Golf-Hotel-Resorts AND CASINO News: Google’s Sly Vacation Rental Experiment + International Tourism to U.S. Drops + The Next Great Airline Fight

July 20, 2017

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Oh, Canadian travelers: Please come back to the U.S. While there's an argument to be made that Canadians stayed in Canada because of their charming prime minister, there's a much more factual argument to be made that the strong U.S. dollar led to a decline in Canadian visitation in 2016. Canadians weren't alone in going elsewhere; Brazilian visitation dropped by a quarter and enough other countries stayed away that the U.S. saw its first international tourism decline since 2009. Don't blame politics either: In the previous two election years, inbound tourism increased.

On the digital front, Priceline Group's CEO argued yesterday that while they're big, they're nowhere near big enough to be a monopoly, no matter what some hotel trade groups may argue. Speaking of monopolies, we realized earlier this week that Google is quietly testing including vacation rentals in listings when people search for hotels on Google's European websites. That sound you hear is the phone ringing in the European Commission's anti-trust office.

— Jason Clampet, Editor-in-Chief

Why Streamlined Expense Management is the First Step to Successful Business Travel [SPONSORED]

In tests involving about 7,000 property listings in Europe, Google is checking if travelers would like to use it to search and book vacation rentals. Online travel rivals should be on the alert.

Here's Why the Next Great U.S. Airfare Battle Will Take Place in Denver

It's not clear whether United or Frontier will win this battle in Denver. But what is nearly certain is that passengers will be the beneficiaries. They'll likely find cheaper fares.

Priceline CEO: Hotels Secretly Love Us Despite Accusations of Monopoly

Priceline CEO Glenn Fogel says he wants travelers to think of Booking.com's name first when they start thinking about reserving homes and apartments for rental. He says a marketing effort is in the works to achieve that.

International Tourism to the United States Dropped in 2016

Many travel brands had said last year was tough as full-year international visits to the U.S. decreased in 2016 for the first time since 2009. We'll need to wait until this time next year to see if this is a hiccup or a new trend.

GBTA Notebook: The Future of Corporate Travel Is Basically the Same as the Past

Another year, another GBTA. It seems like corporate travel is heading in the direction of offering more options to business travelers, but progress remains slow.

Cities Want to Leverage Conventions Better to Drive Growth — Meetings Innovation Report

There's a growing conversation in the U.S. about how city governments and convention bureaus can better pool their resources to promote their local startup and research communities to convention organizers.

Chefs+Tech: Chipotle Haunted by News of Store Closure Due to Illness

The illness reports, consistent with symptoms of norovirus, come from one Chipotle location that has since reopened. But any time this happens, however small, the news will grab headlines. Chipotle will likely be haunted by its past as long as it's around.

Many airlines have rewritten loyalty rules in recent years to make their programs more profitable and reward the most lucrative travelers. But our data show many U.S. travelers don't want to play by those rules and aren't loyal to any airline.

Wyndham Buys AmericInn Hotel Chain for $170 Million

Wyndham's version of a great American idea? Buying AmericInn. (Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves.)

iCars Denies That It Is Spinning Its Wheels in Corporate Ground Transport

In theory, the merger of iCars and Limos.com promises a thriving black car service for corporate travelers. In practice, there is circumstantial evidence this investment vehicle hasn't yet left the repair shop.

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