New innovations in social and mobile could begin stealing share from the likes of Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline. And then there’s the 800-pound gorilla, Google, which is making more aggressive strides into the hotel space.
“Search will continue to be important. The guys that are probably at the greatest risk in the social and mobile space are OTAs,” said Scot Hornick, partner at management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
It seems as though hoteliers during the past year have simmered their disdain for OTAs as the industry begins to understand the value of third-party demand—or at least hoteliers maintain that perception in public, Freed writes.
Not Gary Loveman.
Chairman, CEO and president of Caesars Entertainment for the past nine years, Loveman isn’t shy about expressing his belief that OTAs have commoditized hotel roomnights, and he shared those feelings Monday with an audience of approximately 1,000 hotel technology experts during the opening keynote address.
The OTAs are “the place customers go who don’t care about what you do,” Loveman said. “We need to distinguish ourselves from all of our competitors and provide consistency for our guests.”
Orbitz executives confirmed the company is experimenting with showing different hotel offers to Mac and PC visitors, but said the company isn't showing the same room to different users at different prices. They also pointed out users can opt to rank results by price.
Orbitz found Mac users on average spend $20 to $30 more a night on hotels than their PC counterparts, a significant margin given the site's average nightly hotel booking is approximately $100, chief scientist Wai Gen Yee said. Mac users are 40% more likely to book a 4- or 5-star hotel than PC users, Yee said, and when Mac and PC users book the same hotel, Mac users tend to stay in more expensive rooms.
This transaction involved the purchase of rights to manage and operate the Six Senses and Evason branded luxury resort properties and spas, but did not include a purchase of interests in any of the physical real estate related to such resorts or spas. Further announcements will be made in the upcoming months.
The new generation of Six Senses will consist of 28 branded spas globally and the following Six Senses branded resort properties:
• Six Senses Laamu (Maldives)
• Six Senses Zighy Bay (Oman)
• Six Senses Yao Noi (Thailand)
• Six Senses Samui (Thailand)
• Six Senses Hua Hin (Thailand)
• Six Senses Con Dao (Vietnam)
• Six Senses Ninh Van Bay (Vietnam)
• Six Senses Saigon River (Vietnam) under construction
• Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain (China) under construction
• Evason Ana Mandara Nha Trang (Vietnam)
• Evason Hua Hin (Thailand)
• Evason Ma’In (Jordan)
Host acquired land and entered into a construction agreement with Galwan Engineering and Performance Realty to develop a 150-room Novotel hotel and a 255-room ibis hotel in Rio de Janeiro for approximately $72 million. As part of this transaction, the company signed an agreement with Accor to manage the hotels. Construction is scheduled to begin in July 2012 and the hotels are projected to open mid-year 2014.
Through a 50/50 joint venture agreement with White Lodging Services, Host will develop the 255-room Hyatt Place in downtown Nashville for approximately $46 million, including the purchase of the land. The joint venture intends to finance a significant portion of the project.
Compiled by Stephanie Wharton.