Dennis Schaal

When you think of all the online travel companies constrained by a lack of marketing resources wipe Trivago out of your mind. The Germany-based hotel metasearch site spends a whopping 88 percent of its revenue on advertising. And, if it can pull off a successful initial public offering then Trivago will resupply its advertising war chest. The metasearch rich are getting richer.

Ctrip, when acquiring Skyscanner, should call up, or at least compare notes with, companies as varied as Sabre, Travelocity, the Priceline Group, and Expedia when mulling the challenges in integrating a new prized possession. These new playthings can in rare cases turn into the success of a Booking.com, but on the other hand they have the potential to wreak havoc.

When it comes to new tech platforms and technologies such as voice-activated search with Amazon Alexa, the advantage, in the short term, goes to the big travel tech and marketing companies, including online travel agencies and metasearch companies, because they have the engineering staff and other resources to address these disruptions.

As with Cendyn and Guestfolio, further consolidation is likely in the hotel marketing and loyalty sector as the number of competitors proliferate and the opportunities grow.

In its short history, Skift has talked about the balance of power in travel heading East, whether it is the influence of Chinese travelers, the rise of Ctrip and Alibaba, or the emergence of the Gulf carriers with their luxury long-haul flights. Ctrip's acquisition of Skyscanner is one of those moments that mattered in 2016 and Ctrip's global ambitions are a manifestation of what we have been talking about.

Ctrip didn't acquire the largest metasearch engine in Skyscanner but one that is very strong in Europe. Ctrip will now turn Skyscanner into a flight-booking site and will also focus Ctrip on growing domestically, in greater China and Southeast Asia first.

Ctrip is anxious to expand globally and views the acquisition of Skyscanner as a means to expand Ctrip's international footprint in selling air tickets. Look for Skyscanner to increase its booking capabilities and to evolve beyond search under the Ctrip umbrella.

Next year will be a make or break year for TripAdvisor Instant Booking. Either the economics work out and consumers start treating TripAdvisor as a booking site or the company will have to pivot. It's a tough slog with much potential. TripAdvisor is playing the long game on this; let's talk next year at this time to see how the game works out.

There's a lot of wisdom in this video. Find out why Lola CEO Paul English believes travel startups should get as close as possible to the booking instead of going out and trying to create what he calls the "blah blah blah of travel."

Like Hipmunk, Room 77 had an innovative product and talented team but ran into a buzz saw: the marketing clout of Google preferencing its own products, and Expedia, Booking.com and Kayak. Don't feel sorry for the venture capital firms receiving just 53 cents on the dollar. That's the game they play. The real losers are the angel investor and employees, although we're sure for many it was quite a ride nonetheless.