Online travel agency market: Who owns who?

At first glance, there seem to be hundreds of different OTAs in the market, but in actuality, most OTAs are owned by top brands such as Tripadvisor, Expedia, and Booking Holdings.

Numerous acquisitions and mergers have created enormous powerhouse companies that dominate today’s OTA market. These companies have diversified their hospitality business portfolio beyond OTAs to include sectors like flights, car rentals, tours and activities, restaurant reservations, and more. Many OTAs will cross-post property listings with their partners and subsidiaries, therefore, diversifying your channel mix across networks can greatly increase visibility. 

The following infographic helps illustrate “who owns who” in the OTA world. Under some acquisitions, the acquired company continues to operate as an independent subsidiary, while in other instances the smaller company is dissolved and their brand is merged into the larger company. Also, in some cases, the acquired company had other smaller companies and brands attached that then become part of or absorbed by the larger company. Therefore, this list of parent companies and subsidiaries does not reflect every single merger or acquisition that has taken place between each OTA. 

For example, Airbnb has acquired a handful of companies that now operate under the Airbnb brand, whereas Expedia Group owns many companies that operate under their own brand but are owned by Expedia Group. Also note that aside from OTAs, Emirates/Dnata own subsidiaries in several categories, including air transport, aviation services, flight catering, ground handling, cargo, and more – not all of which have been included here.