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The stats for August were fine. Hotel occupancy was up strongly, after posting a nothing-to-brag-about increase of less than 1 percentage point in July. ADRs rose, RevPAR was up and airplanes continued to run more than 85% full. So far, so good. Then Spain's budget came out, rioters hit the streets, and we were all reminded that the macro cloud hanging over businesses of all kind hasn't gone anywhere. Priceline shares, always sensitive to Europe, shed more than 1%. Other travel shares also gave up gains from earlier in the month.
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The second quarter of 2012 was challenging for U.S. public online travel agencies (OTAs) – Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline. While domestic business was resilient for most, relatively weak travel demand in Europe meant that growth from overseas operations was muted across the board.
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With uncertainty still lingering over many of the world's economies, consumers have grown increasingly careful about their travel spending. A range of influences and information sources impact how consumers decide where to go, and travel behavior varies considerably across different markets. This report explores how the process of destination selection is evolving, and in particular how this process differs between travelers in the U.S., France, Germany and the U.K.
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While a strategically managed social media presence has become de rigueur in the travel industry, companies are still struggling to determine how best to harness the medium. PhoCusWright's Social Media in Travel 2012 examines the role of social media in the online travel ecosystem, investigating which types of user-generated content are most influential, how social networking affects referrals to travel sites, and what innovations to expect from social travel startups, among other trends.
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What do hotels really get out of providing inventory to online travel agencies through a merchant program? This article examines the costs, benefits and overall value of this model to hoteliers.
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Does online travel know something other industries don't, or is the category whistling before an economic storm? It's an interesting question as we look at June's data, plus stock prices and some earnings reports coming in during July. Early earnings performance from Expedia was excellent, and the hotels are doing well (though hotel stocks are weakening) and the airlines are benefitting from cheaper fuel, higher load factors and a general, welcome discipline that comes from having been whipsawed by cycles before. And yet ... the question is whether – or how long – this can last in the face of a weakening economy and a looming fiscal cliff.
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Everyone is suddenly worried about the economy, including us. As recently as our Webinar in May, we argued that the economy had perhaps four months of bullish runway left before concerns about the presidential election and the many fiscal decisions that must be made after November 6 become more pressing.
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In January 2012, the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) published Distribution Channel Analysis: A Guide for Hotels (DCA). The report presented comprehensive data and analysis on the U.S. hotel distribution landscape. The purpose of this Spotlight is to discuss the report's recommendations and provide additional perspective, including examining the role and impact of other media players (e.g., Google, Facebook and Apple) entering the hotel distribution space.
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General search engines like Google have become so ubiquitous that many users would be lost without them. In the travel category, top brands compete fiercely for general search traffic, despite their well-established names and websites. This report examines the role of general search engines in the travel planning process, and includes an overview of travelers' search engine usage by brand, motives for using search, travel products searched for and more.
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Despite rising oil prices and airfares, aggregate gross bookings of the three public U.S. OTAs – Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline – made notable increases in 1Q12. However, near-term headwinds lie in wait.
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