Google And Amazon’s Disruption Of The Online Travel Industry Is Looking Inevitable

Is the travel industry heading for a new world order?

There remains little doubt among travel experts that tech goliaths Google and Amazon will dominate the online travel arena, threatening to bust up the duopoly of Expedia Group (which owns Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Trivago and Hotwire) and Booking Holdings (which owns Priceline, Kayak and Booking.com) that has reigned for years.

Google is already making an impact with its soup-to-nuts suite of planning and booking tools. Last year, Google came in second to Expedia for one-stop shops travelers consider, according to the Portrait of American Travelers study by travel and hospitality marketing firm MMGY Global. The same study showed preference for Expedia had dipped to 64% in 2018 from 67% in 2017.

So far, Amazon has only dipped its pinky toe into the travel waters but there's some evidence - and intense speculation - that something bigger is coming.