Online Travel Reservation Services NAICS 561599

Aug 21, 2025 - Online Travel Agency Settles High Profile Junk Fee Case

• A recent $9.5 million court settlement between online travel agency (OTA) umbrella company Bookings Holdings and the state of Texas demonstrates a willingness by regulators to crack down on junk fees in hotel bookings. Bookings, owner of OTA sites including Priceline.com and Kayak.com, was accused of hiding questionable costs like resort, amenity, and utility fees into a single, vague, “Taxes and Fees” line item. In addition to the monetary payment, Bookings has to disclose any added fees clearly and upfront. The case could be a bellwether of the effectiveness of the Federal Trade Commission’s 2025 Junk Fees Rule, which mandates added fees be clearly communicated to customers in the hotel and live entertainment industry. The rule in effect ends junk fees for those industries, with the Texas case being the first high-profile use of the new rule.
• Corporate travel managers are increasingly frustrated with their company booking systems, according to a Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) survey of managers in the US and Canada. Around 57% of those surveyed said that booking travel for guests and others without a corporate profile (job seekers, contractors) is the biggest problem with current systems. The other oft-cited downsides of business travel IT (managing ticket exchanges, cancellations, unused tickets) all demonstrate an industry frustrated with legacy systems that have become clunky to use, lack significant hotel or flight inventory, and have little informational content readily available on consumer sites. More than 80% of respondents to the GBTA said travel booking outside the system has either stayed the same or even grown in frequency. According to travel managers, the most common requests for corporate travel site expansion are better photos and visuals, improved search, and more information on loyalty programs.

• Trips and travel bookings to the US from international travelers have fallen steadily in early 2025 amid warnings to avoid the US since the Trump administration took office. New data from the US National Travel & Tourism Office and the International Trade Administration found that travel to the US from Europe has plummeted by 17% year over year in March 2025. Total international visits to the US that same month have fallen by a steep 12%. International travelers are wary of the new US administration’s trade, border, and immigration policies and are opting to stay away altogether. The trend is alarming leaders in the travel industry, which accounts for 2.5% of US GDP. Transatlantic flights, the most profitable airline routes, dipped last week for both Virgin Atlantic and Air France-KLM. US carrier Delta Air Lines recently even revised its yearly travel forecast down and is warning of a recession.
• Music tourism is a growing niche in the travel industry and is expected to be a key driver for in 2025, according to industry experts. Taylor Swift’s mega-grossing Eras tour spurred fans to buy tickets outside of their home/nearby concert market, taking advantage of cheaper tickets and hotels in other US cities and overseas. A new survey from online travel agency justify.com finds that about 75% of respondents would travel for a concert if it was cheaper away from home. Another 60% say music festivals are becoming a key reason for travel. The impact of music tourism on local economies can be significant. The California Center for Jobs & the Economy found that Swift’s six-night run in Los Angeles in 2023 generated $320 million to the local economy. Other stops on Swift’s tour reported similar local boons including Australia ($765 million), London ($380 million), Japan ($228 million), and New Orleans ($200 million).