Freedom of Choice in Expedia Contract Negotiations?

Contract negotiations between Choice Hotels International and Expedia have broken down, resulting in Choice brands being removed from Expedia’s websites. As negotiating power now favors Online Travel Agencies, hotel brands must maintain discipline to retain mutually beneficial terms. Seeing continued declines in both occupancy percentage and average rate, hotel owners may be willing to exchange future margins for immediate business volume. Hotel brands are challenged to maintain chain-wide pricing integrity and competitive positioning the economy improves. Hotel brands able to maintain strategic alignment with its hotel portfolio will have the best prospect to emerge stronger when the industry recovers.