Duff on Hospitality Law

Blog Authors

Latest from Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Expedia consolidates its HomeAway and VRBO brands; Sonder raises $170 million in funding; TripAdvisor adds COVID-19-response filters and tests out new travel advisor referral service Reco

July 1, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-untitled-1-jpg

In this week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update, we cover TripAdvisor’s busy week, including the announcement about its new travel advisor referral service, Reco. Enjoy. Say Goodbye to HomeAway(“Expedia Group to Retire HomeAway U.S. Brand,” Jun 24, 2020 via Hotel Business – News)Recently, Expedia announced that it was consolidating its short-term rental brands HomeAway and VRBO. Starting next month, users of the HomeAway website will be re-directed to VRBO, and users of the HomeAway…

Duff on Hospitality Law

Seattle Hotel Worker Notices Must Be Posted Wednesday, July 1

By Sarah Carlin Ames, Steven Peltin, Greg Duff

June 30, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-housekeeping-jpg

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…

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: EDreams adds hotels to its subscription services; metasearch grows in importance; Japanese hoteliers once again raise concern about OTAs’ rate practices

By Greg Duff

June 25, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-edreams-jpg

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…

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Despegar moves forward with Best Day acquisition; Roomkey suspends operations; Booking.com transitions its tours and experiences business to TUI Group's Musement

By Greg Duff

June 18, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-despegar%20logo-png

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 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…

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: The debate on Booking.com and Expedia's dominance in the marketplace; Silver Lake invests $108 million in Vacasa; industry experts question Expedia’s Partner Recovery Program

By Greg Duff

June 8, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-booking_expedia-jpg

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

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Trip.com’s first-quarter earnings release garners mixed reviews; Expedia Group pledges $275 million to the travel industry’s COVID-19 recovery efforts; Hotelbeds to add health and safety filter

By Greg Duff

June 1, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-tripcom%20logo-jpg

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 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…

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Expedia’s first-quarter earnings release captivates main headlines; two major airlines with contrasting approaches to distribution; Facebook and Instagram give business profiles new retail storefronts

By Greg Duff

May 26, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-exp_us_basic_lrg_4c_rgb-jpg

This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update includes a greater number of stories than usual given the ever-changing COVID-19 situation. I hope you enjoy. (“Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern: ‘Google’s a problem for everyone who sells something online,” GeekWire on May 22, 2020)Given the amount of coverage last week paid to Expedia’s first-quarter earnings release, it was necessary to feature at least one story highlighting the release’s key takeaways. In fact, we included three stories, with one…

Duff on Hospitality Law

City of Seattle Releases Rules for Hotel Employee Protections

By Greg Duff, Sarah Carlin Ames, Steven Peltin

May 21, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-maid-jpg

Even as Seattle hotels face devastating impacts from the COVID-19 shutdown and start planning how they might reopen, the City of Seattle is proceeding with sweeping ordinances protecting employees in hotels with 60 or more guest rooms. On May 15, the Seattle Office of Labor Standards (“OLS”) proposed administrative rules for these new hotel employee protections.…

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: InterContinental Hotels Group opens its first flagship store on Ctrip’s platform; France plans to create an online booking engine; Hong Kong regulators accept parity-clause commitments from major OTAs

By Greg Duff

May 18, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-ihg_ctrip-png

This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending Friday, May 15, 2020 contains a wide variety of stories – from the tried and true to the truly bizarre. I hope you enjoy. (“IHG Announces Partnership with Trip.com Group’s Ctrip,” May 14, 2020 via Hotel News Resource)For some time now, many of the largest hotel companies have operated flagship stores on Trip.com’s Ctrip. This past week, seeking to take advantage of the rebounding domestic…

Duff on Hospitality Law

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Trivago and Airbnb announce austerity measures; Despegar reconsiders acquisition of travel agency Best Day; vacation rental platforms face scrutiny by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority

By Greg Duff

May 11, 2020

https-www-foster-com-assets-htmlimages-blogs-duff%20on%20hospitality-trivago_airbn-png

This week’s Update features a number of stories detailing the disastrous effects of COVID-19 on some well-known distributors. No one is immune from this current downturn. You Can Now Add Trivago and Airbnb to the Austerity List(“Trivago Looks to Reorganize With ‘Significant’ Job Cuts,” May 4, 2020 via Skift, “Airbnb lays off 25% of staff, cuts back investment in hotels, transportation,” May 5th, 2020 via phocuswire.com)Last week, we featured a story detailing the measures being implemented by TripAdvisor to…

Duff on Hospitality Law

Blog Authors

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Expedia consolidates its HomeAway and VRBO brands; Sonder raises $170 million in funding; TripAdvisor adds COVID-19-response filters and tests out new travel advisor referral service Reco

Seattle Hotel Worker Notices Must Be Posted Wednesday, July 1

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: EDreams adds hotels to its subscription services; metasearch grows in importance; Japanese hoteliers once again raise concern about OTAs’ rate practices

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Despegar moves forward with Best Day acquisition; Roomkey suspends operations; Booking.com transitions its tours and experiences business to TUI Group's Musement

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: The debate on Booking.com and Expedia's dominance in the marketplace; Silver Lake invests $108 million in Vacasa; industry experts question Expedia’s Partner Recovery Program

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Trip.com’s first-quarter earnings release garners mixed reviews; Expedia Group pledges $275 million to the travel industry’s COVID-19 recovery efforts; Hotelbeds to add health and safety filter

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Expedia’s first-quarter earnings release captivates main headlines; two major airlines with contrasting approaches to distribution; Facebook and Instagram give business profiles new retail storefronts

City of Seattle Releases Rules for Hotel Employee Protections

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: InterContinental Hotels Group opens its first flagship store on Ctrip’s platform; France plans to create an online booking engine; Hong Kong regulators accept parity-clause commitments from major OTAs

OTA & Travel Distribution Update: Trivago and Airbnb announce austerity measures; Despegar reconsiders acquisition of travel agency Best Day; vacation rental platforms face scrutiny by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority

Stay Connected

Company

Support

New to the Network