Thursday, November 15, 2007

Travolution@PhoCusWright 07 - Expedia's new model

Predictably, Expedia's announcement today about its move to a media-based system, initially with Intercontinental Hotels Group, has sparked an enormous amount of debate today.

Dara Khosrowshahi admits he doesn't know if or how the model will expand, either into other hotel groups or airlines.

He declines to say when or how it will impact on the bottom line.

Although it has not been stated, there is a feeling that a wait-and-see approach has been adopted by Expedia - and IHG - to see whether it works or not.

It really is a fundamental shift in Expedia's supplier model.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

2 comments:

John said...

I think its clear they are clutching at straws with this one.

In this day and age hotels want to work with reservation providers that give them clear control over rates and availability.

If a company wants to provide the user with a full choice of hotels then they need to move to a supplier friendly model. Will the small guest house on Skye ever been able to join Octopus or Expedia for example?

Affiliates also prefers this because it leads to higher conversion rates, I mean the hotel in Prague knows the local market better than someone sat in London.

I wonder how long it will be before the net rate/merchant model will be obsolete?

John said...

I think its clear they are clutching at straws with this one.

In this day and age hotels want to work with reservation providers that give them clear control over rates and availability.

If a company wants to provide the user with a full choice of hotels then they need to move to a supplier friendly model. Will the small guest house on Skye ever been able to join Octopus or Expedia for example?

Affiliates also prefers this because it leads to higher conversion rates, I mean the hotel in Prague knows the local market better than someone sat in London.

I wonder how long it will be before the net rate/merchant model will be obsolete?

John Regan

The Travel Affiliate Blog