HotelTonight’s Madhu Prabaker has built a career in designing experiences for a peculiar kind of beast: marketplaces. These types of companies require a delicate balance of competing interests from different sides. The dynamics of two-sided marketplaces create compelling challenges and unique use cases for designers. While one ecosystem partner…
Ctrip‘s second quarter earnings release talks about a 50% improvement in mobile conversion rates from the early iterations of Skyscanner’s direct booking business. Executive chairman James Liang summarised the rationale for its introduction of direct bookings to Skyscanner, which Ctrip acquired for $1.75 billion last November. He said: “It…
This is a viewpoint by Brian Lewis, chief technology officer for OpenJaw Technologies. Like most things, Blockchain didn’t just appear out of thin air. It is a combination and extension of already existing ideas. To get some insight in to how Blockchain works and where it came from, we…
Expedia Inc. moved quickly to replace its departing chief executive officer, naming Mark Okerstrom to the position. Okerstrom, currently chief financial Officer and executive vice president of operations, will succeed Dara Khosrowshahi as president and CEO of Expedia and will join its board. Khosrowshahi was officially named CEO of…
TravelBank, the travel and entertainment expense management solution, has raised $25 million in its Series B. According to the announcement, the round was “led by DCM Ventures with participation from Propel Venture Partners, DHVC (Danhua Capital), NEA, Accel, and Silicon Valley Bank. DCM, led by co-founder and general partner…
On Tuesday morning at 10am Pacific Daylight Time, Dara Khosrowshahi sat comfortably in a conference room on the 17th floor of Expedia’s Bellevue, Washington headquarters, giving no indication of his plans to continue his 12-year tenure as the OTA’s CEO or jump ship for the top job at Uber….
India’s technology-enabled budget hotel brand Treebo Hotels has confirmed a $35 million in a Series C round, bring its total raised since its 2015 launch to $60 million. Its first funding was a $6 million Series A in June 2015 followed by a further $16.7 million just over a…
Datalex has started its 2017 financial year strongly, reaffirming its guidance for a 15-20% full-year increase in adjusted EBITDA. For the six months to end-Jun, total revenues came in at $30.3 million – up 24% on the same period last year. This generated an adjusted EBITDA of $5.4 million…
Amsterdam-based direct booking specialist Hotelchamp has raised €2.25 million from new and existing investors, bringing its total raised so far to €4 million. The business, which was founded in 2015, has more 1,000 major hotels as clients, giving it a presence in more than 40 countries. It describes itself…
Jeff Kaelin’s been busy. As the vice president of products for Avis Budget Group, he’s been listening to customers and infusing feedback into a modernized user experience. The flagship brand’s new app signals a maturing view of how to make an app that truly serves the rental customer. With simple-but-effective…