’s modern version of a PMS via ALICE), revenue (Expedia’s existing revenue management platform, Rev+) and data (data gleaned from the millions of transactions processed on its suppliers’ behalf). Interestingly, Expedia’s access to data and its well-known data practices may prove to be the biggest differentiator between Expedia’s products and the products and solutions of its more traditional competitors, many of which never imposed such practices with their customers. It will be interesting to see how many hoteliers will be willing to turn their hearts and souls over to a company that for years has been characterized by the industry as the devil.

A new statewide leave law that has taken many employers by surprise

In November 2016, Washington voters passed Initiative 1433, best known for increasing Washington’s minimum wage to one of the highest in the nation. However, I-1433 also included a requirement for statewide paid sick leave (“PSL”) for non-exempt employees that has caught many employers by surprise.

The PSL law becomes effective on January 1, 2018, and the Department of Labor and Industries (“L&I”) just published final administrative rules about the law’s requirements. All Washington employers need to review these requirements and take action to ensure compliance.

Our weekly OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending December 1, 2017 is below. This week’s Update features a variety of distribution stories as well as a report on the latest rankings of the large hotel loyalty programs.

Ryanair Tires of Expedia’s Unauthorized Scraping [OTA]
("Ryanair sues Expedia, accusing online travel giant of illegally scraping its site to sell flights," GeekWire, December 1, 2017)
European discount airline, Ryanair, brought suit last week against Expedia in Washington Federal District Court alleging, among other things, that Expedia repeatedly scraped information off Ryanair’s website and then used that information to sell the airline’s tickets (at times, at fares greater than those available directly through Ryanair), all without Ryanair’s approval and in contradiction to Ryanair’s express requests. A copy of Ryanair’s District Court complaint is available. According to the complaint, Expedia’s actions constitute a violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which prohibits the use of certain computers without authorization (or exceeding authorized access). Those that follow Expedia’s periodic disputes with its suppliers will recall that Expedia and Ryanair were parties to a 2008 lawsuit over the unraveling of the parties’ package partnership. Rumors of this latest skirmish surfaced earlier this year in February.  We will continue to monitor this litigation as it proceeds further and will provide periodic updates.

This week’s Update for the shortened week ending Wednesday, November 22, is below.

Ctrip Launching English-Language Booking Platform [OTA]
("Ctrip Relaunches Trip.com as Its English Language Travel Agency Brand," Skift Travel News, November 20, 2017)
Ctrip, often referred to as one of the big three global online travel agencies, rolled out last week its English language booking engine. On the heels of its acquisition of Trip.com (the former S.F. based trip recommendation start up), Ctrip has relaunched Trip.com as its booking platform for English speaking travelers. In conversations this past summer, Ctrip executives hinted at plans to incorporate online bookings into its traditional metasearch platform. While Skyscanner already provides limited direct booking capabilities, Trip.com may ultimately become the platform that Ctrip uses to combine the businesses on a global platform.

This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update is below and features stories on both traditional OTAs and short-term rentals. Enjoy.

TripAdvisor to Add Questionable Guest Warnings (METASEARCH / OTA]
("TripAdvisor to flag hotels with reports of sexual assault," BBC News - Technology, November 9, 2017)
Much has been written this past week about TripAdvisor’s recently announced decision to include conspicuous warnings on its website listing about properties reported by reviewers to present health and personal safety concerns. The decision comes after an investigation by the Milwaukee Sentinel that found that TripAdvisor had removed repeatedly (and without explanation) a reviewer’s post regarding her alleged assault by an employee at a Mexican resort property. According to TripAdvisor, decisions whether to add such warnings about properties will be made by a group of unidentified TripAdvisor employees. One can only hope that these employees conduct appropriate investigations (including affording suspected properties due process to respond to these devastating allegations) before posting these “scarlet letter” warnings.

This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending November 10, 2017 is below. Senator Kobuchar’s recent request for an DOJ and FTC investigation into OTAs’ purportedly anti-competitive practices leads this week’s Update.

U.S. Following UK’s Footsteps by Launching Probe into OTAs’ Anti-Competitive Practices?  [OTA]
("Sen. Klobuchar Urges Online Travel Agency Antitrust Probe," Hotel Online, November 7, 2017)
On Tuesday last week, Senator Amy Kobuchar (D-Minn.) wrote a letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission seeking an examination of online travel agents’ practices that can be “detrimental to consumer welfare.” According to Kobuchar, the concerns that lead the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to re-open its investigation into OTAs’ practices just weeks ago (see our prior story) warrant a similar examination here in the U.S. Kobuchar’s letter comes 8 months after raising similar concerns (along with Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)) with the Department of Transportation, only to be told by the DOT that its existing travel consumer protection policies were sufficient to address the Senators’ concerns.

Our weekly OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending, Friday, November 3, is below. The week’s update features a variety of stories, including a potentially landmark purchase by Airbnb.

Airbnb Going Mainstream with Possible Wyndham Purchase [SHORT-TERM RENTALS]
("Airbnb Might Buy Wyndham’s European Vacation Rental Business," November 3, 2017)
Skift reported last week that Airbnb (among other possible purchasers) may be evaluating a possible purchase of Wyndham’s $1B European vacation rental business. Wyndham boasts tens of thousands of listings throughout Europe and would quickly expand Airbnb’s global (and luxury) offerings. Expect more details on this purchase and its effects if Airbnb becomes the prevailing suitor.

Navigating Disruptive Climates, hosted by Washington Hospitality Association, was held on October 22-24, 2017 at the Tulalip Resort Casino in Tulalip, Washington. My presentation at the conference, "The War Rages: Hotels vs. Distribution Disruptors" is available below.

The presentation will give you the background you need to better understand today’s distribution industry and the leading disruptors. You’ll learn key distribution considerations and negotiation points, and you’ll get a foretaste of future disruptors, all of which will help you position yourself to better weather the changing world of distribution.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at greg.duff@foster.com or at 206.816.1470.

This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending October 27, 2017 is below. This week's Update includes a number of substantive stories on OTAs, particularly, European authorities’ renewed interest in OTAs’ allegedly questionable information practices.

Here We Go Again – UK’s Competition and Markets Authority Re-Opens OTA Investigation [OTA]
("Hotel booking sites probed by consumer watchdog," BCC Front Page, October 27, 2017)
Those of you who followed the many OTA investigations conducted throughout the EU over the last few years will recall that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) predecessor, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), initiated the effort by engaging in an on-again / off-again investigation that commenced in 2010. That investigation ultimately produced the idea of “closed group” discounts and little else. Well, the CMA is back. . . Last week the CMA announced that it was opening another investigation into third part booking sites to examine the clarity, accuracy and presentation of information to consumers on such sites. Taking a page from AH&LA and the many concerns it has voiced over the past year, the CMA plans to examine booking sites’ sort order (e.g. how commissions might affect sort order – e.g. Expedia Accelerator), selling tactics (e.g. notices regarding the number of remaining available rooms), discount claims and hidden charges. As part of its investigation, the CMA is circulating questionnaires with distributors and soliciting feedback from hoteliers and consumers who use the sites (responses are due by December 15, 2017). Details regarding the recently announced investigation, contact details for those wishing to provide feedback and an interesting video about the investigation are all linked below.