[originaltext]As online rivals whizz ahead, hotels try to be both big and nimbl

As online rivals whizz ahead, hotels try to be both big and nimble. Hotel companies check out well just now. (19)On May 3rd Hyatt became the latest chain to report sunny results—profits were up by 55% over the same quarter in 2015. In America RevPAR (revenue divided by rooms available in a given period) has risen for the past six years, according to STR, a data outfit. Analysts debate when fortunes will change. (20)America’s market has been supported by a temporary mismatch of slow-growing supply and robust demand.
In the long term, however, the greatest uncertainty is not cyclical, but structural, as online firms change the industry’s shape. Neither Airbnb, a room-sharing site, nor online travel agents are hotels’ obvious adversaries. Big hotel chains subsist on weary business travelers; Airbnb does not. Yet the growing popularity of the platform, now valued at around $25 billion, means it may siphon more guests from hotels in future. Booking sites help hotels but chomp into their margins with fees of up to 25%. Last year they accounted for nearly one in five bookings in America, up from one in ten in 2006, according to Phocuswright, a research firm.
In Europe, where the hotel market is more fragmented, online agents account for one in four. For hotel firms, one solution is to get bigger. After a bidding war with Anbang, a Chinese insurer, (21)Marriott agreed to buy Starwood for more than $13 billion last month. The result will be a 1.1m room behemoth. Other firms are bulking up, too. Last year saw $67 billion of hotel mergers, according to Dealogic, a research firm—the highest level since 2007. Scale will help hotels battle their main competitors: other hotels.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19.How much does Hyatt’s profit increase by?
20.What has been supported America’s market?
21.How much did Marriott agree to buy Starwood for?