Almost seven months since the proposed acquisition was first announced, a major lobbying group has come out against Expedia-Orbitz deal.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association says it registering its opposition to the $1.6 billion deal by Expedia to get its hands on rival online travel agency Orbitz, an acquisition currently being reviewed by the US Department of Justice.
The organisation, which claims it is the only body representing a 1.8 million person industry, says the deal will "result in significant negative consequences, particularly for consumers, but also for the large number of our members who are small business owners and franchised properties".
Expedia would control 75% of the OTA marketplace if the deal is given the thumbs-up by regulators, argues president and CEO of AH&LA, Katherine Lugar, adding that the additional of Orbitz to the portfolio would be detrimental for a number of reasons.
Lugar says, from a marketing perspective, an approved deal would reduce the number of OTAs that hotels can work with on "innovative promotional efforts that benefit consumers".
The organisation also claims Orbitz could raise its commission rates to those of the mothership, currently sitting at an estimated 11% difference between the two brands.
Lastly, concerns have been raised about the powerful bloc that would exist in a online hotel distribution world with Expedia and rival Priceline controlling what it claims will be 95% of online hotel bookings.
Lugar also raises the spectre of "deceptive practices by rogue OTA affiliates posing as direct hotel booking sites", something she claims accounts for 2.5 "misleading bookings a year".
"Both companies have affiliate relationships with thousands of smaller websites that offer hotel rooms for booking, some of which have misled consumers who think they are booking directly with a hotel."
Perhaps most importantly for AH&LA's membership are the concerns over the deals direct impact on the online distribution of rooms for small hotels and independent properties.
"Indeed, as a result of previous OTA consolidation, as well as this proposed acquisition, the small, economy and midscale hotel segments have become increasingly reliant on an ever-shrinking number of OTAs that have the potential to impose steep commissions and demand restrictive contract provisions."
The Expedia arsenal of brands, if the deal is approved by the DOJ, would include Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity (an acquisition just a few weeks before the Orbitz announcement which the AH&LA didn't object to), Hotwire, Cheaptickets and Trivago.