Two sides of the same industry: an analysis of the relationship between hotels and online travel agencies

Nowadays most people know brands like Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb. When someone wants to book an accommodation, they usually book through an intermediary, known as Online Travel Agency or OTA. However, it is not well-understood what is the true influence that OTAs have on hotels, the core strength of their business, nor is it known what the impacts are on consumers. This dissertation tries to define the scope of influence that they have over hotels’ booking channels and the impact on consumers. Since OTAs’ ramifications span the entire world, this paper only defines their influence in Belg... Mehr ...