Peter O'Connor (Professor of Strategy at the University of South Australia) and Andrew Sangster (Managing Editor at Hotel Analyst) discuss the interface between finance and digital, assessing how share prices affect what companies can and cannot do in both the distribution and the operations areas. Industry consolidation, online marketing, the super-app of travel, and the metaverse also come under scrutiny, with likely future developments highlighted.

Timeline:
00:26 —
Introduction
02:14 —
Peter & Andrew have conflicting views on the value of hotel brands
04:10 —
Brand analogy with a coke bottling company: Coke is the brand - The bottler is the owner
05:10 —
Peter claims brands have become lousy about keeping up brand standards
06:10 —
Andrew thinks big global brands standards have improved over the years
06:35 —
Andrew claims the hotel brand also plays its role in creating trust with investors
07:50 —
Peter asks whether we should distinguish brands and operating/management companies
10:00 —
Peter and Andrew discuss the evolving relationship between brands and OTAs
11:40 —
Andrew claims that Marriott negotiated an 8% commission with booking.com
14:50 —
Peter and Andrew discuss the growing role of google in travel distribution
17:18 —
Vertical consolidation: Could OTAs actually buy hotel companies?
19:07 —
Might OTAs be moving into the tour operator business?
20:04 —
Andrew claims the future of OTA's is in delivering more service
21:12 —
Discussing Expedia's evolving role as tech provider to brands
23:00 —
Peter and Andrew discuss how Airbnb fits in the distribution picture
26:35 —
Andrew touches on what happened with Airbnb's purchase of hoteltonight.com
27:20 —
Andrew explains how regulatory arbitrage influences the growth of platforms like Airbnb
29:58 —
COVID has pushed hotels in faster adoption of new technologies
31:30 —
Andrew discusses how technology can deliver better trained and more efficient staff
33:05 —
Andrew and Peter discuss who will be paying for tech innovation... owner or brand?
35:00 —
Hotel brands partnering with tech providers Amadeus and Sabre - Why and what's next?
39:40 —
Who will be developing the travel super-app? Meta - Google - Apple - Microsoft - Amazon
43:00 —
Would Accor be able to position itself in the travel super-app space
48:05 —
Exciting times ahead: Andrew touches on innovative brands and business models
49:10 —
The metaverse and the potential structural decline in business travel