Online Travel Update: Intermediaries Regain Ground in Latest Hotel Booking Trends Report | Foster Garvey PC
Below is our weekly online travel update for the week ending 17th February 2023. This week’s update brings a series of stories from last week’s quarterly earnings releases from several of the biggest online travel platforms. We’ve also attached transcripts of recent revenue calls for TripAdvisor and Airbnb. Enjoy.
- Intermediaries are regaining ground in the latest hotel booking trends report. SiteMinder has released its latest annual hotel booking trends report, detailing online booking trends for 2022. Highlights of the latest report include:
- OTAs were ranked in the top two positions in 79% of SiteMinder’s top 12 lists (up from 37% in 2021).
- Booking.com was the most popular booking channel in the SiteMinder lists (the Expedia Group websites took second place).
- Direct bookings declined in 42% of the surveyed markets compared to 2021 figures (albeit at the level of 2019 figures).
- GDS bookings increased in 47% of the surveyed markets as business travel began to take off
- Airbnb continued to gain strength, making 89% of listings (up from 28% in 2019).
- Airbnb’s Chesky rejects the need for a traditional loyalty program and seeks to expand traditional hotel inventory. During last week’s earnings conference call, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky dismissed the need for Airbnb to offer its guests a traditional points-based program like its distribution competitors. According to Chesky, “The best loyalty program is to create a product that people love so much they want to come back. We don’t have to pay them to come back.” While Chesky may not be interested in emulating its competitors’ loyalty program offerings, he is keen to add more of their traditional product types, particularly hotels. Adding more traditional hotel inventory, Chesky said, would allow Airbnb to better position itself as a traditional booking platform. Chesky’s apparent resumption of traditional hotels represents a thaw of Airbnb’s previous pandemic-related “freeze” of traditional hotels. Could we see company-wide direct selling agreements between hoteliers and Airbnb soon?
- Marriott increases digital investments in 2023. Yes, hoteliers can also sometimes be featured in our weekly update. . . In its recent conference call, Marriott said product innovation, particularly through Marriott’s Bonvoy mobile app and other digital products, will remain a priority for Marriott into 2023. According to Marriott CFO, Leeny Oberg, the newly planned investments will “transform” the user experience. on the Marriott mobile app – for both Bonvoy members and the Marriott staff who serve them. Marriott’s investment in its digital channels appears to be yielding positive results, as Marriott’s mobile app usage is up 32% over the past year, digital room nights are up 27%, and digital revenue is up 41% (year over year).
Tripadvisor CEO unveils new three-pronged strategy
February 17, 2023 about phocuswire.com
The future direction of Tripadvisor under the new CEO Matt Goldberg is in sight. Speaking to financial analysts to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 financial results, Goldberg shared what he describes as a three-pronged strategy “based on deeper traveler engagement, enabled by better products…
Online travel agencies are gaining ground in hotel bookings in 2022
February 17, 2023 about phocuswire.com
Online travel agencies and other intermediaries like tour operators and destination management companies have regained ground in 2022, according to a report. SiteMinder processed data from more than 100 million bookings over the past year to rank Booking.com as the most popular booking channel in its top 12 lists with the highest…
Marriott CEO unfazed by Biden’s battle on resort fees
February 15, 2023 about travelweekly.com
The Biden administration’s intense scrutiny of resort fees doesn’t worry Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano. During Marriott’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call Tuesday, Capuano said fewer than 300 of the company’s hotels charge resort fees or similar fees. There are around 8,300 hotels in the Marriott system.
Airbnb does not foresee a loyalty war with Expedia
February 15, 2023 via CoStar
The best loyalty program is “building a product that people love,” says CEO Chesky Just days after Expedia Group touted record growth in its loyalty program and said it’s a long-term driver of retaining quality guests, Brian Chesky said , CEO of Airbnb, this type of points-based program is out of the cards for its…
Marriott ramps up app and broader digital investments in 2023
February 15, 2023 about phocuswire.com
Marriott International expects above-average investments in customer-centric technology in 2023. During the fourth-quarter earnings call, Anthony Capuano, CEO of the company, said, “Product innovation and engagement with our members remain important areas of focus, particularly through investments in our Marriott Bonvoy app and other digital products.”
According to Saber, cloud migration will result in savings and improve customer service
February 15, 2023 about phocuswire.com
Saber is making strides in its migration to the cloud, a journey the travel tech company began in 2017. The company says it migrated about 15,000 servers to Google Cloud Platform in 2022.
Airbnb’s Brian Chesky: Earnings point to an ‘exciting year’ for travel
February 14, 2023 about phocuswire.com
Ongoing effects of COVID-19. recession fears. A war in Ukraine. If 2022 didn’t look promising for the travel industry, 2023 doesn’t look much better. So why was Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky chatting like a schoolboy on Tuesday with a valentine from every kid in the class?