Traveling Blog: Expedia's Platform Vision + Hotel Direct Bookings Stagnate + JetBlue Battles Costs

July 25, 2018

Editor's Note

A new J.D. Power survey about hotel satisfaction released Tuesday shows that the percentage of people in North America booking rooms direct with hotels has remained essentially flat over the past three years. If that's accurate, then it would be a head-scratching development given the fervor of hotel ad campaigns in the past couple of years. Regardless of the tension between hotels and online travel agencies, Cyril Ranque, Expedia's top lodging executive, lays out his plan for the company becoming an essential marketing tool for hotels, and a global powerhouse, in our story today by Senior Hospitality Editor Deanna Ting.

But Ranque and the other online travel agency executives shouldn't feel too comfortable. The J.D. Power report shows that despite flat numbers, the majority of people still go directly to their hotels to reserve rooms. And once checked in, they are increasingly happy with those hotels — overall satisfaction rose eight points in this year's survey. Meanwhile, hotels and online travel agencies are pouring money into trying to woo those customers and others who aren't necessarily loyal to brands. The clear winner so far? Consumers.

— Tom Lowry, Managing Editor

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We still think there's a pretty good chance that we'll see Expedia-branded hotels in the near future if not sooner.

5 Great Summer Reads From Skift

It's summer. Slow down. Take a breath. And catch up with some of Skift's best deep dives and enterprise stories so far in 2018.

Hotel Direct Bookings Remain Flat Despite Big Marketing Push

Overall guest satisfaction with hotels in North America is at an all-time high. Still, that doesn't mean the hotel industry should be congratulating itself; there's still work to be done.

Can JetBlue Cut Costs and Maintain Margins While Fuel Prices Keep Rising?

JetBlue is doing its best to ensure its cost-cutting approach won't affect passengers. But on the periphery, the airline's customers might notice some differences as JetBlue tries to remove $300 million in non-fuel cost by 2020.

The Growth and Democratization of Flying Private

Any luxury industry experiencing an uptick in new, affluent young customers has a right to be bullish about growth, but it is a combination of logistics, customer service and branding that will eventually set the winners apart from the other players.

Palau Tests the Waters of Luxury Tourism

The tiny republic of Palau is striving to become a global leader in ecotourism. In recent years, the government has made moves to ensure the country becomes a pristine paradise for luxury travelers.

Walk a Few Miles and Earn Points: New Location-Based Loyalty Program Launches

A new loyalty program aims to reward travelers for everything from taking a walk to road tripping across the country. But will users find the rewards to be worth the cost of sharing their location data?

Business of Restaurants

We rolled out our first annual list of top tech startups in the restaurant space, and we also announced startup ticket pricing for Skift Restaurants Forum. Apply now for your shot at our lowest-priced tickets.

Skift Table's Top Restaurant Startups to Watch 2018

Our inaugural list of top tech startups in 2018 contains best-of-breed examples from the kitchen to the host stand and beyond. Restaurant tech is a complicated and fast-growing landscape full of well-intentioned ideas, but success today and beyond lies in the execution of those ideas in a human-powered industry.

The Deaf Restaurant Revolution Is Upon Us

Deaf-owned restaurants are on the rise, transforming careers for an underemployed population.

U.S. Diners Are Not Clamoring for Robot Waiters, Yet

The restaurants that get new technology right will be the ones that use it as support for more memorable face-to-face experiences.

Yelp Adds Health Code Ratings to Restaurant Pages Nationwide

Consumers will benefit from easily accessible restaurant health data, as long as the information is always correct and up-to-date.

Upserve Acquires SimpleOrder to Build Inventory Management Into Its POS

Upserve's acquisition and subsequent implementation of SimpleOrder technology speaks to a larger trend: Point of sale companies will continue to acquire smaller, niche technical operations in order to build out their products.

So much for being asset light. However, this strategy does align with previous comments AccorHotels' CEO has made about wanting to lead in emerging markets, Africa included.

JetBlue's First Female President Wants More Diversity and Higher Profits

Airlines need more diversity at the senior leadership levels. But new JetBlue President and COO Joanna Geraghty would prefer to be known for more than her gender. That seems like a fair request, no? Let's see if she can fix the airline's on-time performance.

American Airlines Legend Bob Crandall on How Mergers Led to Increased Inequality

Bob Crandall called it in the late 1970s, saying airline deregulation would be the ruination of U.S. aviation. You can credit the retired American Airlines chairman and CEO with consistency as he argues that airline mergers — and mergers in general — have contributed to capital accumulation at the expense of workers, and the demise of small cities.

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