Jared Wein

While some may disagree, we believe that Google is not becoming an online travel agency. It certainly could do so, but its travel business is already massive and highly profitable. We estimate it will generate around $14 billion in revenue in 2017, and will grow at over 20 percent per year for the foreseeable future.

Priceline's acquisition of Momondo strengthens Kayak in regions where it had less market share, including the UK, Nordics, and Russia. Keeping Momondo out of the hands of a rival, or a potential one, also protects the Kayak brand and Priceline as a whole.

Suddenly former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi walks away from substantial unvested compensation. Becoming CEO of Uber may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity for Khosrowshahi, but we expect that Uber had to compensate him for his treasure trove of unvested options to pry him away.

Facebook has quickly gone from the experimental phase for many travel companies to a growing part of the advertising budget with its own line item. We see the importance of the platform for the travel industry continuing to grow.

The Priceline Group continues to put up strong growth numbers despite its large size. Its massive advertising budget combined with improving conversion and growing inventory position the company to take further share of online and offline bookings.

Facebook’s ability to retarget consumers combined with the ads being visual, aspirational, cost-effective, and largely in-app for Facebook’s massive and highly-engaged user base will make the platform an increasingly important tool for the travel industry.

Google continues to churn out strong revenue growth numbers despite its massive size. There was little direct mention of travel on Google’s earnings call, but a few metrics give us insights into likely online travel agency earnings season and the broader online travel ecosystem.

Disney's international parks act as key consumer touch-points that drive brand awareness and cross-monetization of content in new markets. Macroeconomic issues in outbound mainland China tourism have impacted Hong Kong recently, but those pressures are abating and new park expansion projects should stabilize attendance trends.

Disney's unique theme park experience gives the company strong pricing power in the U.S., allowing Disney to consistently raise ticket prices above the inflation rate while growing attendance at the same time. By owning hotels on its properties, Disney is able to maintain an immersive experience, leading to high occupancy rates and steady growth in spending per room. The theme parks feed the hotels with guests and the hotels reinforce the park experience. This has, and will continue to be, a lucrative cycle for Disney.

Disney is a case study for travel and hospitality companies on how to think and look outside of travel, when building globally successful businesses and brands.