Asked to comment on the new Kayak-Travelocity relationship, Orbitz Worldwide says it is pursuing legal remedies against Kayak for allegedly impinging on its exclusivity rights.
“Orbitz is pursuing legal remedies to address Kayak’s promotion of certain travel information from other online travel websites’ in Kayak’s air, hotel and other paths," says Orbitz Worldwide spokesman Brian Hoyt. "Orbitz believes these promotions violate Kayak’s contractual obligations to Orbitz. We are confident that our contractual terms will be enforced through these channels.”
Kayak previously disclosed in the registration statement for its IPO that it is in arbitration with Orbitz over exclusivity provisions in Kayak's core search results.
Kayak displays Expedia ads in flight and hotel search results on Kayak.com -- and today began a beta test offering consumers for the first time in its history the option of booking hotels on Kayak.com.
Kayak gets that hotel inventory from Travelocity in a white label deal.
Previously, Kayak handled no bookings itself, but transferred consumers to supplier and OTA sites.
Travelocity's name doesn't appear in the new Book Kayak.com option, but is the merchant of record in the transactions and handles customer service duties.
Hoyt declined to elaborate on the Orbitz statement about "pursuing legal remedies" but it appears to mean something beyond the previously disclosed arbitration proceedings.
Kayak declined to comment on the Orbitz statement.