Just over 12 months on from what was heralded as a major development in its drive to offer Instant Bookings for hotels, TripAdvisor has now inked a deal with Expedia Inc. The Priceline Group was the first of giant online travel agencies to participate in the Instant Booking programme when…
Travelers’ behaviour, needs, and expectations are constantly evolving as they embrace technology. The next leap forward for agencies and travel sellers who intend to stay competitive is to turbo-charge their own mobile and online capabilities, according to Sabre, the global travel technology giant. Providing bricks-and-mortar, mobile, and online presences…
There has been a great deal of discussion around what the launch of Trips means for Airbnb… and for travel more broadly (if anything). Commentary has come from all quarters, both within the company itself and from those on the outside looking in. But what does it really mean…
Japan’s internet giant Rakuten has nailed another taxi app investment, taking part in a $350 million funding round for Dubai-based Careem Careem, which operates across the Middle East and North Africa, said that the $350 million is part of a still-to-be-completed $500 million round. The other main participant in…
Expedia Media Solutions has launched a new study by comScore, The Traveler’s Path to Purchase, which identifies trends and behaviors of American, British and Canadian consumers along the 45-day digital journey leading up to a travel purchase. NB: This is a viewpoint by Matthew Reichek, global vice president of…
Good news for airline tech providers looking at the Indian market – every carrier asked by SITA for its dedicated India report said IT budgets will increase next year, and by more than the global average. The projected lift in spend is hardly a surprise when SITA itself says…
It makes for a good headline to push some type of bloodthirsty battle going on between hotels and Airbnb. We in the media are brilliant at (and guilty of) doing it – knowing rather contentedly that the awkward juxtapositioning between two different models and styles is also likely to…
Attendees at this month’s Buy Tourism Online (BTO) event were left in little doubt as to the importance of mobile bookings in the Italian online travel market. NB This is a viewpoint by Giancarlo Carniani, founder of Buy Tourism Online. Phocuswright presented some findings from their Italy report at…
Taxi apps are more than just a way to get a cab on a smartphone – and the biggest taxi app of the lot, China’s Didi, has spent of lot of 2016 becoming very much like a mobile travel platform. In October, Didi’s platform handled 26 million rides a…
It used to be relatively straightforward to predict annual online spending habits in the travel industry. January and July would form two travel “peaks”, with spending rising as holidaymakers book time off for the following summer or winter. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the events of this year have made 2016 a…