OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Sabre/FareLogix saga continues to unfold; Groups360 receives a significant investment Groups360 Receives a Significant Investment(“Marriott, IHG, Accor and Hilton Invest in Meetings Booking Platform,” Skift Travel News on Aug 19, 2019) What makes the recently announced investment in the online group booking engine so significant isn’t only the amount of the investment ($50 million), but also the companies that invested – Marriott, IHG, Accor and Hilton.  With the investment, each…

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Sabre likely to face anti-trust challenge; Google now offers vacation rentals; Priceline and WeConvene announce investor event collaboration Google Now Offering Vacation Rentals(“What’s next for Google’s expansion into vacation rentals?” Phocus Wire on Aug 16, 2019)According to James Burrows, co-founder and CEO of vacation rental software company, Rentals United, Google has begun working with a handful of vacation rental software companies like Rentals United to integrate vacation rentals into…

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Southwest Airlines takes a contrarian approach; Booking.com begins enforcement of resort fee commissions outside the U.S.; TripAdvisor considers a formal loyalty program This week’s Update features a story on relative newcomer to third party distribution (Southwest Airlines) and includes, yet again, another update on the on-again/off-again saga of Booking.com commissions.  Enjoy. Southwest Airlines Takes a Contrarian Approach(“Southwest Airlines adds content to two GDSs,” Phocuswire on Aug 7, 2019) In an…

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Sabre vows to fight EU allegations; Agoda unveils its ‘Mix and Save’ feature; Vacasa acquires remaining Wyndham vacation rentals Agoda in the News Again:  Say Hello to “Mix and Save”  (“Hoteliers have mixed response to Agoda’s new hacker rates,” Phocus Wire on Jul 30, 2019)In an apparent effort to appeal to even more budget-oriented travelers, Agoda has recently revealed its new “Mix and Save” feature.  Users of this feature will…

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Booking.com relaxes keyword restrictions on its trademarks; insurer partners with Roomer Travel to insure against losses and spur growth This past week was relatively quiet in the distribution world as evidenced by the few stories below.  Enjoy. Booking.com Relaxes Keyword Restrictions on Its Trademarks(“Booking.com relaxes keyword bidding clause with hotels,” Phocus Wire on Jul 22, 2019)In a purported effort to comply with a recent unidentified ruling in the EU,…

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: The hotel resort fee saga targeting Marriott continues; non-cancelable rates at the heart of pending Booking.com appeal; TripAdvisor fined over potentially fake reviews Non-cancelable Rates at the Heart of Pending Booking.com Appeal(“Booking.com South Korean court appeal raises questions over consumer benefits of KFTC’s corrective orders, extraterritorial enforcement aspirations,” MLex Insight on Jul 17, 2019)in arguments last week before the Seoul High Court, attorneys for Booking.com challenged the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s…

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: The rising importance of metasearch; hotel resort fees still making headlines; hoteliers and short-term rental hosts’ challenges with Agoda While this data may help explain why keyword restrictions and negative keyword requirements are far less controversial than years earlier, it also underscores the need for hoteliers to gain some control over the metasearch practices of their distribution partners.  As the significance of metasearch continues to grow (and OTAs seek to seize…