Mergers and acquisitions are sexy for shareholders, analysts and the press. Booking CEO Fogel knows, though, that sometimes the best decision is not overpaying and walking away from that shiny object.
Booking Holdings' OpenTable dining reservations platform, which is strongest in the U.S., and Inline Group, with strength in Asia-Pacific, have entered into a strategic partnership where their customers will be…
Although some travel companies have succeeded in finding suitable restaurants for clients via OpenTable, the fact they've had to resort to the platform is a sign of how difficult planning travel has become during the pandemic.
With parent company Alphabet generating $79 billion in revenue in the first half of 2020, Google is relentlessly rolling out new travel products. Not to mention, it is dictating content-licensing and advertising terms to cash-strapped partners while a pandemic rages. Enough said.
It's really tough to judge a brand's performance in the midst of a pandemic, but OpenTable clearly deserved more focus given the fact that travel and dining are completely different businesses. Once again, travel and dining aren't always natural playmates.
It's tough to say in what form Kayak would enter the hotel business, if it does. If there ever were a Kayak-branded hotel, it's safe to say that Marriott and Accor have nothing to worry about.
Will it be hotels or alternative accommodations that bounce back first? Booking Holdings officials said they see a shift toward alternative accommodations when travelers are booking stays at least two months in advance. But this trend won't necessarily stick over the long term.