Expedia News

Expedia, Booking.com and Ctrip are all slated to grow at at healthy clip over the next few years despite moves by big chains to steal some market share. If Morningstar's numbers are right, then some of the chains may find that the potential advantages of their direct-booking campaigns may not be as large as they once imagined.

Why use any old private jet service when you happen to own the "best" company with the "best" people? Tremendous.

It's hard to disagree with the fact that travel planning and booking are set for a social revolution. But how long will it be until voice-controlled interfaces hit the mainstream?

Always a cool character, Dara Khosrowshahi is steering a basically steady ship as online travel competitors become more disruptive.

Many travelers are generally more open to using new technology than other groups. But the pay-off has to be clear and transparency is paramount for a campaign like this to work.

Vacation rentals and guest-booking fees aren't particularly sexy or headline-grabbing but 11-year-old HomeAway could have a far-reaching impact on parent Expedia's profit numbers. Trivago is a very nice plaything, too.

It seems Expedia is happy to bide its time to find a replacement for Andy Washington, its managing director for Northern Europe.

When it comes to relationships, hotel chains and online travel agencies have a lot of baggage but Marriott and Expedia, at least, are being open-minded and are taking advantage of each other. Expedia is becoming a technology provider for hotels in a move that has parallels with the way rival Booking.com's BookingSuite division is providing market intelligence and website services for properties. Where this all ends up is anyone's guess.

Trivago would likely be a hot IPO given its hyper growth and the potential further expansion of online travel around the world. However, investors will question whether the huge amount of money Trivago pours into sales and marketing is an overreach.

Red Lion Hotels is obviously a much smaller chain than a Hilton Worldwide or Marriott International. Still, Red Lion's deal to offer its member-only rates on Expedia.com and Hotels.com represents the start of some shifting in the direct-booking landscape. Expedia is a powerful force in hotel distribution and there will be more of these changes to come.