With two major hotel brands making efforts to enhance direct guest bookings, one Online Travel Agency (OTA) has decided to fight back.
Expedia’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently spoke at a recent investor day in New York City, and proclaimed that Marriott and Hilton will likely lose share in the Expedia marketplace if they don’t provide their best prices and availability.
Khosrowshahi also stated that hotels fall to lower positions in Expedia’s sort order and their conversions decline when properties or brands don’t aggressively engage on Expedia sites. He even went on to say that there are plenty of rival brands ready to gain share.
According to this recent Skift Magazine article, Marriott is taking the high-road based on this comment from a spokesperson for the international brand, “we have great relationships with our OTA partners and will continue to work with intermediaries in mutually beneficial relationships that enable us to achieve our strategic objectives. We realize that customers today have a choice of booking channel at their fingertips so our goal is to offer a portfolio of direct and indirect booking channels for our guests.”
With investor pressure always being high, it’s natural for Expedia to respond to this new “direct booking” trend. The challenge is that guests are already overwhelmed with multiple channels for booking. While many search for hotels based on price, if they are loyal to a brand they may be more apt to cut through the clutter and book directly.
Conversely, when there is no direct channel for getting the best rate, the guest needs to do all of the legwork. This is very similar to the rise of movie streaming services. Most consumers have to figure out whether or not Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime actually have the movies they want to watch. As a result, the consumer experiences undo friction.
Ultimately, the guest could lose in the scenario. Perhaps the OTAs and the major hotel brands should put the guest first in this “booking battle” and let the loyalty happen naturally?
This will most likely not happen. Though one thing is for sure … this battle is far from being over and the ultimate outcomes will be very interesting.