Google faces a tougher hill to climb than Booking, although the European Commission's statement of objections puts Booking's Etraveli acquisition in doubt.
Payments, flights and short-term rentals are paying off so far for Booking as part of its connected trip strategy. That's true even if there are doubts about travelers wanting to book their entire trip on one platform.
Booking Holdings' hoped-for acquisition of Etraveli Group is not a make or break deal for Booking, but its failure to close would be a setback for its connected trip strategy.
When it comes to out-performing the online travel industry in terms of a post-Covid booking recovery, eDreams Odigeo can claim a top prize. It is plowing revenue back into discounts to make its subscriptions a no-brainer.
As part of its "connected trip" and loyalty strategy, Booking Holdings argued it can convince hotels and other partners to offer up substantial discounts and perks, and this would spur incremental bookings. But do hotels really want to be a cog in building the Booking.com brand?
Riding the hot vacation rental market, TurnKey Vacation Rentals did well for its investors — especially if the Vacasa stock price holds up in its pending public market debut.
Booking Holdings is on a pre-Christmas buying spree after announcing two pending acquisitions, ETraveli Group and Getaroom, within two weeks. Both are mostly back-of-the-house acquisitions that will bolster Booking's flight and hotels business.
Airlines need to work more closely with railway operators to fend off climate change activists. But they also need to test new technological ways of selling content from other suppliers. Let's think beyond joint ventures, codeshares, and interlining.
Smaller online travel agencies try to make money by grabbing nickels and eurocent coins ahead of the steamrollers of global advertising behemoths. The underreported story of why China's largest travel company acquired a tiny Dutch travel group highlights the phenomenon.
EDreams is certainly putting a lot of effort into its Prime subscription offering. The test will be how it goes down in other markets and how it performs over a number of years. Do the numbers stack up over the long term and will people keep renewing?