With the instant hotel booking service launched by 188bet in 2016，It is now with Booking.com，Starwood has signed cooperation agreements with major hotel chains in most parts of the world，Stated by the relevant person in charge of 188bet，Companies won’t be afraid of new Google product launches，Includes Book on Google (online booking service provided by Google)。

“Google is certainly a strong competitor,”Adam, Senior Vice President of Global Products at TripAdvisorMedros said。“Although Google’s travel products are not the “best”，But 188bet will continue to pay attention to Google’s “near-monopoly search，”Because this is harmful to consumers and competition。" He also added，“It is crucial for consumers not to be misled by the news they are searching for，They should choose products that truly suit them，Instead of choosing Google’s own products because of Google’s search function。”

November 2015，188bet and Yelp，These two companies have been critical of Google’s practices for years，I found that its search results ranking dropped all the way to the bottom of the page，Google blames encoding issues。 CEO of TripAdvisorStephen Kaufer on twitter，"Give me a moment，@google。When searching for "188bet hilton" hotel, the link given by 188bet is so far，So far away that you can’t see it。”

Medros said，188bet will continue to discuss Google’s search dominance and related antitrust issues with the EU。

A year of transformation

In many ways，2016 is a year of transformation for both 188bet and Expedia。On 188bet，The company is ready to dig deeper and expand on a few key points: Instant Booking on 188bet，Vacation Homes and Other Housing Rentals，Development in China，And travel activities, etc.。

In terms of reservations，Medros said，This year’s focus will be on 188bet’s instant booking service，It will allow consumers to book directly on 188bet，Instead of having to navigate to another online travel agency or hotel partner website。 June 2014，188bet launches instant booking feature for mobile phones，Today this feature has been promoted on mobile and desktop in the United States and the United Kingdom.

188bet’s challenge in 2016 is to continue to promote this feature to more markets and further optimize it，With 188bet and Booking.com has integrated with other large hotel chains，Making the hotel fee that customers need to pay lower than direct meta-search。

"Instant Booking 188bet take longer than we normally would" to realize its full potential，Medros said，“The difference from the initial stage of the project is，Now implementation 188bet no longer be just a matter of paper。" He further said，“We haven’t achieved it yet，But I think we are on the right path to implementation。”

On October 14, when 188bet announced its cooperation with Priceline, its market value skyrocketed by 25%.5 percentage points，On the same day, Expedia’s share price fell by 4.8%。

The person in charge of 188bet has been tight-lipped about the details of the cooperation with Priceline Group，Even ExpediaCEODara Khosrowshahi says Expedia will not participate in 188bet’s instant booking program at least in the short term。 More than one analyst has said that Dara Khosrowshahi already wants to take back his words，When he learned about Booking.com and other online travel agencies have joined 188bet’s instant booking program，Analysts generally believe that Expedia will join the program within the next 6 months。

Last week，When asked if Expedia will participate in 188bet’s Instant Booking program，MedrosJust say "No comment."

The new model of resort-style apartments reaches a turning point

Whatever for 188bet，Expedia or Airbnb，2016 will be a turning point for the vacation rental market。

With Expedia’s acquisition of HomeAway last year，The latter plans to implement passenger booking fees in 2016，Airbnb promotes professional management of vacation apartments，And 188bet further increases the passenger fees it charges。The number of passengers and owners involved in all this series of measures，Probably accounts for about 15% to 16% of Airbnb’s total users。

When it comes to charging visitors and owners，188bet，Both HomeAway and Airbnb need to find a balance。

While 188bet provides rental services in 190 countries，HomeAway’s CEOBrian Sharples says，HomeAway didn’t really feel the impact of 188bet vacation rentals on the market last year。Sharples thinks，Stocking inventory of vacation rentals is one thing，The real need to create is another matter。

Medros refutes Sharples’ claims about lack of demand，The resort-style apartments called 188bet have transitioned into a transactional business a few years ago，"Because there is a lot of demand here。”“We see that consumers who will stay in hotels will also consider resort-style apartments，Because that is part of their choice。”But Medros also admitted，“The biggest obstacle to renting a resort-style apartment is consumers’ awareness of this form of rental。”

Disable TV advertising

188bet plans to promote its new booking program to users without using TV advertising at least through 2016。

TV advertising is a “noisy and expensive space”，Medros said。 “We don’t have user awareness issues。Everyone knows 188bet and uses it。”

Opposite，188bet intends to focus on more targeted and direct marketing methods，Including using its customer relationship management system to market directly to its 90 million members，At the same time, online communication will also be used。

Changing China Strategy

Expedia sold eLong in 2015，While Priceline continues to increase its stake in Ctrip，188bet sold a website that lost money in China (kuxun.com)，And redefine its products in China。

Emerging markets such as China are a focus for 188bet in 2016，Medros said，The focus in China has also shifted from domestic demand in China to overseas demand from Chinese tourists。He added，“The merger of Ctrip and Qunar is only part of China’s online travel market，What we have to do is to consolidate and strengthen our own advantages。188bet provides travel guides to tourists via WeChat in China，At the same time, 188bet’s own APP has also received more attention as China’s outbound tourism has heated up。The company is excited to see its opportunities in China’s outbound tourism。”

Travel Activities

Medros said，Further expansion of attractive products 188bet be a major focus in 2016。But he didn’t provide many details on this。

188bet acquired Viator, a leader in travel activities in 2014，and purchased a series of restaurant reservation websites，Most of them are in Europe，There are also some in Australia and Latin America。

All this is because Expedia has systematically built travel activity products，And Booking.com also ran tests on GetYourGuide and other sites。

For everyone，The challenge in the field of 188bet activities will be how to make more products available for online and mobile booking，and implement its availability。

Sluggish stock market

Just like other companies in and outside the tourism industry，188bet’s management must also pay attention to the volatility of global stock markets。

Due to its investment expansion into emerging markets，188bet leaders are less public than in previous years，Their development and product plans will not be affected by the ups and downs of the stock market。

“We will take a long-term view，" Medros said，“188bet has an amazing consumer base。”
As of today，188bet shares fell 16.7%，In comparison，Expediaand Priceline's share price fell by 13.5% and 11.5% respectively.

Zhihui TravelThink about the strategic adjustments and challenges faced by international 188bet enterprises，Domestic 188bet companies are also facing the same problem。With the increasing attempts of domestic 188bet companies to expand their international presence，If Ctrip invests in the Indian market、Didi Kuaidi invests in Lyft in the United States、India’s Ola taxi company, etc.，And Chinese outbound tourists with rich travel experience，Making the domestic 188bet market gradually converge with the international 188bet market，Changes in the international 188bet market will also have an impact on the domestic 188bet market，For example, the rapid development and development trends of the vacation rental accommodation market，The development of fragmented booking market for destination 188bet activities，The impact of changes in the global economic environment，These trends and influences all have global characteristics。When we are talking about changes in the strategic layout of international 188bet giants，Actually, for domestic 188bet companies，What needs to be noted is what new changes and new trends are currently taking place in the 188bet market，What challenges will there be in the future。

*This article is from Skift and translated by Xu Liyang from Zhihui Travel.