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İstanbul Sehir Universitesi Oditoryumunda gerceklesti...

Analysis: It’s Expedia Against Everyone Else After Orbitz and Travelocity Deals

Dennis Schaal, Skift

After acquiring Travelocity last month and Wotif in Australia a few months earlier, Expedia Inc. cleaned up a few missing pieces and agreed to acquire Orbitz Worldwide, including Orbitz, CheapTickets, eBookers, and HotelClub in a $1.6 billion cash deal.

The deal would give Expedia Inc. a 75 percent market share among U.S. online travel agencies, according to Phocuswright.

The big four U.S.-based online travel agencies, including Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.com, have now just become the big two, with CheapOair rounding out the field.And last week during Expedia’s fourth quarter of 2014 earnings call, Expedia Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company would continue to be acquisitive in 2015. “As far as acquisitions go, acquisitions are a part of our game plan,” Khosrowshahi said February 5. “We’ve had a number of acquisitions over the years and I would say that our technology platforms now and our operating practices now are at a different level where we are good at and have a very strong practice at bringing in and consolidating acquisitions and realizing synergies.”

Given the consolidation in the U.S. travel industry, the Expedia-Orbitz deal could trigger a regulatory fight with the U.S. Justice Department or Federal Trade Commission, although Expedia officials in a conference call today played down that possibility.

It won’t just be online travel agency competitors which will be raising eyebrows. The deal makes Expedia-Travelocity-Orbitz even more powerful in negotiating deals with hoteliers around the world.

Related: Expedia Vs. Priceline: Adding up the Acquisitions

Itty-Bitty Expedia

Expedia CFO Mark Okerstrom argued that Expedia Inc., which would now include Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Trivago, eBookers, and eLong, among other brands, is a “small player” in the $1.3 trillion global travel industry, commanding overall market share in the single digits.

According to Euromonitor International, Expedia’s share of the global travel retail market in 2014 would have been 6.3% if Orbitz’ assets are added, compared to Priceline’s 4.9%.

That’s the argument that Expedia will undoubtedly make to regulators. Inferring that there might be a protracted regulatory process, Okerstrom said he doesn’t expect the deal to close until “the back half of the year.”

A spokesperson for the Priceline Group declined to comment when asked whether the company would fight the Expedia-Orbitz deal on antitrust grounds. CheapOair didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

There are also break-up fees for each side if the deal doesn’t go through, although the details on this haven’t been released yet.

Weak Link

Apart from Travelocity, Orbitz Worldwide has been the weakest of the three higher-profile U.S. online travel agencies, struggling to achieve scale as Expedia and the Priceline Group grew much faster.

Many in the travel industry have looked askance at Orbitz Worldwide and its performance in recent years, although things have been improving of late.

Still, it was interesting to hear Expedia officials wax on about what a great company their hoped-for new property is.

Okerstrom said the Orbitz acquisition is different than the Travelocity deal because Orbitz has “actually been managed very well,” adding that Orbitz has a strong tech team and a “unique” set of assets, including the affiliate business, the Orbitz Partner Network.

“This is not an incredibly sick business,” Okerstrom said, referring to Orbitz Worldwide. “This is a pretty darn healthy business.”

Interestingly, Okerstrom called the Orbitz loyalty program, Orbucks, “very interesting.”

Okerstrom made that statement despite the fact that Expedia Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi disparaged the program during a Skift interview in September.

“When we look at the Orbitz program, I wouldn’t call it as much a loyalty program because a loyalty program rewards you for being loyal,” Khosrowshahi said in September. “I think we see the Orbitz program as being more of a cross-sell program. If you buy an air ticket then you have some Orbucks to spend immediately. So it doesn’t necessarily reward loyalty; it rewards cross-sell.”

What’s the Plan?

The plan going forward is that Orbitz Worldwide properties would still operate as separate brands within the Expedia Inc. portfolio, although Orbitz’s hotel inventory would be tied into the Expedia technology platform and Orbitz would be able to market Expedia’s wider array of global hotel properties.

Okerstrom said the acquisition would be a big revenue opportunity because Orbitz would now be able to offer hotel rooms at “our economics.”

