Good Saturday afternoon from Manson, Washington...I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday week/weekend, at least those of you in the United States. Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, July 5, 2024, is below. As you can seek, it was a quiet week. Enjoy.

• HOTREC Releases 2024 Distribution Study. European hospitality association (representing hotels, restaurants and cares), HOTREC, released its annual hotel distribution study this past week. Key findings of the study include (i) over the past year, OTAs have increased their share of the European market by an average of 10% (while direct channel distribution has decreased), (ii) small hotels rely Most heavily on OTAs, (iii) Booking.com enjoys a 71% share of the European hotel market, while Expedia is far behind at 15% and (iv) OTAs undercut hoteliers’ rates in 4 of 10 use cases examined. The association is cautiously optimistic that Booking.com’s recent gatekeeper designation under the DMA will produce meaningful results for European hoteliers in the months ahead. A complete copy of the 2024 study is linked to our story below.
• Kayak Launches Premium SME Offering. Kayak for Business has announced the launch of a new premium offering targeting small and medium sized businesses. The new offering includes group bookings, 24/7 agency support and access to negotiated corporate rates. Users will pay a flat $20 per trip fee. The service can also integrate with a variety of additional services, including expense management and duty of care providers.

Booking’s dominance in accommodation shows need for EU gatekeeper law enforcement, hotels say
July 2, 2024 via foster.com
The growing influence of online travel agencies — especially Booking — in the hotel distribution market requires a proper implementation of the EU's Digital Markets Act to ensure a better treatment of hotels, the association Hotrec said today. The hoteliers' organization has presented a study showing that online travel agencies "continue to gather power," and said that hotels need the DMA to help rebalance their "unequal" relationship

Kayak for Business Launches Premium Offering for SMEs
June 27, 2024 via Business Travel News
Kayak for Business has added a premium option to its travel management offering for small and midsized businesses, which includes such features as group bookings, around-the-clock agency support and corporate rate access, Kayak announced.