After a few quiet weeks, last week produced a number of stories that caught our attention and made it into our weekly Update, including two interesting stories on customer reviews. Enjoy.
Booking.com Adds Loyalty Program
Benefits
("Booking.com Adds a Third-Level of Benefits to Its
Loyalty Program," April 1, 2022 via Hospitality Net - Latest
Industry News)
Booking.com announced last week that it was adding a new, third
tier to its Genius loyalty program. Members qualifying for this new
level will enjoy discounts of up to 20 percent (as compared to
discounts of 10 percent and 15 percent for first tier and second
tier members, respectively), free upgrades (at participating
properties), free breakfast (also at participating properties) and
priority customer support (with live service agents). With this
latest announcement, suppliers should again expect a big push by
Booking.com to grow the number of properties in its loyalty
program. Market managers will be busier than ever in trying to
convince individual properties to offer deeply discounted
"Genius" rates.
Yelp Making News on Two Fronts
("Yelp Reviews Not Meaty Enough To Support
Defamation Suit," March 30, 2022 via Law360)
("Yelp expands health ratings for restaurants, with
help from Seattle startup," April 1, 2022 via
Geekwire)
Our Update features two stories this week on restaurant review
site, Yelp. The first details a recent announcement by Yelp to now
include health inspection data to its existing restaurant reviews.
Leveraging health inspection data collected (or even generated) by
local Seattle startup, Hazel Analytics, Yelp will now provide
inspection results for restaurants in 48 states, and Toronto and
Vancouver. Given customers' (and travelers') continuing
concerns regarding health and safety (a phenomenon likely to
continue long past COVID), this addition of health inspection data
is not surprising. Our second story looks at an issue that is
frequently raised by many of our clients – at what point does
a user's review cross the line from helpful information to
actionable defamation or libel? The case at issue arose from two
patrons' reviews of a Pennsylvania restaurant's
"mediocre" offerings and lack of supplies. On Wednesday,
March 30, a New Jersey federal court dismissed the
restaurateur's defamation claims, stating that the patrons'
reviews constituted a statement of opinion and not fact (and
therefore did not support the defamation claim). The
restaurateur's related claims for libel and tortious
interference were also dismissed.
Here Comes Those Crazy Marketing Budgets Again
("Online travel giants ramped up marketing spend in
2021," March 30, 2022 via Phocus Wire)
No, we are not back to 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels quite yet, but
the amounts spent by the major online travel agencies (OTAs) for
marketing this past year were close. In 2021, Booking Holdings
spent $3.8 billion on marketing, which is a considerable increase
over 2020 ($2.2 billion) but still below its 2019 peak ($4.98
billion). In the fourth quarter alone, Booking Holdings spent
nearly $1 billion ($974 million) on marketing activities. Not to be
left behind, Expedia Group actually outspent its rival by nearly
$300 million in 2021 (total spend of $4.1 billion, compared to its
2019 peak of nearly $6 billion). In contrast, Airbnb, which has
largely avoided many of the traditional online marketing tactics of
its OTA rivals, spent only $1.9 billion. Trip.com spent $772
million in its 2021 marketing efforts, which is far behind its 2019
peak of $1.3 billion. My prediction - expect record levels of
marketing spend in 2022.
Other news:
HotelPlanner and Choice Hotels Sign Deal to Integrate Group
Bookings
March 31, 2022 via PRWeb
HotelPlanner, a leading travel technology platform powered by
proprietary artificial intelligence, announced a service provider
alliance with Choice Hotels International, Inc. The alliance
integrates HotelPlanner's group inventory and group leads with
Choice Hotels properties to expand group sales for both
companies.
Google Maps Antitrust Probe Gains
Momentum
March 31, 2022 via Skift (subscription may be
required)
The U.S. Justice Department has breathed new life into an
investigation of Google Maps to determine if bundling the service
together with other Google software illegally stifles competition,
according to two sources familiar with the matter. The probe of the
Alphabet Inc unit first came to light in late 2020 and had been
quiet until recent months when investigators again began making
inquiries, the sources said.
CWT Adds Point-of-Booking Carbon Indicators
March 28, 2022 via Business Travel News
CWT has partnered with Thrust Carbon to add carbon footprint
indicators at the point of sale in its myCWT web and mobile booking
tools. With the data integrated, travelers can see estimates of
carbon emissions for flight and hotel choices, and compare them
with the typical carbon footprint for air routes, according to
screenshots provided by CWT.
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