News & Stories

Bonn. As reported, the German Federal Cartel Office had definitively prohibited the online mediator, HRS, from the Best Price guarantee on the 20th of December, 2013. The authority has now made their explanatory statement public. Those interested can find the full text here. Austrian hoteliers are protesting violently in the meantime – the judgment is valid only for Germany.

Berlin/Vienna. Celebrations in both the German and Austrian hotel sector following a decision on the "best price guarantee" at the end of last year have now become somewhat quieter. On December 20, 2013, the German Cartel Office stopped the online travel agent HRS from using the best price guarantee - but only for the German market. The discussion now continues cautiously in Germany as the sector now faces the challenge of following its criticism of HRS resp. OTAs with acts. In Austria, information from EU circles has come to light which again leaves a question mark above the change. It is expected that HRS will appeal the decision by the end of March 2014.

Geneva. Expedia and Booking are engaged in a marketing battle about millions and billions; therefore, many small OTAs are no longer present in the perception of the customers. However, they also have to compete with other market participants increasingly, e.g. evaluation platforms like TripAdvisor, which have turned into meta search engines. On the other hand, the question arises whether the search engine Google Hotel Finder is becoming an Online Travel Agent. Author Macy Marvel investigated these facts in the last edition of hospitalityInside.com, and in today's second part, he analyses how mobile will change the market, how many bookings are already carried out on mobile devices, and how much power providers like HotelTonight have in the meantime. Moreover, the first hotel group has enabled bookings in the US via Twitter.

Geneva. At the beginning of the new year, distribution is increasingly at the forefront of discussions amongst hoteliers. Although there is considerable concern at major chains about the cost of OTAs, which typically retain between 15% and 25% of a hotel booking in fees, the fact is that it is smaller independent hotels that are most impacted. While on average, major chains get about two-thirds of their online booking on their own websites, leaving one-third for intermediaries according to Travelclick figures for Q4 2012, these numbers are more-or-less reversed for non-affiliated hotels. Macy Marvel analyses the marketing battle of Booking.com and Expedia and the increasing role of metasearch sites, such as Google Hotel Finder.

Bonn. The best price clause of the Cologne-based Online Travel Agent HRS, infringes anti-trust laws. This was decided by the German Federal Cartel Office on December 20, 2013 and with this, has returned pricing sovereignty back to the industry, at least in Germany. How it will now proceed in concrete terms, at least so early in the new year, is still unclear.

Bremen. The triumph of online hotel evaluation portals is based on content – on the content of a hotel or business. The portals have used this content very skilfully – just like the booking portals, which have already snatched away the rates and availability. These "third parties" repeatedly squeeze into the value-added chain between customer/guest and hotelier to cash in as well. While many hoteliers have not yet figured this out, the next coup is looming on the horizon: through the merger of the two internet businesses Qype and Yelp, the content is now being taken away from the hoteliers and/or filtered randomly. Marco Nussbaum, dedicated internet hotelier and CEO of prizeotel describes the severe impact of this merger in this guest contribution: "Over night, 100 evaluations disappeared!" Is this legally permissible? The lawyers are in a dispute. To whom does the content in the internet belong? The hotel industry is facing a new problem.

Stockholm. Scandic is the first hotel chain in the world to offer digital check-out at all its hotels. The system was tested in spring and is now available at all hotels of the chain. With a few simple clicks on their smartphone or computer, guests can quickly pay their room, minibar and restaurant bill when it suits them.

Bonn. The Federal Cartel Office ceased the proceedings against Amazon for their enforcement of price parity in the Amazon Marketplace on Tuesday of this week after the company had fulfilled the requirements of the office. Now everyone is still waiting for the decision on the hotel online distributor HRS with even more tension.

Vienna. In Germany, online travel agency HRS has renounced the enforcement of the rate parity for the moment in view of the ongoing proceedings with the German Federal Cartel Office; in Austria, however, they seem to be applying other standards and – and blocking the "troublemaker" hotels. Complaints come from the Austrian hotelier association OEHV.

Nuremberg. The NSA is apparently leaving traces behind: Nearly 70 percent of the Germans worry about the protection of their personal data and their privacy. With all interviewees, the trust is particularly low in online offers and social networks. The Germans primarily fear financial damage through data abuse.