Vacation rental tech specialist Beyond Pricing has acquired Smart Host, which provides pricing intelligence to rental home owners. Beyond Pricing, (Startup pitch here), is combining technology from Smart Host to its existing system so that hosts can see “Nearby Listings.” Beyond Pricing chief executive Ian McHenry says hosts had…
The average conversion rate for direct bookings is about 1%. How can hoteliers convert those 99% visitors who leave the website? NB This is a viewpoint by Catarina Pimental, marketing manager for GuestCentric. Recently, hoteliers have taken a great interest in investing in digital marketing tools to attract visitors…
Juniper Research‘s latest attempt to quantify the so-called sharing economy sees it place a value on the sector of $40.2 billion by 2022, compared with this year’s $18.6 billion. The valuation is based on the revenues it estimates comes through to the platform providers. Airbnb is inevitably highlighted as…
With the summer season officially under way, and the recent heatwave spreading sunshine across the UK, Britons are busy booking last minute holidays to keep that summer feeling alive for as long as possible. NB This is a viewpoint by Ben Murphy, managing director at Quantcast UK. Most brands…
India’s Nasdaq-listed OTA Yatra.com has agreed to acquire Air Travel Bureau (ATB) for an undisclosed sum. A statement said that ATB is India’s largest independent corporate travel services firm, with gross annual bookings of around INR 15 billion ($230 million). By combining ATB with its existing business travel operations,…
Sabre Corp. filed its opening appeal brief seeking to reverse the December 2016 verdict and damages award in a lawsuit brought by US Airways. The jury, which heard the case in the US District Court, Southern District of New York, returned a verdict in favor of US Airways for…
Our lives have become increasingly mobile, with research showing that US consumers spend more than five hours each day interacting with on-the-go devices. NB This is a viewpoint by Ed Burek, director of marketing solutions at SiteSpect. Today’s connected travellers aren’t just spending more time on mobile, their expectations…
US consumers prefer travel and hospitality brands to communicate with them via email rather than other channels, says a new study from Campaign Monitor. While there is an element of “MRDA ” – an email marketing firm releases a study which says how great email marketing is – the…
This is a regular roundup of some of the latest mobile application startup launches in travel covering everything from trip inspiration and planning to virtual assistants. Gyde & Seek What is it? Gyde & Seek is a travel platform, connecting travelers directly with vetted, experienced guides (or gydes), allowing…
The International Air Transport Association has announced progress of its New Generation IATA Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS) with the selection of Edenred and Multiservice Technology Solutions to implement the EasyPay payment solution for travel agents in more than 100 markets. Travel agents can set up and fund the new EasyPay e-wallet…