ota
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Why OTA’s Are Uber Successful
David Lund | November 5, 2018
By David Lund Have you ever wondered why we all hear so much complaining and downright all-around annoyance being expressed from hotels about the on-line travel agents? You would naturally think that because there is so much protest being made that hotels would simply not use the service and opt for something else? Right? Well – not so fast as hotels are reportedly using OTA's more than ever. There are three key reasons why OTA's are so successful and, in turn, why hotels and customers all flock to use them. One. Hotels, brands and franchisers all benefit from using OTA's and they do so without making a single dollar of investment...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Why Your Average Joe Should Never Use an OTA – And… Why He Will Never Stop Using Them!
David Lund | August 13, 2018
With two large shortcomings I can't see why the average person who has a basic understanding of how the travel world works would ever use an online travel agency. In making this statement it occurs to me that—obviously—most people don't know the basics. If they did know the two things I'm going to talk about here, the OTA world would be dead on its feet. The real question is why hoteliers do not get together and create a presence in the online world and inform people so many more customers can make a favorable decision. Then hotels in turn could increase their own traffic and reduce commission costs. This is the $64,000 ques...
Can I Book My Next Trip on Amazon? An Open Letter to Jeff Bezos
Alan E. Young | June 6, 2018
By Alan E. Young Dear Mr. Bezos, Amazon has long-since established itself as the fabric that holds together a world of consumers looking for an easy, effective and value-oriented environment to purchase almost anything - except for travel. As a veteran of the hospitality and travel technology industry, I believe Amazon should extend its footprint and offer travel and hotel products to deepen its relationship with customers and position itself as the ultimate end-to-end travel ecosystem. Though Amazon has offered flash deals and travel-related services in the past and Amazon Destinations tested the waters briefly, you have never really t...
The OTA’s Attempt at Discrediting the Value of the Hotel’s Direct Channel
HEBS Digital | May 10, 2018
By Max Starkov Background: Earlier this week, the European Technology and Travel Services Association (ETTSA) released a report called "Hotel Distribution Costs," examining the costs associated with direct and indirect distribution channels for hotels, together with the impact of channel shift. ETTSA is an organization "representing and promoting the interests of global distribution systems (GDSs) and travel distributors (read: OTAs), towards the industry, policy-makers, opinion formers, consumer groups and all other relevant European stakeholders." The report, prepared by a consultancy called Infrata, concluded that hotels that attempt...
OTA Association Slams Direct Bookings
Lily McIlwain | May 9, 2018
By Lily McIlwain By this point, the number of studies testifying to the positive impact of direct bookings - and the sometimes harmful influence of OTAs - is approaching too many to count. Whether it's in terms of the revenue share for hotels or the experience of guests, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that booking directly through a hotel website benefits all parties involved. Therefore when we saw last week that the European Technology and Travel Services Association (ETTSA) had released a report stating that "the major incentive for hoteliers to push direct sales is to reduce transparency for customers," we we...
New Research Shows Consumers Spend $5.2 Billion Annually in Fraudulent and Misleading Hotel Booking Transactions
the American Hotel & Lodging Association | May 3, 2018
Nearly one in four consumers say they were misled by a third-party travel company Washington, D.C. – May 3, 2018 – As Americans begin gearing up for the busy summer travel season, new research from the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) suggests that online booking scams and fraudulent and misleading travel websites and companies continue to mislead and confuse consumers. That's why AHLA is encouraging consumers to Avoid Shady Deals and Have a Sunny Stay by searching smarter for their hotel stays through the launch of their summer "Search Smarter" education and awareness campaign. In a new survey commissioned by...
Hospitality Financial Leadership – The OTA Distraction – Pushing Rather Than Pulling
David Lund | April 2, 2018
By David Lund You cannot go a day online in the hotel community without seeing a ton of OTA related discussion. Hoteliers are like scared kittens when it comes to how they have been treated by the evil empire that the "On-Line Travel Agencies" has created. There is no doubt that the OTAs have dramatically changed the landscape in the last 20 years since Expedia bounced into the world under the strict parenting of Microsoft. In this piece, I want to offer a different perspective—one based on a different view of the OTA revenue creation and resulting costs. I also want to look at and analyze some black and white revenue and profit f...
Study Reveals ‘OTA Premium’: Travelers Who Book Through OTAs Stay Longer, Spend More During Trips
Oxford Economics | March 14, 2018
Oxford Economics and Expedia analyzed nearly 100,000 trips to ascertain spending habits of travelers by booking type Seattle, Wash., March 14, 2018 – Expedia, Inc., the world's largest online travel company, partnered with Oxford Economics to analyze hotel guest spending during more than 98,000 trips, segmented by guests who booked part or all of their trip using an online travel agency (OTA) and non-OTA guests – and the results are telling. Travelers who booked via an OTA spent more per trip than non-OTA guests across all categories, regardless of whether they were traveling for business or leisure, making them a ...
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