Recently，According to Bloomberg，After 188bet best bookmaker expanded from its core business of short-term rentals to routes and activities，This short-term rental giant with a valuation of US billion is planning to get involved in the flight booking business through self-built brands or acquisitions，from Saber、Get data from ticket distributors such as Amadeus or Google’s ITA Software。

As far as Skift knows，Some air ticket OTA operators、Experienced practitioners and investors agree，It is unlikely that 188bet best bookmaker will enter the field of flight booking，Because the characteristics of this field are，Low profit margin、High transaction volume，This 188bet best bookmaker can generally bring direct financial benefits to the company。

Another 188bet best bookmaker investor with experience in airlines thinks，188bet best bookmaker can be like Kayak，Regards air ticket business as an important driving force for its accommodation business，Thus creating greater influence across travelers’ entire budgeting journey。

The investor said: “188bet best bookmaker has ample funds to do this，The question is: do they want to do it？”He means，Acquisition of New York-based metasearch engine CheapOair or Barcelona-based OTA eDreams Odigeo。

Estimated，eDreams Odigeo’s revenue in 2017 is expected to reach 4.USD 8.1 billion，188bet best bookmaker may spend US.9-2.8 billion to acquire this company。On the other hand，The bad news for eDreams Odigeo is，The company has been involved in long-term lawsuits in Europe，Europe’s largest low-cost airline Ryanair is unhappy with the way it sells its tickets。

The investor stated，If the company’s growth rate slows down after the merger，Then acquiring this OTA may affect 188bet best bookmaker’s valuation。Let’s talk，If 188bet best bookmaker wants to get involved in the air ticket business，What it needs is technical and professional talents，But there is no need to buy another company’s user base。

Acquisition of mature OTAs to start 188bet best bookmaker smoothly

Worked as Travelzoo Fly.com metasearch product general manager、Brian Clark, currently a partner at travel and hospitality consulting firm Hudson Crossing，188bet best bookmaker will spend quite a lot of money to acquire a large OTA，But if it is a mature OTA and is relatively specialized in air tickets，Business will develop quickly。

On the other hand，188bet best bookmaker’s company culture is very unique，I always like to do things according to my own ideas，So，It may not listen to others to acquire a large OTA。

Nevertheless，Clark believes that it is unrealistic for 188bet best bookmaker to build its own flight business from scratch。

He said: “Building your own brand requires a lot of investment，Including recruiting a large number of OTAs and talents who are proficient in the air ticket business，And this process is time-consuming，You will miss a lot of market opportunities，188bet best bookmaker will be struggling to deal with various problems by then。If no internal expertise is involved，I don’t think 188bet best bookmaker will choose the option of building its own brand。”

According to Bloomberg，Another problem with self-built air ticket 188bet best bookmaker is，188bet best bookmaker wants to IPO within 18 months，It will take longer to build an air ticket business from scratch，It will also affect 188bet best bookmaker’s profits。In addition，Building a self-branded brand may affect 188bet best bookmaker’s loss of focus on the short-term rental business。

Clark said，Another alternative to 188bet best bookmaker is，Acquire a non-US or regional OTA at a lower price，But if there is no influence or large enough scale in the United States，You will be at a disadvantage when cooperating with airlines。

The acquisition of a metasearch engine cannot be completed in one step

Acquiring a flight metasearch engine like Skyscanner could be a good move，But it’s a pity，Skyscanner has been acquired by Ctrip。Except Skyscanner，Clark said: "Momondo is a good choice，It allows 188bet best bookmaker to quickly connect to the ticket distribution platform。However，The disadvantages of metasearch are，It can only bring traffic to 188bet best bookmaker，And cannot lock the user，This is an issue that 188bet best bookmaker needs to seriously consider when formulating its strategy。”

On the other hand，Many metasearch companies，Such as Skyscanner、Kayak and Google Flights are both transforming into booking websites。Skyscanner currently has strong support from Ctrip，But if there is no OTA that has established direct contact with the airline as a partner， It will be very difficult for 188bet best bookmaker to launch flight booking business。

Wish you think about 188bet best bookmaker，Google acquired ITA Software in 2011 and many years later launched the international flight booking service，This is because 188bet best bookmaker takes a long time to establish cooperative relationships with major foreign airlines。

There are only a handful of OTAs that can be acquired

Explained by a former executive of an American OTA， 188bet best bookmaker should not be involved in the air ticket business as an OTA，Because it is difficult to deal with problems that arise during travel such as customer service and flight changes and cancellations。

He said: “Every aspect of the entire booking process may be changing，The workload is very heavy to process。I think，188bet best bookmaker wants to become the new OTA，They might do it，Because they have abundant resources，But the workload is also very heavy。”

