Mid-Year 2018: Brands, OTAs, Marriott, Blockchain, Robotics and Sustainability

Robert A. Rauch | July 10, 2018

By Robert A. Rauch Online travel agencies (OTAs) outspend brands by a wide margin and continue to steal market share from brands. As Marriott is becoming more of a global brand with 30 brands and a home-sharing company in their portfolio, we see a new war developing. Airbnb, a behemoth home-sharing company, is regularly getting beat up by cities who are adding regulations quickly. They will become an OTA by 2020 and begin to compete with Expedia and Booking rather than Marriott, Hilton, and the hotel community. After all, they only charge three percent for their services and could get 10 as an OTA! At the Lodging Industry Investment Cou...