Talking financials, Okerstrom said Expedia would be able to achieve $75 million in synergies from the deal, and Expedia Inc. would generate an additional 75 cents per share in earnings in 2015, depending on when the deal closes.

What’s Next?

Will Orbitz Worldwide CEO Barney Harford, who didn’t speak during Expedia’s conference call about the deal, stay on after the deal closes — if it closes?

An Orbitz Worldwide spokesperson said “there have been no discussions about staffing or personnel matters.”

Expedia plans on keeping the Orbitz brands, which will continue to compete against Expedia’s brands for non-loyal customers, Khosrowshahi said.

Said Khosrowshahi: They will continue “to compete for the toss-up customer.”

Expedia officials obviously don’t feel that getting regulatory approval for the acquisition is a toss-up but that remains to be seen.

Küçük Oteller Derneği Winterhalter merkezini ziyaret etti...

Küçük Oteller Derneği Winterhalter merkezi ziyaret etti ( Association of Small Hotels of Turkey realised a visit to Winterhalter Germany )

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Winterhalter Türkiye Temsilcisi Aktürk Ltd.Şti. yönetim kurulu  başkanı Ersin Aktürk Küçük Oteller Derneği başkanı  Ömer Faruk Boyacı ve değerli diğer dernek üyelerin katılımlarıyla Almanya Winterhalter  Merkezine 18.12.2014 tarihinde ziyaret gerçekleştirdi.Grup fabrika ziyaretinde Sn.Peter Huber tarafından karşılandı.

Küçük oteller derneği değerli misafirlerimize ürünlerimiz hakkında eğitim vererek ürün bilinirliğini arttırmak ve ürünlerimiz hakkında  daha geniş bir bilgi sahibi olmalarını sağlamak için  bulaşık makinesi kullanımının elde yıkamaya göre avantajlarını , su, elektirik, zaman ve deterjan tasarrufunu doğru bulaşık yıkamada nasıl etkili olacağı anlatıldı.

Be our guest -Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerinden Küçük Oteller birbirlerini ağırlıyor

Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerinden Küçük Oteller birbirlerini ağırlıyor

Ülkemizin 34 farklı destinasyonunda 300’e yakın üyelerinin bulunduğunu kaydeden Küçük Oteller Derneği Genel Sekreteri Adnan Mordeniz, hayata geçirdikleri Misafirim Olur Musun? projesiyle, tesislerin birbirini ağırlamaya başladığını belirtti.

Türkiye’deki küçük otellerin çok büyük bir aile olduğunu belirten Adnan Mordeniz, şunları kaydetti:

“Bu proje sayesinde, küçük oteller ailemizin değerli üyeleri birbiriyle kaynaşıyor, dostluklar kuruyor ve fikir alışverişinde bulunuyorlar. Birlikte çalışma kültürünü oluşturmayı ve geliştirmeyi amaçladığımız proje; tüm bölgelerde oldukça güzel işbirlikleri, bilgi paylaşımları ve kazanımlar ile sonuçlanıyor. Geçtiğimiz haftalarda İstanbul ile Alaçatı arasında otelciler olarak birbirimizin misafiri olduk. Yine bir önceki ay, proje Eskişehir ve Kapadokya gibi bölgelerde de gerçekleşti. Tüm Türkiye’de üyelerimiz birbirlerini keyifle ağırlamaya devam ediyor.”

Dernek üyesi küçük oteller; işlerin yoğun olmadığı ölü sezonlarda, otel sahipleri, müdürleri ve personelleri ile beraber birbirlerini ağırlıyor. Böylelikle proje kapsamında Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerindeki otelciler birbirlerini tanıma ve o bölgedeki turizm dokusu hakkında bilgi sahibi olma fırsatı yakalıyor. Ülke genelinde meslektaş edinerek, karşılıklı fikir alışverişinde bulunan otelciler ve sektör çalışanları, bu deneyim sayesinde kuvvetli bağların ve yeni sinerjilerin oluşmasına öncülük ediyor.

More holidaymakers look for boutique hotels at home than abroad

TravelMole

More holidaymakers look for luxury in the UK than they do when going abroad.

