Whether it's your grandparents celebrating their 50th anniversary or Star Wars fans just starting on their journey with Disney, successful relationships are based on making the most of your shared opportunities. Expedia's Josh Saunders, director of market management, recommends the following to maximize your hotel's return with its online travel agency…

By Warwick Clifton: Part one of this article presented initial findings regarding how hotel group supply has developed over the last two decades, this second part concentrates on the extent of market penetration the hotel groups have achieved globally.

By Alan Campbell: We have come a long way since the earliest inns for weary travelers sparsely, very sparsely, dotted around what would become the American landscape.

Who tops the world’s highest customer satisfaction scores for 2012 for “Hotel Experience” and “Gaming Experience,” based on global results from the Market Metrix Hospitality Index?

By Katie Morell: At 6:30 a.m. on March 6, 2012, Michael Dubin released a video introducing his new company, Dollar Shave Club, a subscription service for men’s razors, in which customers pay as little as $1 a month for razors delivered to them. Dubin appeared in the video spoofing tennis star Roger Federer’s fee as Gillette spokesperson as the reason for exorbitant brand-name razor prices. The video also features Dubin dancing, Dubin swinging a machete, Dubin riding a warehouse crane, and a man in a bear costume (not Dubin)—all with a brilliant comedic timing. The video went viral immediately. By 9:30 a.m., Dubin’s site had crashed. By the time it was up and running again (about 24 hours later), orders were flooding in.

By Helen Leggatt: A study by PhoCusWright, commissioned by TripAdvisor, reveals that, for the vast majority of its users (87%) the reviews give them more confidence in their travel-related decisions. And, according to eight out of 10 users, TripAdvisor reviews helped them have a better trip.

By Lee Woo-young: Staying a night at a luxury hotel is a refreshing experience for those tired of their daily routine and looking for a brief urban getaway. And for some women, the special experience lasts even after they return home to their daily routines. Some boast of their collections of bath amenities from different five-star hotels and post the pictures on their blogs to show off and to give information to other customers. Five-star hotels in Korea are responding by introducing more international labels to customers looking for quality service.

STR provides key performance metrics for the Asia Pacific Region, the Caribbean/Mexico, Central / South America, Europe and the Middle East/Africa.

By Richard Nalley: The race to put tourists into space has its first price competitor. Amsterdam-based Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) hopes to test its Lynx Mark II spaceship —built by the U.S.’s XCOR Aerospace—this April, putting it on track for a late 2014 inaugural flight, and into a neck-in-neck dash to the finish with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to see who will launch paying guests first.

By Chris Daly: Whether it’s your grandparents celebrating their 50th anniversary or Star Wars fans just starting on their journey with Disney, successful relationships are based on making the most of your shared opportunities.  Expedia’s Josh Saunders, director of market management, recommends the following to maximize your hotel’s return with its online travel agency.