This is a viewpoint from Bill James, chairman of Transform. It is estimated that 90% of the world’s data was generated in the past two years, yet brands still are only using half of it. Everywhere you turn brands are claiming the status of data pioneer, hoping to be heard above the…

Tagible didn’t write a line of code for its content aggregator until halfway through the Travelport accelerator program that the startup completed in 2016. Today, Tagible (startup pitch here) amasses travel content including photos, 360-degree images, reviews and video from across the internet that hotels, destinations, tour operators and activity…

In travel, the theory and practice of digital transformation has now shifted to incorporate the growing importance of mobile, which offers travelers convenience, in a context they are familiar with. Meanwhile, brands are embracing sales, marketing and service opportunities which simply did not exist before smartphones became mainstream. However,…

This is a roundup of announcements related to people moves and business expansions in travel in February 2018. Monday 12 February 2018 Infare expands management team The airfare intelligence specialist has appointed Harald Eisenaecher, former Sabre SVP for EMEA as chief commercial officer. RedDoorz welcomes senior execs The online…

It has been another busy couple of weeks in China’s online travel space with moves from Alibaba-owned Fliggy, Ctrip, Toncheng-eLong and TravelFlan to name just a few. Alongside news from these major players, there has also been investment and acquisition announcements and the latest tourism performance statistics are out….

Fresh off its acquisition by ATPCO, Routehappy wrapped up yet another big deal: a partnership with Amadeus, the world’s largest GDS. Amadeus will integrate Routehappy’s rich airline content into its point-of-sale solutions, such as Selling Platform Connect. In addition, other channels such as online travel agencies can access the…

Big consolidation in the travel management space this morning as Amex Global Business Travel has agreed to buy rival Hogg Robinson Group for around £400 million. The deal, which is subject to antitrust and other regulatory approval, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018. Interesting to…

Avvio has launched a conversational and transactional social media chatbot which integrates with its AI-driven booking engine, Allora. The bot has been developed in partnership with Dublin-based Webio and the first hotel to go live is The Kingsley in Cork, Ireland. The property is part of the Fota Collection….

Despite the name, ride share company Tesloop is not part of Elon Musk’s Tesla empire. Instead, the startup was the brainchild of a 16-year-old who wanted a Tesla. Fresh from his road test, Haydn Sonnad tried to convince his father Rahul Sonnad that he could offset the costs of…

Earnings calls generally get interesting towards the end. While it’s useful to hear how a business is doing, it’s equally revealing to hear how executives respond to analyst questions. Outside of the practiced company line, these questions often highlight some compelling questions. From the questions to the prepared remarks,…