Hotels Revisit Their Internet Strategy

When large hotel companies first checked into cyberspace they let others -- online travel agencies -- dictate the terms. But the hoteliers have been fighting hard to take back control, and they don't expect to relinquish it.

Large hotel chains have beefed up their own Web sites and added incentives to get travelers to book rooms via them. They have also became more selective about how many rooms they sell wholesale to the online agencies, the biggest of which are IAC/InterActive Corp.'s (IACI Quote) Expedia, Sabre's (TSG Quote) Travelocity and Cendant's (CD Quote) Orbitz. And in one high-profile instance, a major chain, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG Quote) essentially slammed the door on IAC's online agencies when it stopped providing them with rooms to sell.

In the coming year, those trends are likely to continue. ...