Several major airlines, including Lufthansa, Air Canada and American Airlines, were unsuccessful in their recent attempt to bring the GDS “full content agreement” closer to a demise. The carriers had sought declaratory relief to clarify the outcome of the long-running US Airways vs. Sabre antitrust trial and its impact…
TurnKey Vacation Rentals has raised $21 million in Series C funding. The company has raised a total of $41 million since 2013 with this latest round led by Adams Street Partners as well as existing investors Altos Ventures, Silverton Partners and angel investors. TurnKey claims to be the third-largest…
Travel marketers are told to embrace influencers: those demi-gods of social media who can wave a magic wand with a single post that instantly puts your hotel on the map or makes your attraction world-famous. NB: This is a viewpoint by Rajul Chande, founder of Positive Partnerships. This obsession…
Indian travel search engine Ixigo.com has completed its $15 million Series B round after months of negotiation and rumour, with Sequoia Capital and Fosun Kinzon backing the raise. The participation of Fosun Kinzon, which is part of Chinese conglomerate Fosun, is of note as it brings more Chinese money…
Interesting move by Royal Caribbean as it looks to compete head-on with the likes of Viator with the launch of a standalone brand – GoBe – for activities. The cruise line says GoBe is a subsidiary within the group and was originally created as a consumer-facing service to recapture lost bookings that its passengers were…
Expedia has developed technology to help hotels get a handle on how their guests feel about a property or a stay by analysing reviews. Guest Review Insights aims to aggregate and organise reviews and provide hoteliers with information they can act on such as services they like or elements they would…
Skyscanner believes that the lines between direct and indirect distribution are blurring and is ramping up its facilitated booking strategy as a result. In a white paper, which reads like a manifesto for the future of metasearch, Skyscanner highlights some factors driving the evolution of distribution. In simple terms,…
This year’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, was far more muted than recent years. The annual tech, music and film festival has become a worldwide affair, with over 30,000 official attendees taking over Austin. Big brands naturally followed the crowds to Austin, resulting in “peak SXSW:” Lady Gaga netting…
Saudi Arabian Airlines and Royal Jordanian Airlines said they received “instructions from the concerned US departments” to require passengers to check all electronic devices except cellphones and medical devices on all nonstop flights to the US. Both carriers posted alerts online, but Royal Jordanian took its tweet down after…
SITA formed a new Secure Journeys Working Group to address safety and security in non-secure areas of US airports. The focus would include elements such as check-in lines and baggage claim areas, and to combat the insider threat. The group is an expansion of SITA’s Border Automation User Group, which…