This week's Update leads with an important Data Privacy Update from Eva Novick, the newest member of our firm's privacy and data security team. If you currently operate a loyalty program (or plan to introduce one soon), I encourage you to read her important update. Enjoy.
The Travel Industry's Push on Climate May Have Legs
("Hotelbeds lays out eco and social initiatives, joins
Amazon Climate Pledge," February 11, 2022 via Phocus
Wire)
For some time now, we've all seen the many surveys of would be
travelers (particularly, younger travelers) detailing the
importance of the environment and climate change in today's
travel decisions. Our weekly Update has recently featured a number
of stories about this trend, including the recent launch of online
platforms offering travelers carbon neutral
travel. Last week, Spain-based bedbank, Hotelbeds, released its annual Environmental,
Social and Government Report in which Hotelbeds claims it has again
(for the fourth year running) attained carbon neutral status
through a combination of carbon reductions and offsets. At
the same time, Hotelbeds also announced that it has joined
Amazon's Climate Pledge, which features companies committed to
eliminating their carbon emissions to zero by 2040. So what does
this really mean? Will efforts like these mean enough to travelers
to actually drive bookings or market share? With Hotelbeds feeling
the heat from increased competition in its wholesale space (think
Expedia EPS and soon, Priceline's equivalent offering),
Hotelbeds is "banking" on it.
Online Platforms Continue to Diversify
("Online Travel Agencies to Tap Ticketmaster to Sell
Live Events," February 8, 2022 via Yahoo Finance - Top
Stories)
("Celebrity Cruises launches hotel program powered by
Priceline," February 7, 2022 via Phocus Wire)
For those of you still questioning the power of online travel and
online travel platforms, we offer two stories this week. The first details efforts by event ticketing
powerhouse, Ticketmaster, via a partnership with activities
technology provider, Redeam, to make its event tickets available
through travel resellers like TripAdvisor, Expedia and TUI. Why is
this important? Ticketmaster estimates that 142 million people
traveled two or more hours in 2019 to attend a live event. Our second story features a new Priceline powered
program offered by Celebrity Cruises – Hotels by
Celebrity – that offers passengers (and their travel
advisors) improved access to accommodations for pre- and
post-cruise stays. The program features upscale properties selected
by Priceline and exclusive discounted rates. Bookings through the
platform, however, are non-commissionable, which may doom the
program from the outset given the high percentage of cruise
bookings that are booked through travel agents and advisors.
Expedia Releases Fourth Quarter Earnings Report
("Expedia Tops Profit Estimates Despite Omicron
Disruption," February 10, 2022 via Yahoo Finance - Top
Stories)
Expect a more detailed analysis in the coming week on Expedia's
recent fourth quarter earnings release. In short, Omicron proved to
be a wildcard for the online booking platform, but not to the same
degree as previous variants. While volumes still lag behind same
period 2019 levels, Expedia Group's CEO, Peter Kern, believes
that those differences will be made up with the continued return of
international and CBD travel. We've attached
last week's earnings call, which always proves
informative.
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