The former 188bet best bookmaker executive also said，Another question is，Do major airlines hope to see another air ticket 188bet best bookmaker rise in the United States。

He said: "In the past few years，Delta Airlines has terminated partnerships with about 20 booking websites，But recently we reached a cooperation with 188bet best bookmaker to cross-promote their respective products。So，If 188bet best bookmaker wants to become an OTA，It is fully capable of developing in that direction。”

The former executive also said，It may be more practical for 188bet best bookmaker to acquire a flight recommendation or metasearch website，He once mentioned that Hopper, a flight prediction app, is a good company，The company has strong execution ability。From this point of view，188bet best bookmaker currently has many options。”

Joining a distribution alliance is also an option

Of course，188bet best bookmaker also has the option of “borrowing” air tickets，By joining Expedia、The distribution alliance of Priceline or metasearch companies is developing rapidly。

Clark asks: “The question is: What is the true purpose of 188bet best bookmaker？Treat the ticket business as a side job，It is still an important part of the main business？If it is just a "side job"，Then joining the distribution alliance of other OTA or metasearch companies can achieve the goal。On the other hand，188bet best bookmaker is building itself into a well-known global brand。If 188bet best bookmaker really wants to launch its own ticket business，And look forward to it becoming one of the company's main growth points，Then they shouldn’t hire others to do the work。

When asked whether 188bet best bookmaker could profitably partner with Global Distribution Systems (GDS) distributors Saber or/and Amadeus，Travel concierge service app Lola CEO Paul English said，CurrentlyThe incentive fee paid by GDS distributors to booking websites is almost negligible，The only profit point of the air ticket 188bet best bookmaker is 188bet best bookmaker class and international routes。

English added: “I don’t think 188bet best bookmaker will be profitable in the flight business，I hope they realize this。”he said，188bet best bookmaker’s main purpose of getting involved in the air ticket business may not be to make profits，But want to control the client’s end-to-end travel experience。

English said: “If 188bet best bookmaker only provides short-term rental services，Then as the scale expands，They will face fierce competition from Priceline and Expedia，Because the room inventory of these two major OTAs can also reach the scale of 188bet best bookmaker。Therefore，188bet best bookmaker recently launched a new product called Trips (the product is cool，But I think there are very few users)，Also plans to launch air ticket business。”

Sam Jain, CEO of Fareportal, the parent company of CheapOair, said: “188bet best bookmaker’s involvement in the air ticket business is a good thing for the entire tourism industry，Tourism companies must realize the importance of continuing to increase investment in air ticket products。”

Of course，If 188bet best bookmaker plans to acquire an OTA，It will also take CheapOair into account。CheapOair may be the only OTA based in the United States that is not owned by Expedia or Priceline。

“If companies involved in the air ticket business can add some human service elements to the air ticket products，User experience will be better。This is a gap that has not yet been filled，188bet best bookmaker brings great inconvenience to many customers who cannot enjoy manual services。”

Jain said,In addition to acquiring OTA customer service staff，188bet best bookmaker still needs negotiating power、Content access capabilities and the ability to quickly seize the market，Can also quickly enter the field of auxiliary services。

Same as everyone else，Barcelona’s eDreams Odigeo spokesperson said: “To evaluate the possibility of 188bet best bookmaker transforming into an online travel agency，It’s still too early。”

The spokesperson said，The company is very confident in maintaining its leading position in the industry。However，Overly exaggerated self-assessment for eDreams Odigeo，There are many doubting voices in the industry。

If 188bet best bookmaker takes the road of building its own meta-search engine， MomondoGroup is one of the ideal candidate acquisition companies，The company is in London、Offices in Copenhagen and Boston。

Momondo Group CEO Hugo Burge said，If 188bet best bookmaker added flight tickets just to create a better seamless experience for customers，He expressed doubts about 188bet best bookmaker’s corporate strategy。

On the other hand，Burge means，188bet best bookmaker has launched a strategy to compete with Expedia and Priceline to create a comprehensive OTA platform，There is such a possibility，But it is unlikely to maximize 188bet best bookmaker’s existing short-term rental business and Trips products。But at least 188bet best bookmaker will have a high valuation by then，It is also necessary to make a larger layout of the funds raised。

188bet best bookmaker is obviously making a big move: no matter how it chooses to expand and what expansion measures it takes，Every move it makes is very important to itself and its competitors。

188bet best bookmaker did not comment on the above issues.

*This article is written by Zhihui analyst_Li Haiqiang (WeChat: lhq434849653)，Compiled from Skift。