Abusyyearfortravelacquisitions,lodgingdealsdominating

While Expedia Inc.’s buying spree created most of the mergers and acquisitions buzz last year, 2016 has been a quieter year for mega online travel agency acquisitions and the focus has shifted to hotel and other hospitality tech company acquisitions so far this year.

There have been at least six hotel acquisitions since January totaling more than $16 billion, with the bulk of that amount coming from the Marriott International-Starwood Hotels & Resorts deal that closed last month. Other deals included AccorHotels $2.7 billion buy of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International and SBE Entertainment’s $794 million grab of Morgans Hotel Group.

AccorHotels also waded into alternative accommodations when it bought onefinestay for $170 million and also acquired hotel software company John Paul. Two other hotel software exits include Trivago buying Base7booking and TrustYou buying CheckMate (terms of both deals were undisclosed).

Still, there has been plenty of smaller acquisition activity in other sectors and among travel startups in 2016. Some 71 travel companies have been acquired, including both startups and more established players, so far in 2016, according to Mike Coletta, managing director of Travel Startups Incubator.