by RobertKCole on August 10, 2010
The Orbitz press release boldly announced “Orbitz Launches Groundbreaking Hotel Search Experience with Industry-Leading Property Comparison Features.”
photo credit: Erik CharltonThe Orbitz hotel user interface may be new and improved, but is it enough of a dramatic step forward to catch the attention of travel shoppers?
Wow, sign me up! Nothing grabs my attention better in online travel than a big leap forward for hotel search innovation.
In reality, calling the enhancements “groundbreaking” or “industry-leading” is a stretch. These changes are incremental, mostly derivative and unfortunately not significantly innovative.
Not to denigrate this big step forward for Orbitz, but given the hyperbolic claims of the press release, I was expecting changes that would dramatically surpass the current hotel search paradigms.
Orbitz has definitely provided a more Kayak-like experience, with some improvements like including user ratings when mousing over a property on a map, but in many cases, Kayak still offers better functionality.
What was added?
- Google Maps, including street-view
- Location, hotel classification, customer review score, amenity and brand filters
What was removed?
- Hotel neighborhood / star classification matrix
Orbitz’ attempt to translate the airline carrier/number of stops matrix display to a hotel star rating/neighborhood format never really resonated with users due its inability to categorize and differentiate a hotel product that is much less commoditized than air travel. continue reading →
Tagged as: Expedia, hotel, innovation, Kayak, online travel companies, Orbitz, Priceline, search, travel, travel search, Travelocity, user interface
by RobertKCole on July 20, 2010
Searching for a New York City hotel, I discovered Hotwire testing a new feature: Bed Choice. Sensing it might be a bucket test, I grabbed a couple screenshots.
photo credit: Wm JasThe expanding menu of options provided by Hotwire is revealing more details about the hotel to travelers. Will hotels be able to translate this into larger and more nourishing meals?
This is a brilliant move by Hotwire, as it should simultaneously attract new prospects, improve conversion, and further increase its differentiation from Priceline.
By introducing Bed Choice, Hotwire not only expands its appeal to attract new customers that might still have concerns regarding opaque product purchases, but also improves the conversion potential of current Hotwire users when confirming the bed type is important.
Most importantly, it also provides a critically important new capability for hotels – the ability to upsell.
Screenshots
Hotwire’s new Bed Choice feature appears in the search results page, with an icon prominently displayed next to the hotel feature icons. The icon functions similarly to the other feature options. Hovering over the icon provides a description of the Bed Choice feature, but does not present the options or pricing.
The Hotwire results page now includes tiles highlighting hotels that offer a choice of bedding:
continue reading →
Tagged as: Expedia, hospitality, hotel, Hotwire, marketing, online travel companies, Priceline, travel
by RobertKCole on October 19, 2009
Contract negotiations between Choice Hotels International and Expedia have reportedly broken down, with the Choice brands being removed from Expedia controlled websites. Max Starkov of Hospitality eBusiness Strategies authored a recent blog post on the topic, describing the hotel industry’s relationship with the Online Travel Agencies as an example of the “Stockholm Syndrome” when the kidnapped victims (hoteliers) fall in love with their kidnapper (OTAs.)
photo credit: BrymoChoice Hotels Franchisees, looking for business during an economic downturn, may need to weigh brand allegiance against online sales
As opposed to a hostage situation, the hotel industry and the online travel agencies need to realize that each plays an important role in business mix of the other. Attractive hotel margins are available for OTAs while still providing consumer value, and without hotels jeopardizing operating profitability. However, as the pendulum of negotiating power swings to favor the OTAs, hotel brands will need to maintain discipline to maintain equilibrium on terms that are mutually beneficial.
In many ways, the situation with Choice looks similar to the contentious Expedia – InterContinental Hotels negotiations of 5 years ago.
In 2004, Expedia tested the mettle of InterContinental franchisees and the control of its hotel brands by asking the question “What is more important to a hotel, its Brand, or Expedia?”
