Alternative accommodation soars at Booking.com, Airbnb acquires HotelTonight, Expedia Group CEO: choose what you don't do! and benefit from the bleisure travel boom.

Alternative accommodation soars at Booking.com
Friday, 8th March 2019

You wouldn’t blame Olivier Grémillon, vice president of the home division, for celebrating just a little bit this week – after all, the group has just disclosed the revenue of the alternative accommodation business for the first time, and the results are stellar.

Since then, inventory growth has exploded, the fact that Booking.com does not charge a traveller fee has obviously helped. It ended the year with 5.7 million reported listings, up 18% year-over-year, which it said is more than any other player in the homes/apartments space >>

Deutsche Hospitality relaunches its Steigenberger brand
8 Mar 2019 : New presence of Germany's best-known hotel brand: Deutsche Hospitality is giving its luxury brand Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts a complete relaunch, trend-setting in design, contemporary in digitalization and dynamic in addressing target groups >>

Global hotel pipeline hits record high at 2018 year-end
8 Mar 2019 : Lodging Econometrics (LE) has released its year-end Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report, which compiles the construction pipeline counts for every country and market around the world >>

Airbnb to acquire HotelTonight
8 Mar 2019 : Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, to advance our mission, we are reimagining travel by building an end-to-end travel platform that combines where you stay, what you do, and how you get there, all in one place >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Expedia CEO: Choose What You Don't Do!
Friday, 8th March 2019

Exclusive ITB Feature: If you want to grow, choosing what you don't do is just as important as choosing what you do, says Mark Okerstrom, CEO of Expedia Group Inc, speaking at the ITB Berlin this week.

'The global economy is always a factor, but it is out of our control. Competitors are going to do what they are going to do: The second you start looking at them, trying to copy is the second you are one step behind' >>

How Your Hotel Can Benefit from the Bleisure Travel Boom
We're likely all familiar with the age-old sentiment of 'all work and no play' — well, that's simply not a dynamic that the modern masses are willing to abide by, it seems, especially in the case of Millennials and with the 'experience economy' evolving before our eyes, we are witnessing what appears to be a generational penchant for mixing business with pleasure >>

Hospitality Digital Technology: Challenges, Priorities and Buzzwords
Background: Today’s typical online travel consumer is exposed to more than 38,983 micro-moments in a 60-day timeframe and visits an average of 18 websites via multiple devices across eight sessions before making a hotel booking (Google Research) >>

A Beginner's Guide to Investing in Whisky
Thinking of starting a whisky collection, whether for passion, investment or a bit of both? The Wealth Report brings together leading industry experts to help get you started >>