The era of the Online Travel Agency (OTA) dominance, spearheaded by titans like Booking.com and Expedia, is facing its toughest challenge yet. Once the disruptors that revolutionized how the world booked travel. These platforms are now finding themselves caught in a formidable vise grip.
The squeeze isn’t coming from a single direction; it is a coordinated, dual-pronged attack. On one side, their traditional suppliers (airlines and hotels) are aggressively pushing direct bookings. On the other side, the world’s most powerful digital gatekeeper, Google, is redirecting the very traffic the OTAs depend on. The combination of these forces is severely challenging the OTA business model, forcing a radical shift in strategy to survive.
The Supplier Squeeze: The Cost of the Middleman
For hotels and airlines, OTAs are both a necessary evil and a costly habit. They provide enormous visibility and fill empty seats or rooms. But at the expense … Read more