14 November 2008

Expedia restructures - big changes for OTAs

Uh oh.... not happy news at my neighbor's place. Expedia is restructuring.

Gone are heavyweights like Paul Brown. A restructuring build around brands not geography will signal significant upheaval at the Bellevue based company.

For those who provide supply to Expedia this cannot come at a worse time. It means that the company will be in some degree of turmoil at the very time when product merchandising and short term deals dynamic to the minute are being worked out.

All of the US major markets are in decline - Vegas, Hawaii, Orlando, California, New York and the nearby international markets are also seeing rapid falls - Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Couple this with reductions of 10% at Orbitz and Travelocity must also be looking to cut staff. The one bright spot - Priceline seems to be doing quite well on the strength of their EMEA based business.

There must be some very unhappy people. Barry Diller, Blackstone and TPG boys to name but a few.

Tough times are not going to be short lived either.

What's in your wallet?
c
Cheers

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