Expedia News

Evolve or be crushed. That's CEO Glenn Fogel's philosophy about business in general and Booking Holdings in particular. But the move toward becoming more of a full-service online travel agency comes with the risk of losing focus on accommodations. No one ever said all this online travel agency stuff is easy.

It’s probably a tiny blip on the radar of Priceline and Expedia but Hostelworld is quietly building up a nice niche business. How long can it be before one of the bigger players shows an interest?

RLHC CEO Greg Mount's comments about loyalty programs might surprise his hotel peers. But when you really think about it, he might be on to something. And instead of focusing so much on building up their loyalty numbers, perhaps there are other ways hotel companies should be focusing on reaching consumers.

If Airbnb is successful with Airbnb Plus, it will ensure that alternative accommodations are no longer seen as an alternative. But making it a success will be easier said than done.

Hotels.com, Egencia, Trivago, and HomeAway, among others, are all Expedia companies. The parent company wants Wall Street to understand that it is more than just the Expedia brand. The Priceline Group had long been associated with Priceline.com even though Booking.com is the company's largest brand. So there seemed to be more of a reason for Priceline's name switch than for Expedia's.

Airbnb always gives us plenty to talk about — and this episode of the Skift Podcast features a lively conversation about the many ways the homesharing company is venturing beyond its original focus and disrupting wide swaths of the travel industry.

The battle for online travel dominance began long ago, but now it's really getting serious. Count this as Airbnb's official opening shot toward Booking and Expedia.

Viator leads in online tours and activities, as Skift Research's new analysis shows, but being in first also puts a target on its back. Rivals are working hard to close the gap and the race is far from over.

When we asked then-Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in 2016 whether Airbnb was going to eat his lunch, he responded that he was very well-nourished. But it now appears as though Airbnb has an insatiable appetite. Join us on a Skift Call March 13 to assess the Airbnb threat to hotels and online travel agencies.

Oh, how times have changed. Instead of feeling threatened by Airbnb, some hotels are being wooed by the company. Online travel agencies, on the other hand, are about to get a taste of what it feels like to be disrupted by the likes of Airbnb.