NEWS — HOT STORIES 4
Google’s advances into travel won’t be as profound as many fear, says Breakwell
Lee Hayhurst
Former Expedia president Simon Breakwell played down the potential for Google to move further into travel by becoming an agent itself. But he advised travel firms to minimise their
reliance on the dominant search engine, saying the rising cost of online advertising has changed the economics of travel industry marketing. Breakwell, part of the founding team at Expedia,
gave the keynote address at this week’s eighth Travolution Summit, run by Travel Weekly’s sister publication for the online travel sector. With Google costs rising at 20% to 25% a year, he said it was now very difficult for
HOT SHOTS: REASONS FOR READING THIS WEEK
1
2 3
Win 72 HOURS IN MACAU with Macau Government Tourist Office, page 13
Win LUXURY HOLIDAYS with Travel 2, page 38
Win a TWO-NIGHT BREAK IN MARSEILLE with Eurostar, page 23
5
firms to compete with “super-scale” OTAs such as Expedia and
Booking.com. Priceline Group, parent of
Booking.com, has an annual marketing budget of $3.2 billion, claimed Breakwell. “Competing against that requires different approaches,” he added. Asked about Google’s dominant position, Breakwell said it was nonsense to suggest it could be broken up, something the European Parliament was due to vote on this week. “They do have a tremendous amount of power and influence. And yet, for a company that’s got 90% dominance over search – and I’m not saying they’re angels – they behave remarkably well. “Google is getting deeper into travel but I don’t think that’s going to be as profound as people think. It’s not like in the future you’re going to pick up the phone and someone’s going to say ‘Google Travel’.” Breakwell predicted that successful companies will
“I’m not saying Google are angels but they behave remarkably well”
either have a unique proposition or be unique in their geographical market. Asked about the UK’s big two, he said: “Tui is just
way better-positioned. They are now at the point where they are significantly better than anyone else in the market, including Thomas Cook.” ❯ Travolution Summit, back page
Viability of Bookable model questioned Lee Hayhurst
An administrator’s report on Bookable Holidays has called in to question the viability of the call centre-based agency model. The report by KRE Corporate Recovery
revealed the firm slumped from making a £266,000 net profit in 2012 to a £623,000 loss in the year to September 30, 2014. The circumstances of the collapse
were set out as creditors were invited to a meeting in Reading on December 8. Bookable failed on October 14 with 960 forward bookings and the loss of 36 jobs. The KRE report stated the firm had suffered the loss of three airline operators, which had “reduced working capital and the buffer this provided”. In addition, the trend towards online booking
6 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 27 November 2014
“meant the days of the conventional call centre model were numbered”. It said customers were thinking twice about the need to pay upfront for bookings through agents given the option to book flights direct with credit- card protection linked to free-cancellation transactions on hotel-only apps. KRE said Bookable tried belatedly to
respond by bringing forward plans for a mobile-friendly website. However, amid poor 2014 summer
trading and no prospect of launching on mobile until January, more working
capital was sought from investors. This failed to materialise and when attempts to save the firm failed it sought
professional advice about ceasing trading. On November 13, Travel Up bought Bookable
Holidays’ assets. KRE stated it paid £390,000 including the lease on the Aldermaston offices.
MORE HOT STORIES
Simon Breakwell speaks at the Travolution Summit
“The days of the
conventional call centre model are numbered”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84