EDITOR'S COMMENT
Having attended the VRMA International Conference in Phoenix, I sensed a palpable wave of anticipation from attendees in the room for what the future holds for the STR sector. Traveller appetite remains as insatiable as ever - even if the ways in which we will take trips will evolve - and the reported interest in Expedia by ride-hailing firm Uber could signal an exciting new era for travel should an acquisition materialise.
It is encouraging that companies rooted in other verticals see value and revenue driving opportunities within travel and hospitality - private equity firms, banks / fintechs, fashion brands and media publications have made similar forays into travel and STRs through acquisitions and partnerships. Expedia Group enables its users to book everything from lodging to flights, cars and activities through its portfolio websites, so if Uber were to have those offerings in its arsenal one day, it would be closer to facilitating a fully 'connected trip'.
It should be noted that any potential acquisition of Expedia is a long way off, as sources suggest that no formal approach for the company has even been made.
Uber isn't the only company with ambitions to become a 'super app' - Airbnb has ambitions to do the same but instead reach beyond its core STR demographic and expand beyond travel offerings. Nevertheless, for a company that has no firm footprint in this sector already, Uber will have plenty of obstacles to negotiate before a purchase [e.g. pushback from antitrust regulators, time-consuming integrations, delivering and executing a multi-vertical strategy], therefore a far-reaching partnership [as with Google's autonomous taxi service Waymo] could be a wiser initial move than a buy right now.
• We're just over two weeks out from our second STRz Summit in London and it is shaping up to be an incredible event with a host of high-calibre industry leaders speaking across a diverse, critical agenda of sessions. Tickets for the Summit, which precedes Scale UK and World Travel Market, can be bought now at this link. See you on 5 November!
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