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Research Outline

Prepared for Anna V. | Delivered August 3, 2020

Online Travel Booking Industry

Goals

To understand the market for online travel booking. Specifically, an analysis of 5-7 key competitors are in the U.S. (market share, products/services, competitive advantage), three emerging brands to be aware of (with data points on membership pricing), an overview of trends in the space, an overview of business models in the industry (specifically for paid membership options). If there are no emerging brands using a membership model, please summarize their business model.

Early Findings

Online Travel Booking Market Size

  • The market size for online travel bookings is expected to reach $817 billion in 2020. In 2017, the market size was valued at $765 billion. These figures are for the global market as a market size for the U.S. specifically was not readily available. This data is needed to help calculate market shares (as shown below).
  • According to top U.S. website rankings for the travel and tourism category, the key players in the U.S. online booking market are TripAdvisor, AirBnB, Booking.com, VRBO, and Expedia.
  • A market report on the global online travel booking market noted Priceline (owned by Booking), Expedia, Ctrip, TripAdvisor, Hostelworld Group, CheapOair, Hotel Urbano Travel, Tourism SA, Trivago, MakeMyTrip, and Thomas Cook Group as key players in this market.

U.S. Competitors in the Online Booking Market

1: TripAdvisor

  • TripAdvisor receives 5.42% of U.S. web traffic in the travel and tourism category, according to SimilarWeb. (Ranked #1)
  • Revenue: $1.560 billion as of 2019.
  • Market Share: 0.19% (or, $1.560 billion x 100 / $817 billion = 0.19%)

2: AirBnB

  • AirBnB receives 3.74% of U.S. web traffic in the travel and tourism category, according to SimilarWeb. (Ranked #2)
  • Revenue: AirBnB is a privately held company without an officially published annual report. However, their most recently reported revenue (2017) was $2.5 billion, according to Reuters. The company has only published revenue for some quarters for years since then.
  • Market Share: 0.30% (or, $2.5 billion x 100 / $817 billion = 0.30%)

3: Booking.com

  • Booking.com receives 2.50% of U.S. web traffic in the travel and tourism category, according to SimilarWeb. (Ranked #3)
  • Revenue: $8.38 billion (7.12 billion EUR).
  • Market Share: 1.02% (or, $8.38 billion x 100 / $817 billion = 1.02%)

4: VRBO (Owned by Expedia)

  • VRBO receives 2.36% of U.S. web traffic in the travel and tourism category, according to SimilarWeb. (Ranked #4)
  • Revenue: $1.34 billion (VRBO only/not including Expedia)
  • Market Share: 0.16% (or, 1.34 billion x 100 / $817 billion = 0.16%)

5: Expedia (not including VRBO or other subsidiaries)

  • Expedia receives 2.10% of U.S. web traffic in the travel and tourism category, according to SimilarWeb. (Ranked #5)
  • Revenue: $9.427 billion.
  • Market Share: 1.15% (or, $9.427 billion x 100 / $817 billion = 1.15%)

Results of Early Findings

  • Market reports and website analytics were used to identify key players in the U.S. online travel booking market. Competitors were chosen based on a combination of reported status and high percentages (i.e. vast majority) of website visitors coming from the U.S., as most booking platforms operate in more than one country.
  • Market reports and brand revenues have been used to calculate each competitors market share. Please note that shares are based on the global market size rather than the U.S. market size as the U.S. market size was not readily available.
  • The findings have been reported in the attached spreadsheet. Additional research needs to be conducted to collect data about each company's products/services and their competitive advantage.
  • Additional research needs to be conducted to identify emerging brands in the space and to provide an overview of business models.