The Small Businesses Beating Tripadvisor and GetYourGuide

This week Executive Editor Dennis Schaal followed up on a comment made by Tripadvisor’s CEO about his company’s position in the tours and activities space. After looking at the growth of Tripadvisor’s Viator brand against its rival GetYourGuide, Schaal concluded that it wasn’t really a competition as much as it was a tale of these two big online companies competing against much larger offline competition. Read on for the full story, as well as other headlines from this week.

This Week’s Headlines

Tripadvisor Versus GetYourGuide: Who’s Bigger and Badder in Experiences?
In the battle between Tripadvisor/Viator and GetYourGuide, the winner is — offline experiences, which have more than 90 percent market share. That spells big opportunities for both of these companies.

The Boutique Hotel Trend Arrives in Branson, Missouri
These Missouri hotel innovators asked themselves: What should thoughtful, modern hospitality look like in the Ozarks? The verdict is still out on their just-opened boutique hotel. But their approach offers a peak into current trends in design thinking.

Google Expands Tours and Activities With New Display
Ranking for city-specific experiences search terms is fiercely competitive and an expensive part of performance marketing that tends to favors online travel agencies with big budgets. A new carousel in Google’s Things To Do adds an interesting shift in search display.

Booking Is Trying to Acquire a Flights Seller. Europe Would Be Wrong to Block It.
The European Commission’s logic appears to be that any strengthening of Booking.com — even in its flights business — would bolster its grip on the hotel business. Deal or no deal, Booking is committed to expanding in flights.

Hotel Wellness Strategies With the Biggest Payoff
The profit potential for wellness can vary a lot between major and minor investments, according to new data. Hotel developers need to plan carefully.

Google and Booking.com Poised for Fallout From EU’s ‘Gatekeeper’ Restrictions
The fine print would ultimately determine the financial impact of the Digital Markets Act. But the fact that Booking Holdings filed a statement from Booking.com with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about it this week means it believes the repercussions could be material to its operations.

In-Flight Entertainment Advances Provide Boost to Airlines
In-flight entertainment has long been a critical part of airlines’ efforts to attract travelers, and the increasingly lucrative sector is poised to provide major carriers more opportunities to stand out from rivals.

U.S. Hotels Continue Job Growth, but Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
While June’s hotel job growth figure was lower than in some other months post-pandemic, the increase in hiring from May is good news for an industry prepping for the travel boom this summer.

Hoxton Hotels Reward Rail Travel With New Incentive
The Hoxton Hotel has launched ‘The Good Rate’, a new initiative designed to reward guests who choose to travel more sustainably whilst staying at its hotels.

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Chart of the Week: Airline Loyalty Programs

Over the past years, and especially during the pandemic, loyalty programs have proven to be of immense value for the airline’s overall revenue and profitability. According to our estimates, for seven out of 10 of the largest loyalty programs, 70% or more of the overall ancillary business of the airline stems from loyalty revenues. Read the new report The Business of Airline Loyalty Programs 2023.