There are some influential forces at work in travel, shaping how the market is evolving and challenging brands to think carefully about the future. Alternative accommodation options such as Airbnb, low-cost airlines expanding into transatlantic flights and greater expectation from consumers in terms of choice, price and convenience, means…
The European Commission is being asked to tackle “dangerous developments” in airline distribution around discrimination against so-called neutral channels. Regulators in Brussels received a letter this week from a large array of travel agency groups and lobbying organisations, such as the European Travel & Technology Services Association which has the GDSs and…
Spain is “surpassing” Italy and France on Chinese tourists’ wish-list, according to Ctrip, one of the reasons it has signed a new, far-reaching partnership with Melia Hotels. The tie-up is a global one. Melia Hotels – formerly Sol Melia – has 370 properties in four continents under brands including…
Right now airlines are introducing fees for bookings via the GDS but imagine a scenario five years down the road where an airline charges a fee for booking via the website instead of the mobile app. It’s really not that far-fetched as a concept. NB: This is a viewpoint from Philippe…
German carmaker Daimler has added a stake in Middle Eastern ridesharing brand Careem to its ever-growing portfolio of mobility businesses. “Mobility” is emerging as the shorthand of choice for the ride-sharing/carpooling/taxi-app sector. Daimler’s undisclosed investment in Careem is part of the now-closed Series E round. Japan’s Rakuten was among…
Skyscanner has released a new study of the potential market opportunities for transatlantic low cost routes between Europe and the US, by showing the city pairs with greatest traveller interest and those in which ‘price elasticity’ can help fill seats. This highly contended transatlantic market—for decades protected by flagship…
A six-month-old Danish room booking service in hotels has acquired its Swedish competitor in a bid to corner the Nordic region. Gaest was launched in January this year and has bought Bokarum for an undisclosed fee. The ambitious company says it wants to build the leading the online marketplace for the…
In years past, there was a dominant form of agricultural practice – sharecropping. A landlord would rent out his land, and farmers would rent it and pay in harvested crops. There was usually no other way for the farmer to get land, so the landlord was king! Today, decades…
Vacation rental tech house Rentivo has acquired Klik.Villas, a competitor in the sector that focuses on the Asia-Pacific region. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Rentivo is fresh from raising $425,000 in capital from a crowd-funding campaign earlier this year on the CrowdCube platform. The acquisition of Klik will…
Airbnb has taken another step in the direction of its rivals in the vacation rental sector, with what it claims are milestones on booking and technology. For all its popularity and the apparent tech-driven nature of its brand, until now Airbnb has been behind others in the world of…