Thomas Cook is to extend its “white label” online booking partnership with Expedia across European markets over the next few months. The tour operator started selling Expedia’s city break and hotel-only product through its UK website at the end of July, as part of an alliance which gives Thomas…
Making sure young travellers get the joke
By cameron in Uncategorized
This is a viewpoint by Becky Power, travel lead for Google UK. They famously say that humour doesn’t travel. Well, whoever ‘they’ are, Hostelworld decided to put ‘them’ to the test by dropping Phil Wang, an English comedian of Malaysian descent, into a crowd in Indonesia to try to…
UK airline pax less satisfied, despite better search and booking processes
By cameron in Uncategorized
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published its latest consumer survey which shows a drop in overall airline passenger satisfaction to 83% compared to 90% in the first survey conducted in the spring of 2016. The study, conducted by ComRes on behalf of the CAA between 29 March…
OYO expands in China, Ctrip grows offline sales and more China news and trends
By cameron in Uncategorized
OYO signed 400 hotels and 25,000 rooms in China last month alone; Ctrip‘s offline shops attract new customers; a fresh take on Klook‘s $200 million and more. Jin Jiang, OYO To lower its debt, HNA Group has finally agreed to sell Radisson Holdings to a consortium led by hospitality group Jin…
ATPCO patents new pricing methodology
By cameron in Uncategorized
ATPCO has been awarded a patent in the US for new airline ticket pricing technology developed by its in-house data scientists and technical architects. It says that airlines will get greater control and flexibility over price points offered in any given market. The new technology allows construction of airline…
Amadeus has announced plans to buy TravelClick for $1.52 billion from private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, in an effort to grow its footprint in the hospitality sector. The purchase gives Amadeus access to TravelClick’s cloud-based Central Reservation System (CRS) and Guest Management Solutions (GMS) solutions for mid-chain and independent…
Startup Pitch – GuruWalk offers free walking tours for travelers, tips welcome
By cameron in Uncategorized
Have you heard? The tours and activities sector is quite exciting at the moment… A flurry of big deals and funding – Booking buying Fareharbor, Tripadvisor buying Bokun, Klook raising another $200 million – has propelled tours and activities into the spotlight. These major moves may be centre stage, but…
Life beyond walled gardens
By cameron in Uncategorized
This is a viewpoint by Tom Rolph, VP of EMEA for Tapad. Walled gardens are the industry’s frenemies. On one hand they offer advertisers access to millions of users, but on the other hand, they make it near impossible for brands to use all-important behavioural data outside of the…
Campsited, the online campsite specialist, was launched in Ireland three years ago when founder Finán O’Donoghue could not find a single website where you could successfully search and book campsites in Europe. O’Donoghue’s frustrating experience led to the idea for Campsited, an online marketplace which initially offered camping locations…
Klook earmarks monster Series D for expansion, curation, tech and efficiencies
By cameron in Uncategorized
In-destination booking platform Klook has secured another US$200 million funding and will expand into the US and Europe. The Hong Kong-based firm currently offers more than 50,000 attractions, tours and experiences from 5,000 industry partners across 200 destinations. The latest round of funding (Series D) takes Klook’s total financing…