Jim Young of InterContinental was miraculously able to gain alignment with corporate management and the franchise groups to ensure uniform rate and distribution integrity across the InterContinental portfolio. As a result, InterContinental made the strategic decision to sacrifice as much as 30% of its online sales volume and terminate its distribution relationship with Expedia. continue reading →
Tagged as: Choice Hotels, Expedia, hotel, recession, travel
by RobertKCole on August 7, 2009
Google has almost unlimited options when it comes to its future travel strategy. In addition to its huge search traffic and expansive advertising network, Google also possesses an impressive arsenal of technologies that promise not only to change how consumers research and book travel, but how they will interact with their destination once they arrive.
Will Google Labs Cook Up Some Revolutionary New Travel Tools?
Given Google’s massive traffic and advertising reach, it is no wonder Kayak CEO Steve Hafner was recently quoted in Dennis Schaal’s blog, “Google is by far the biggest source of travel information for consumers.” This statement got a lot of people’s attention. Dennis’ follow-up post included a quote from Google’s managing director of travel, Rob Torres, stating “We are not going to copycat. We will only do something if we can do it 10 times better than what’s happening today.” I’m not sure if that helped to calm the fears or feed the terror…
So let’s put this in perspective. In Angry Online Travelers Consider Abandoning The Web, Forrester’s Henry Harteveldt blogged “travelers are so angry with poor online travel experiences they’re approaching a breaking point.” A clearly defined need exists.
Google’s mission statement is: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Organizing travel information aligns perfectly with Google’s mission. continue reading →
Tagged as: Expedia, Forrester, Google, innovation, Kayak, online travel companies
by RobertKCole on June 2, 2009
A recent King County summary judgment against Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE), reportedly the largest consumer class action suit in Washington State history, creates a new front in the growing litigation battles facing the Online Travel Companies (OTC’s). Expedia competitors Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN), Orbitz (NYSE:OWW), and privately held Sabre’s Travelocity potentially risk facing similar claims, although their exposure is somewhat limited relative to Expedia due to lower hotel sales volume and merchant model transaction ratios.
photo credit: capsicinaCities, and now consumers, look to squeeze Online Travel Companies for hotel merchant taxes
The King County judgment is significantly different from earlier claims targeting the Online Travel Companies. High profile cases, such as the claim filed by the City of Anaheim, focused on the local taxing jurisdictions attempting to secure the hotel merchant tax differential from the OTC’s. In the Washington State case however, the plaintiffs seek compensation to consumers for the hotel merchant tax differential. The suit fundamentally alleges that the tax was collected on a retail basis from consumers, but remitted on a wholesale basis to the hotel (and then passed through to local jurisdictions.) In short, the suit claims the tax amount paid by consumers was overstated by Expedia and the difference should be refunded. Expedia is refuting these claims and appealing the ruling. continue reading →
Tagged as: Expedia, hotel, hotel tax, online travel companies, Orbitz, Priceline, Travelocity
by RobertKCole on May 5, 2009
NOTE: This post originally appeared as my comment to one of Dennis Schaal’s blog posts commenting on Expedia using the term “legacy online travel agency.” Please take a look at the post – not just because Dennis is one of the few bloggers that produces such consistently good quality that I eagerly await seeing his latest points, but because this post inspired a great collection of comments from a number of travel industry players I respect. The combination of the post and the comments provides a great overview of the state of travel industry innovation in May 2009. So with that background out of the way, here is my take on why it is seemingly so difficult for “legacy” travel companies to support organic innovation.
photo credit: Ross MayfieldOrganic innovation has traditionally been a challenge for Online Travel Companies - who favor acquisitions
First, the size and investment profile of the Online Travel Companies (OTC’s) applies pressure on the organizations to chase quarterly profits and defer innovative projects that require greater development effort or longer time horizons. As a result, product and development teams are driven to find the proverbial “low hanging fruit” and progress becomes evolutionary instead of revolutionary. continue reading →
Tagged as: Expedia, innovation, online travel companies, Orbitz, Priceline, Travelocity, Travelport
