Booking Holdings

Online travel agencies such as Expedia and the Priceline Group providing business services to hotels is seemingly the new normal. It's easy to understand how this would be valuable to resource-strapped independent hotels but the degree to which major chains sign-on remains to be seen.

On one hand this could help raise Booking.com's profile in the U.S., which is so much lower than it deserves to be. On the other, a wedding is really when most people should turn to a travel agent (trust us: personal experience).

Many cash-strapped independent hoteliers have been relatively laid back and allowed Booking.com to bid on their trademarked names and are even handing over their digital marketing and website creation to Booking.com's BookingSuite division. Given their resource constraints, that's not likely to change in any meaningful way anytime soon.

While Expedia has been on a growth spurt given all of its acquisitions over the past year, Priceline has been saying that its "competitive moat" is wide but under-appreciated. A Priceline acquisition of TripAdvisor would make a bold statement and widen that competitive moat for all to see.

All companies want repeat, loyal customers. Expedia is willing to buy their allegiances through loyalty programs while Booking.com vows to do without. It's another point-counterpoint between the two companies as they compete against one another in villages and cities around the world.

Boutique may work when it comes to a relatively small business and finding a nice hotel room for the night, but the biggest travel companies, such as Expedia and Marriott, need to get bigger to keep up with the competitive pack.

We've been saying it for awhile: The Priceline Group should be renamed the Booking.com or Booking Group as its foray into Cuba highlights. The Group's lead brand gets there first although there's an option to distribute Cuba hotels through Priceline.com too.

Expedia seems to be on a sensible course in 2016 as it seeks to make good on its 2015 buying binge. Acquisitions are the sexy part; now Expedia has to make the marriages work behind closed doors.

Last minute bookings are becoming more-and-more prominent for US travelers. Download Sojern’s 2015 Hotel Insights Report to learn more about how this trend is affecting the travel industry.

What does today's top-notch marketing organization need? A blend of hundreds or thousands of data geeks coupled with legions of creative types who aren't afraid to make big bets. Campaigns need to blend global learnings and local insights. For Booking.com, having the clout to work closely with Google product managers to drive product changes doesn't hurt either.