There were three times as many online searches for Lifestyle & Boutique hotels in the UK than in short or long haul destinations combined, according to research.

In the recent Boutique Hotels Sector Report by digital marketing agency Greenlight, it found consumers made a total of 136,650 searches on Google UK for small, fashionable, luxury and trendy hotels in August.

Of the total, 57% were for accommodation in the UK compared to 17% in short-haul and just 3% in long-haul destinations.

'boutique hotels london' was the most queried term, accounting for 7% of searches made for boutique hotels in the UK while four of the top ten most popular search terms were related to London.

Other popular spots for UK boutique hotel searches were Brighton, the Lake District and Edinburgh.

Ibiza, Barcelona, Majorca and Majorca's Puerto Pollensa accounted for 13% of UK searches for short-haul boutique hotels, proving more popular than Paris.

Further afield, the US, particularly New York, Istanbul in Turkey and Singapore, were the prime long-haul locations for boutique hotel searches.

Küçük Oteller Derneği'nin London School of Economics'ten (LSE) bir grup master öğrencisi ile yaptığı Araştırma

 

Küçük Oteller Derneği Genel Sekreteri Adnan Mordeniz; bu araştırmanın ortaya çıkardığı bulguların otel sektörünün tüm bileşenleri açısından son derece anlamlı olduğunu belirtti. Dernek olarak üniversitelerle yapılan bu tarz çalışmaları her zaman desteklediklerini belirten Mordeniz; bu araştırmanın, müşteri yorumlarının otellerin performansı açısından ne kadar kritik olduğunu ortaya koyduğunu ifade etti. 

İstanbul'da Küçük Oteller Derneği üyesi 52 otelden alınan veriler ile yapılan çalışmada, Booking.com ve TripAdvisor gibi misafirlerin oteller hakkında yorumlar ve puanlamalar yaptığı sitelerin oda fiyatlarını ciddi şekilde etkilediği ortaya çıktı. 6 ay boyunca fiyat üzerindeki diğer değişkenler sabit tutularak yapılan analizler sonucu; otel puanlamalarındaki 5 üzerinden 1 birimlik artışın oda fiyatlamasında %24'lük bir yükselmeye denk düştüğü gözlendi. Bu oran otellerin misafir memnuniyetini arttırmanın ve bu tarz sitelerde güçlü bir profil oluşturmanın otelciler açısından ne kadar önemli olduğunu vurgulamakta.

Araştırmayı yapan LSE öğrencileri grubu sözcüsü Semih Yaşar Boyacı; daha önceki çalışmalarda pozitif misafir yorumlarının otel doluluk oranlarında artışa yol açtığının ortaya konulduğunu, ancak bu yorumların fiyat üzerindeki etkisinin bilimsel olarak ilk defa araştırıldığını belirtti. Araştırmasında lokasyon, fiyatlandırma, ve misafir oranı bakımından benzer skalada bulunan 52 otelle çalıştığını belirten Boyacı; memnuniyet - fiyat ilişkisini net olarak gözlemlemek için oda sayısı, ortalama giderler ve tesis özellikleri gibi dinamiklerin fiyata olan etkisinin kontrol altında tutulduğunu dile getirdi.

Araştırmanın tamamına Küçük Oteller Derneği sitesinden ulaşabilirsiniz:

Araştırmayı görmek için TIKLAYINIZ 

TripAdvisors's New Program Launch will bring in Small Hotels

TripAdvisor’s New Program Launch Will Bring In Small Hotels Like Never Before

Dennis Schaal, Skift

@denschaal

Booking.com, with its 354,000 hotels, has the largest collection of properties among booking sites, but TripAdvisor has launched a new program, TripConnect, that may enable it to attract a swath of small hotels, B&Bs and inns that even Booking.com hasn’t reached.

With TripConnect, independent hotels that are subscribers to TripAdvisor’s Business Listings and who work with one or several of 300-500 participating Internet booking engines, including Sabre Hospitality, Pegasus Solutions’ Open Hospitality, TravelClick’s iHotelier, will be able to enroll and use a self-service TripAdvisor auction platform modeled after Google AdWords, Facebook and LinkedIn to place their bids and participate in TripAdvisor’s hotel metasearch, with the ability to change their bids every 24 hours.

