Expedia News

It's not around the corner but you can expect China's Ctrip to set up shop to compete against online and offline travel giants in the U.S. Breaking in through acquisition would be an obvious strategy although it's unclear whether that's actually part of Ctrip's seemingly very active strategic plan.

Expedia is seeking to gain even more influence in the hotel industry while the big chains are trying to limit online travel agencies' clout through the hotels' direct-booking campaigns. As Expedia's recent Marriott Vacations and Red Lion deals, along with the needs of smaller hotels, show, there is substantial upside for Expedia.

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Sometimes you have good luck and sometimes you have good timing. And sometimes you have both. Visit Britain's campaign already makes sense since the U.S. is the UK's most valuable source market. But many Americans were probably already mulling a UK trip because of the great exchange rate without the coaxing of a tourism board.

Whilst tech-innovation and hotels direct booking campaigns bring new challenges to the OTA world, Expedia has kept a solid growth over the past years and has a steady eye on upcoming disruptions.

There has been serious talk about artificial intelligence in travel for the past couple of years. While Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wasn't talking about implementing artificial intelligence for customer service in the next quarter or two, be assured that Expedia and others are working on it hard.

Moral of the story about the early years of online travel? Not to over-simplify, but be prepared to take risks, feel free to contradict conventional wisdom, and assemble the best damn team that you can.

Expedia's expansion outside the OTA world is afoot. With their aquisition of Homeaway and the expansion of Egencia, Expedia keeps a steady foot in online travel.

Travel acquisitions have been humming along this year and we've seen several deals that will have a lasting impact on consumer behavior. Marriott-Starwood dominated headlines for months although Expedia and Priceline largely have been largely inactive in mergers and acquisitions so far in 2016. We still have a few months left, though.

Expedia has a lot going for it in the short to mid term but shifts in technology and consumer tastes have disrupted the travel space before, and will do so again. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and team will need to stay vigilant in addressing certain vulnerabilities, especially as they go up against the big platforms including Google, Facebook, Amazon and others.