Duff on Hospitality Law

Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending February 17, 2023, is below.  This week’s Update features a number of stories coming out of last week’s quarterly earnings releases by several of the largest online travel platforms.  We’ve also attached transcripts from the recent earnings calls for both TripAdvisor and Airbnb.  Enjoy.

• • Intermediaries Regain Ground in Latest Hotel Booking Trends Report.  SiteMinder has released its latest annual Hotel Booking Trends report detailing 2022 online booking trends.  Highlights from the latest report include:   
    • OTAs were ranked in the top two positions in 79% of SiteMinder’s Top Twelve Lists (versus 37% in 2021)
    • Booking.com was the most popular booking channel across SiteMinder’s Lists (Expedia Group websites were second)
    • Direct bookings were down against 2021 numbers in 42% of the markets surveyed (though on par with 2019 numbers)
    • GDS bookings were up in 47% of the markets surveyed as corporate travel began its rebound
    • Airbnb continued to gain strength and made 89% of the Lists (compared to 28% in 2019)

• • Airbnb’s Chesky Rejects Need for Traditional Loyalty Program and Seeks to Expand Traditional Hotel Inventory.  During last week’s earnings call, Airbnb Brian Chesky rejected the need for Airbnb to offer guests a traditional points-based program like its distribution competitors.  According to Chesky, “the best loyalty program is building a product people love so much that they want to come back.  We don’t have to pay them to come back.”  Although Chesky may not be interested in emulating his competitors’ loyalty program offerings, he is interested in adding more of their traditional product types, specifically hotels.  Adding more traditional hotel inventory, Chesky noted, would allow Airbnb to better position itself as a traditional booking platform.  Chesky’s apparent re-embrace of traditional hotels represents a thawing of Airbnb’s previous pandemic-induced “freeze” on traditional hotels.  Could we soon see corporate wide direct distribution agreements between hoteliers and Airbnb?   
  • Marriott Increasing Digital Investment in 2023.  Yes, hoteliers too can sometimes be featured in our weekly Update . . .  In its recent earnings call, Marriott shared that product innovation, particularly through Marriott’s Bonvoy mobile application and other digital products, remains a priority for Marriott entering 2023.  According to Marriott CFO, Leeny Oberg, the newly planned investments will “transform” users’ experience on Marriott’s mobile application – for both Bonvoy members and the Marriott employees who serve them.  Marriott’s investment in its digital channels appears to be producing positive results as Marriott mobile app usage grew by 32%, digital room nights grew by 27% and digital revenue grew by 41% (year over year) this past year.