Hoteliers have accused OTAs of "behaving appallingly" by changing terms and conditions so bookings - including those that were non-refundable - are reimbursed, without cancellation charges.
You might think that the managers of short-term rental properties in Berlin faced sharp pain when ITB Berlin canceled its early March event, Europe's biggest travel fair.
Hotel companies were considering moving to a model where owners pay for business delivered, delegates at this year's Hotel Distribution Event in London heard.The shift puts the role of the global branded groups under ever-closer scrutiny, as the cost of distribution informed owners' choices.Peter O'Connor, professor of information systems, ESSEC Business School, said: "Do hotel companies know what they're doing? Are they sleek professionals or are they about to drown in a sea of change? Hotels can't carry on charging 12% of the top line. They need to evolve. They will put less emphasis on brand and more on the distribution. Two companies are looking at business delivered instead."Hotels are working with a model which is going out of date."O'Connor pointed to over 700 brands in the hotel sector, which he described as a "problem" because "it's becoming very difficult to identify them", pointing to less than one third of people searching for a hotel search for a brand on Google and less than 1% of people on Expedia filtering by brand. He added: "You may be benefiting from lower OTA fees with a brand, but you have to factor the brand fees in as well."
The UK Bed & Breakfast Association wants a ban on 'brandjacking' of hotel and B&B names on Google by online travel agencies (OTAs).
How would you like to get a free hotel room?
The tiny mountain village of Corippo, arranged higgledy-piggledy on the green slopes of southern Switzerland's Verzasca valley, looks like something out of a fairytale.But here, in what is Switzerland's smallest municipality, the citizens are facing a harsh reality.What was once a thriving farming community of around 300 people has dwindled to just 12 residents, 11 of whom are over 65. Today, the only economic activity in the town is the local osteria, a rustic restaurant.Here, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, not far from Lacarno, Corippo's slate-roofed buildings, built from local Ticino granite, have remained largely untouched for centuries -- but it's now on the verge of becoming a ghost town.
Ever since the world's first oil well was dug here back in 1847, Azerbaijan has been making the most of its plentiful stocks of "black gold."More than 170 years later, Azeri Light crude oil is still the country's most valuable resource.But in the little town of Naftalan, 320 kilometers west of Baku in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, an unusual local oil -- also called Naftalan -- has been attracting the travel set for hundreds of years.This crude oil is too thick for commercial use and it isn't much good for burning. But it's said to have health-giving properties and so people have been bathing in it since ancient times.Recently, treatments involving being submerged in the dark gloop have had a resurgence.
Hotel booking websites have been told to stop "one room left" warnings designed to pressure holidaymakers into booking, under a crackdown by competition watchdogs. Such warnings are currently used by the UK's most popular booking sites including Expedia and Booking.com to encourage customers to book sooner rather than later. Following an investigation into holiday booking sites the Competition and Markets Authority said it would take firms to court if they did not end unfair and misleading practices.
With just a few weeks left until the Direct Booking Summit: Europe, excitement is mounting among our speakers and delegates. If you haven't snapped up your tickets yet, you'd better hurry - head over to the website to check out the agenda and register. To give you a taster of what you can expect from the event, we're profiling our best-in-class speakers on the Triptease blog - starting with Robin Clifford of Airbnb.
AccorHotels is considering buying a minority stake in Air France-KLM, the hotel company confirmed Sunday.
Russia's Culture Ministry has ordered the federal tourism agency to look into banning the popular Booking.com website as part of countermeasures against the latest U.S. sanctions.
In ancient times, sailors once lashed themselves to their masts to avoid being lured to death by seductive mermaids known as sirens.Today, on the sun-kissed western shores of Italy, mermaids are once again stirring up trouble as two rival destinations battle it out to lure tourists with claims of being home to the mythological fishy creatures.In one corner is Naples, with a glittering gulf that stretches to the Sorrento Peninsula. In the other is Ventotene, a tiny volcanic isle far out in the Tyrrhenian Sea west of Naples.Both of these Mediterranean magnets claim to be the "real" place where Greek hero and travel figure Odysseus, sailing home from burning Troy, encountered the seductive sirens.Legend has it that Odysseus escaped the fate of other doomed sailors by tying himself to the mast of his ship and telling his companions to plug their ears.Spurned, the creatures perished, but their pull is still felt every summer as curious tourists flock to learn more. But where should they go?
Venice is a tiny gem and Venice is a universe: 118 islands, 160 canals, 447 bridges and an unspecified number of dreams. Love it or hate it, there is no other place like it and there's no denying that Venice has not just centuries of history behind it but an air of mystery about it. I've always thought of Venice as the ultimate movie star: glamorous, secretive, perhaps a little vain but always primed to give a command performance.
London, Manchester and Birmingham are set to collaborate and extensively promote British cities in China, India and also the Persian Gulf. The goal is to increase and develop tourism inflow from these three rapidly growing markets towards the future.
After food, culture, fashion and design, health is another candidate to become one of the distinctive features of Made in Italy. The goal is to make Italy a top destination of medical tourism.
Ever dreamed of owning a home in a pretty Italian village? The news you've been waiting for has finally arrived.You can now buy one for just over a dollar.Ollolai, a destination in the mountain region of Barbagia on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, is selling hundreds of abandoned homes for just €1 ($1.2).It's not the first Italian town to try the gimmick, but it seems to be the first to live up to the promise. It's also got the beauty and history needed to draw people in.The real estate bonanza comes with a catch, though. The 200 stone-built dwellings up for grabs are in poor condition and buyers must commit to a refurbishment within three years -- which will likely cost about $25,000.Behind the sell-off is a plan to rejuvenate a community at risk of becoming a ghost town. In the past half century, Ollolai's population has shrunk from 2,250 to 1,300, with only a handful of babies born each year.
Luxury hostel brand Safestay is to expand overseas following its acquisition of the U Hostels portfolio of three leasehold properties for €3m (£2.6m).
U Hostels comprises two sites in Madrid and one in Paris. The Madrid properties include a 226-bed luxury hostel with a 15-year lease and the adjacent apartment block made up of 14 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom apartments, which will open in 2018 following renovation.
A recent survey by the Bank of Italy on Italian tourism revealed that 2016 was a successful year compared to 2015. Italian travelers went abroad in greater numbers – 64.6 million (in 2015 it was 62.8 million people). In terms of foreign inflow there was an increase as well – reaching 82.9 million visitors compared to 81.6 million people in 2015.
In 2016, Italians spent 22,336,000 euros for traveling, which is the highest figure in the last five years. In 2015 they spent 22,012,000, while in 2014 about 300,000 euro less. Major peaks in the spending were registered in the summer season, mainly August, when Italians spent about 3 billion euros.
More than 3 million Russians are expected to travel to Turkey in 2017, according to experts. The outbound travel market is likely to grow again.
Turkish authorities make all efforts to restore the inflow of tourists this year. In 2017, 3-3.5 million Russian tourists will visit Turkey. The Russian outbound travel market is booming again.
Gillian Tans the chief operating officer of the Dutch travel website Booking.com tells Director about conducting 1,000 experiments a day, cycling around Amsterdam and how sitting on office floors fosters better employee interaction. Being Dutch has helped Booking.com’s international expansion. Holland is so small; you could sign up every hotel in the country within a few hours. We’ve had to focus on the world outside. Now we have over 170 offices in 60 countries. I often sit on the floor in the office. It shows you have nothing to hide and people think you’re approachable. Plus [by sitting on the floor], you hear a lot of things, right?