As Uber CEO Travis Kalanick settles down for some shuteye ahead of Donald Trump’s first business advisory group meeting in Washington tomorrow (Friday), there may be a couple of things that are keeping him awake. Firstly, how to diplomatically raise the issue of the US president’s travel ban on…

Carlson Wagonlit is going all out in a bid to reposition itself as a digital travel management company – labelling the initiative as “CWT 3.0”. The move to overhaul its brand proposition, structure and overhaul of products comes nine months after the appointment of ex-Travelport chief commercial officer, Kurt Ekert, to…

This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel devices in tourism and hospitality for February 2017. Wednesday 1 February 2017: Cleartrip integrates with Uber in the Middle East Users of the online travel agency in the Middle East will now be able to book Uber rides within…

New tools and technology enhancements continue making it easier for travel providers, agents and travellers to access trip protection benefits. NB: This is a viewpoint by Beth Godlin, president of Aon Affinity Travel Practice. Insurers are rolling out online and mobile claims capabilities to meet customers’ changing needs, so…

MakeMyTrip has completed its merger with Ibibo Group and will continue to prioritise growth over profitability in the short-to-medium term. Talking through its Oct-Dec16 financials, MakeMyTrip’s CEO for India, Rajesh Magow, explained to analysts that its approach post-Ibibo hadn’t changed. As MakeMyTrip sees it, the overall online travel industry…

This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel systems in tourism and hospitality for February 2017. Wednesday 1 February 2017: Concur bots with Slack A private beta version of the tool is being tested with users following the Slack Enterprise Grid event this week, allowing employees of…

Global hotel chain Hilton is embarking on an overhaul of its branding and loyalty programme, including a major new partnership with Amazon. First the aesthetic stuff: the group will now be known as Hilton (dropping the “Worldwide”) and its existing loyalty scheme will be known as Hilton Honors (dropping the…

There seems to be two rather different realities presented about human interaction with consumers in the travel industry. We hear that the industry is moving to bots and pure online services, yet simultaneously we are seeing the strong comeback of the travel agent. So which will it be? NB:…

A report from Sabre‘s APAC team reveals the need for online and offline agents to connect with travellers during the trip. The study, which covers eleven countries across the region, identifies four types and is the latest to look at travellers in terms of what they want from their…

HomeAway has split opinion over its decision to alter the way in which potential guests can interact with a property’s owner. At the turn of 2017, HomeAway shifted the ability for a traveller to find out more about a rental listing by pushing contact details for the owner to the…