raveeez

Most people don’t know that 2 companies own the online travel game. Their links dominate page 1 for nearly every hotel on the planet. Often ranking higher than the hotel’s own website. Here’s the inside scoop about Expedia and Booking from a hotelier’s perspective: 1) All roads lead back to Rome. For decades Expedia and Booking have been gobbling up competitor platforms. Masterclass on horizontal integration. Love the Travelocity gnomes? So did Expedia. Got a secret deal on Priceline? Booking knows about it. 2)⚙️Tech Integration. It must be difficult for us to manage dozens of these sites? Nope. When we update rates on Expedia, they push to Orbitz. When you book on Travelocity, we get the res from Expedia. Listing on Booking and Expedia gets a hotel exposure to 90% of the internet. 2a) Affiliates Everywhere. Stop exaggerating, 90%? Yes. Book a room on aaa.com and it comes to us via Booking. Use your Delta miles and Expedia hooks us up. These guys power hotel bookings for major brands, public visitor & convention bureaus, travel influencers, and everyone in-between. 3) Cashing Checks - All that exposure and seamless integration comes at a price. Hotels pay 15-30% commission for every dollar generated from these sites. Your modest two night stay? $50 cash money to Booking.com. Want to support your fav hotel? Book direct. 4) Illusion of Choice - Kayak and Trivago used to be neutral price comparison sites. Not anymore. Hotels.com pays Trivago to rank higher, but then Expedia get's the ad revenue AND commission from the stay. Don’t worry though, company enforced firewalls prevent any shenanigans🤡 5) Love Hate. Hoteliers (myself included) have a complicated relationship here. OTAs generate $millions$ of reservations. But they also monopolize search results and extract rents as an annoying middle man. It's not all doom and gloom. Tech and social media are leveling the playing field for accommodations (h/t @LiveOakLake). 6) Leeeeeroy Jenkins. Airbnb burst on to the scene and changed the game. While they are still a middleman, they provide enough value to justify their commissions. Insurance, traveler reviews, seamless payouts. etc. Love VRBO? Owned by Expedia. 7) Dirty Looks. Hotels hate it when guests prepay through OTAs. It makes changes, refunds, upgrades, and everything else more difficult. If you are getting a dirty look behind the Front Desk, you know what you did! 8) Final Frontier. International platforms and niche travel sites are next to be brought into the motherships. At this scale, it's incredibly tough for competitors to make a dent. Tripadvisor is floundering. Google profits regardless. Even Airbnb couldn't resist and bought Hotel Tonight (yikes, right before COVID!) So much more to cover, but hope this peels back the curtain on this billion dollar industry I'm a pawn in. Chime in in there’s something you’d like to know!