TECHNOLOGY : NEXT-GENERATION OTAS
TIES BETWEEN HOTELS AND OTAS STRENGTHEN AS METASEARCH , MOBILE AND SOCIAL FLOURISH .
by NATHAN GREENHALGH , ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Despite the perennial angst displayed about online travel agencies ( OTAs ) at industry conferences , hotel companies are expanding their relationships with new OTAs and upgrading their IT capability to accommodate OTAs ’ new metasearch capabilities .
With increased cooperation from the hotel industry , both existing and new OTAs are offering metasearch , mobile and social integration , while speculation is rife about Apple ’ s and Facebook ’ s potential to shake up the market . Existing OTAs may consolidate while new players emerge .
“ Metasearch , mobile and social — they are all evolving into one . Whether you do metasearch or are an OTA , there will be more homogenizing ,” says Cindy Estis Green , CEO , Kalibri Labs ,
Potomac , Maryland . “ OTAs will try to provide the new metasearch and social websites the inventory , so what they can ’ t do on the front end , they will do on those sites ’ back end .”
Exactly how these changes will affect hoteliers working with OTAs remains to be seen , and hotel companies are divided about the efficacy of working with flash sales-based OTAs .
New partners to choose Despite investments to increase direct booking , hotel companies are still partnering with new OTAs .
Marriott International recently signed contracts with regionally focused OTAs — including China ’ s Taobao , CTrip and eLong and India ’ s MakeMyTrip — that range across a
SET FOR DISRUPTION
The online travel market could see major disruption in the near future if tech giants Apple , Facebook or Google come up with a game-changing metasearch , mobile and social booking platform bolstered by the huge amount of user data they can leverage .
Google launched its Hotel Finder in July 2011 and is steadily expanding its capability . It also purchased the Frommer ’ s travel guide brand in 2012 .
Apple submitted patents for an iTravel mobile application in 2010 that would be a one-stop travel app for iOS devices , but its unclear when — if ever — it will be released . iPhones lack NFC capability , limiting their use as mobile wallets , which would largely fuel iTravel ’ s success . If Apple puts an NFC chip in the iPhone 6 , usage of its mobile wallet apps could take off . However , other mobile wallet apps such as Isis and Google Wallet have gained little traction with users so far .
A hypothetical iTravel release could make less of an impact outside North America due to the iPhone ’ s smaller marketshare there . “ In Europe most mobile devices are not Apple , and therefore we see only a limited impact of the new application ,” says Michaela Papenhoff , managing director of hotel consultancy H2C , Dusseldorf , Germany . “ This may change in upcoming years .”
Facebook is now offering discounted travel booking with Offers and may have additional products under development , although it could not comment on whether it plans to offer metasearch hotel booking . Third parties are working on metasearch functionality for Facebook apps . “ We have many examples of hotel companies using Offers effectively now , including MGM Resorts and Aria ,” says Lee McCabe , head of travel , global vertical marketing at Facebook . “ TripAdvisor is beginning to experiment with metasearch with their Trip Friends functionality on Facebook .”
www . hotelsmag . com March 2013 HOTELS 47