The first hackathon from airline entertainment curator Spafax saw developers explore use-cases for artificial intelligence which would help carriers offer passengers a better travel experience. In a two-day event at the company’s London office, two teams of Spafax developers were tasked with researching and building a basic working prototype…

This is a viewpoint from Gitit Greenberg, director of digital insights at SimilarWeb. The elephant in the online travel room is that while consumers are offered a massive variety of options, the industry is lead by two primary players – Booking Holdings and the Expedia Group. But in the…

The number of “organic” links featured on the first page of Google travel-related search results is falling as other elements are being added to the page. Research carried out by SEO specialist Searchmetrics showed that on travel searches, Google is now displaying an average of 8.8 organic links on…

This is a viewpoint from Matt Walker, chief storyteller at LikeWhere If airlines and travel brands want to win in 2018, they have to incorporate the customer’s preferences in their definition of “local.” In an industry as vast and complex as travel, part of the difficulty of engaging the…

China’s online travel giant Ctrip has agreed a new partnership with Hong Kong-based iClick Interactive Partners to make it easier for international travel brands to target Chinese consumers. Ctrip is one of China’s largest OTA with a user membership of 300 million people and this database will be used…

This is a viewpoint from Amiad Soto, founder of Guesty. The vacation rental industry, alongside the travel industry in general, is booming. Travel has become a right rather than a privilege. The amount of money entering the vacation rental industry reflects a healthy interest in what has become the…

Amazon is launching a new service for hotels to introduce its voice-controlled assistant Alexa for guests to use in their rooms. Alexa for Hospitality will allow hotel guests to make verbal requests through an Amazon Echo device, including room service, housekeeping and contacting the property’s concierge. Through the device,…

The airline industry could save billions a year as well as tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2035 through connected aircraft according to a study. The London School of Economics research conducted for connectivity provider Inmarsat, projects that a $15 billion a year in savings and 21.3 million tonnes of…

Kiwi.com continues to develop new applications based around its “virtual interlining” technology with the launch of an upgrade to its multi-city trip search. The new tool, known as NOMAD, is based on Kiwi.com’s proprietary algorithms and works for travellers who want to visit a number of cities. Currently, Kiwi…

Sponsored by Cendyn. There is a complex web of relationships within the group sales segment – the meeting planner and the hotel, the hotel and the attendees, the attendees and the planner, the planner and the corporate, the corporate and the attendees. Each stakeholder has its own general and…