Independent hotels won’t have the money that large online travel agencies and hotel chains will bring to TripAdvisor’s hotel metasearch, but perhaps the smaller properties will get a little more flexibility than the larger players by using the auction platform.

The independent hotels can use the auction platform to set a daily cap or maximum budget, and they can view a forecast number of clicks and click-through rates based on their bids, which might range from $2.20 on a desktop to $0.70 on mobile, depending on the market, position or other circumstances, for example.

The rollout of TripConnect is a big deal for TripAdvisor, the independent hotels, and competitors because it has the potential to bring on board a huge number of independent and smaller properties that have been mostly shut out of hotel metasearch.

Kayak works with some of these Internet booking engines to woo the participation of some independent hotels, but TripAdvisor appears to be doing it on a much larger scale.

“We have never been able to adequately address the needs of the long-tail provider,” TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer tells Skift. “Can I participate in your Check Rates or your meta offering? The answer was no, you can’t.”

Read MoreThe 6-Year Evolution of Visit Houston’s Mixed Media Ad Campaign

“In the matter of a few short months, we think that most properties will be able to connect and have their best pricing and availability appear next to all the big guys,” Kaufer says. “That opens the door to additional relationships, from TripAdvisor’s perspective, to additional relationships with hundreds of thousands of hoteliers and lodging providers.”

There are 50,000 hotels worldwide that currently subscribe to TripAdvisor’s Business Listings, and many more that work with Internet booking engines may sign on so they can participate in TripAdvisor metasearch.

Programs of this type are something that B&Bs, inns and independent hotels have sought for years to enable direct bookings.

Whether it is airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, global distribution systems or online travel agencies, the travel industry grapples with the hangover of trying to make things work optimally when they have to drag legacy systems, in technology or otherwise, along for the ride.

People at HotelTonight, for example, will tell you how much easier it was to build a same-day hotel booking app from scratch a couple of years ago than it was for Priceline to construct a copycat app that is saddled with requiring users to go through dozens of more clicks than the HotelTonight app to book a room because Priceline needed to tie-in with existing, legacy systems.

Enter TripAdvisor, which today began rolling out the new global platform, TripConnect, that will enable independent hotels, B&Bs and inns to participate and compete in TripAdvisor’s new hotel metasearch, officially called Hotel Price Comparison, for the first time.

TripConnect will give these smaller, independent hotels something that Expedia, Booking.com, Travelocity, Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental don’t have when participating in TripAdvisor hotel metasearch — a self-service cost-per-click advertising plaform.

It’s a dirty little secret in metasearch that most of the major players don’t offer their OTA and hotel customers auction platforms, such as Google AdWords, when they want to bid for positions.

For example, the OTAs and hotel chains using TripAdvisor for hotel metasearch can change their bids every 24 hours, but they must do so through their human account managers.

Jean-Charles Lacoste, TripAdvisor’s vice president of direct-connect solutions who heads up the rollout of TripConnect, points out that there are advantages of using account managers for hotel chains with hundreds or thousands of properties because of the complexities of the proposition.

Others would say, however, that the lack of a self-service auction platform for these big players is in part, at least, a legacy issue that brings some inefficiencies.

Will they be able to outbid the big chains? Perhaps tactically in some markets or at times for some properties where the competition isn’t that important to the larger hotels.

But, Lacoste points out that the independent hotels and B&Bs will have an advantage at some junctures when they show availability, and the larger hotels are “sold out.”

There is also demand in its own right for smaller hotels for travelers who want to avoid the big chains and that whole experience, Lacoste says.

“It’s a unique way we can use technology to level the travel accommodation landscape, placing small and independent properties on an equal footing with large hotels and online travel agencies,” Lacoste says.

That may be a bit of an overstatement. The playing field won’t be level, but at least TripAdvisor’s auction platform, a new product largely unencumbered by legacy issues, will give independent hotels and B&Bs an advantageous new weapon.

And, many of TripAdvisor’s account managers likely aren’t happy about the whole thing.