Good Sunday morning from somewhere over Colorado . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, June 21, 2024, is below. It was another relatively quiet week in the online travel space, except, that is, if...more
This week’s “vacation edition” Update features only two stories, the subjects of which have been featured in prior Updates. We will be back with our regular Updates next week!...more
For those of you in the U.S. and Canada, happy Independence Day. This week’s Update features a number of important legal updates – both in the U.S. and in the EU. The next 6-9 months should prove to be interesting as the EU...more
This week’s Update features two anti-trust / competition law updates from the EU (the Netherlands) and South America (Chile). Enjoy....more
This week’s Update delves back into resort fees and includes a story detailing planned future regulation of the fees by the FTC. While resort fees may not technically be an “online issue,” potential federal regulation will...more
Three of the four stories we feature in this week’s Update detail recent or ongoing examinations by competition regulators of the trade practices of several online travel platforms. Relatedly, we also include again a link to...more
It was another relatively quiet week in the online travel world, as evidenced by the stories below. The one obvious exception was the European Commission’s final publishing of the much-discussed Digital Markets Act (DMA),...more
We end 2020 with a heavy dose of antitrust/competition stories (which is a theme likely to continue into 2021), including updates from Russia, Croatia and the European Union. Those of you with properties in those markets may...more
This week’s Update features a number of updates on previous stories, including our recent story on Expedia’s apparent abandonment of indirect and direct channel rate parity provisions in Australia. Enjoy....more
While this week’s Update does not include stories about Coronavirus and its potentially disastrous effects on the lodging and travel industries, I’m sure it will only be a matter of time. We are already hearing stories of...more
Our holiday-abbreviated OTA & Travel Distribution Update is below. Happy Holidays....more
This week’s Update features a number of stories on important developments in the EU. Enjoy....more
Both regulatory investigations and consumer complaints feature prominently in this week’s distribution news....more
Is it just my generally biased view of online travel platforms or are regulators finally taking a hard look at the sometimes questionable practices of these channels? Enjoy....more
As our Update reveals, Booking Holdings monopolized the distribution headlines this past week....more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending August 4, 2017 is below. An important update on the status of rate parity in the EU leads things off in this week’s Update...more
Our weekly OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending June 30, 2017 is below. A mix of stories in this week’s update. Airbnb Continues Its March Toward Mainstream Lodging (SHORT-TERM RENTALS) ("Airbnb signs...more
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending April 14, 2017 is below. Additional details regarding last week’s long-awaited report on online travel by the European Commission are featured in this week’s...more
We have followed over the last years Europe grappling with the issue of most favoured nation clauses and hotel booking. Our last update regarded a joint monitoring project between the CMA and the European Commission, designed...more
EU: Regulatory Scrutiny of Online Hotel Booking Continues - The 13 July 2016 saw the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announce that it had sent a questionnaire to a large sample of hotels throughout the UK. As...more
The 13 July 2016 saw the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announce that it had sent a questionnaire to a large sample of hotels throughout the UK. As part of a joint monitoring project with the European Commission,...more