Traveling Blog: Booking.com Ad Shocker + Business-Class Imperatives + TripAdvisor Malaise

November 7, 2017

View in browser

Note From the Editor

Online travel appears to be having a moment —a very lackluster one. The share prices of three major online travel companies, namely the Priceline Group, Expedia and TripAdvisor, have all plummeted in the past couple of weeks based on weak third quarter performance and less-than-stellar outlooks.

Some of the declines may be related. The Priceline Group announced it would spend more on TV and pull back on digital advertising spend through some of its third-party partners. Expedia's Trivago unit felt the pinch of Priceline getting stingy with its advertising dollars. And TripAdvisor saw its hotel revenue decline as unnamed partners honed in on "increasing marketing efficiency." When big-spender Priceline decides to get efficient with its marketing, its advertising partners feel the pain. That's just the way it is when online travel is having a moment.

— Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor

How Christopher Gray, Tech Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Scholly, Encourages 'Opportunity for All' [SPONSORED]

Sponsored by The Unbound Collection by Hyatt™

Christopher Gray founded Scholly based on his struggle to find the money to attend the college of his dreams. Only a few years later, he's connected hundreds of thousands of students to millions of dollars in scholarships so they could do the same.

Join us today at 1 p.m. EST for a conference call with Skift's editorial team as they discuss overtourism's effects on global destinations and the steps that cities can take to embrace sustainable tourism. This is your last chance to get the dial-in information!

Booking.com Rethinks Digital Advertising in Favor of TV

Did we just see an elephant fly? The Priceline Group, which is the largest spender on digital advertising in travel, just said TV commercials may be a better way to attract loyal customers. That's even more surprising than TV-happy Trivago's recent announcement that it would start devoting more resources to digital advertising. Don't you love this industry?

Business Class Must-Haves That Airlines Neglect at Their Peril

As airlines double down on investment in business class, there are some experiential table stakes for customers paying the money to sit up front.

TripAdvisor Hotel Bookings Continue to Slide as Non-Hotel Business Surges

Try as it might, TripAdvisor is still struggling to gain traction with its hotel booking product. Non-hotel growth has been picking up the slack, and one has to wonder whether an even stronger focus outside of hotels is on the horizon soon.

Choice Hotels Bets Big on a New Cloud-Based Reservations System

Choice Hotels executives talk a big game about the company's new reservations system, debuting early next year. They even use buzz phrases like, "transformative platform" and "innovative tools." But will the new system be a panacea for the hotel chain? We'll soon find out.

Trivago Looks to HomeAway Vacation Rentals to Regain Some Mojo

This move could be a modest win-win for Trivago and HomeAway, which both fall within the broader Expedia Inc. orbit. But Airbnb and Booking.com remain fierce competitors for rental search, with Google waiting in the wings.

Delivery Services Work to Help Virtual Restaurants

Virtual restaurants will take off thanks to data and logistics help from delivery services. But this popularity will usher in a new battleground: exclusivity on any given channel in exchange for help.

British Airways Hints at Disrupting Its Loyalty Program in 2018

British Airways may be moving award bookings through its Executive Club to dynamic pricing, shifting the way that loyalty program members redeem free tickets. The move may render an already-troubled loyalty program to something even less competitive for elite flyers.

Cava, the Data-Driven Fast-Casual Restaurant, Is Personalizing Loyalty

Cava is an excellent case study to show how powerful a restaurant, or brand, can be in the marketplace when it's built on top of large volumes of useful, actionable data.

The Priceline Group is in the catbird seat in online travel — for now — while Expedia is a much smaller company with so much ground to make up. Expedia's Okerstrom is laudably talking tough about his ambitions to propel his company forward. But 2017, so far, has been anything but easy for the two newbie CEOs.

Myanmar Genocide Has the Travel Industry Searching for Strategies

Travel is the world's largest industry and should be taking a leadership position about Myanmar to publicly condemn ethnic cleansing, and show the country's military government that tourism dollars aren't unconditional if it supports crimes against humanity.

Amadeus Signs Premier Inn for Hotel Services as InterContinental Deal Steams Ahead

In the context of Amadeus Hospitality's progress, the Premier Inn deal gives a semblance of traction to woo other chains.

For Gmail users: If you are using the tabbed inbox, Skift emails may be pushed to the 'Promotions' tab. To get updates from Skift direct to your primary inbox, drag and drop this email to that tab.

You received this email because you are subscribed to Skift Daily Newsletter from Skift.