Sponsored by Trivago. A hotel’s reputation now lives online. Accompanying the rise of metasearch and the digitization of the booking journey is the growing power of review sites, rating scales and social media platforms where hotel guests rant or rave about their experiences. We’re now living in a world…
This is a viewpoint from Maria Harrison, president of Bullseye Strategy. The technology of the travel consumer journey (part two of three) In Episode I of this series, we saw how the consumer journey in the luxury travel industry mirrors the hero’s journey of Luke Skywalker in the original…
TUI and ebookers have each found unique ways to use sensory perception and biometric technology to help travelers plan their ideal holidays. Ebookers has unveiled a new online tool called SenseSational, which uses facial recognition to gauge users reaction to multi-sensory stimuli which can help reveal destinations that travelers…
One of the many interesting deals which took place this year was Expedia Inc’s purchase of SilverRail, if only because it brought rail tech out of the shadows and into the OTA mainstream. SilverRail is, give or take, a B2B business which Expedia is likely looking at using as…
Mafengwo, a Chinese social travel platform has announced Series D funding of $133 million. General Atlantic is named as a new investor in the round alongside Ocean Link, Temasek, Yuantai Investment and Hopu. Existing investors also participated in this latest financing round. The company plans to use the funds…
This is a viewpoint from Andre Azer, vice president of marketing for Student Universe . At this stage in the year, we take time to reflect on where the industry has been in 2017 and where it’s going in 2018. The travel industry is a particularly exciting one to…
This is a viewpoint from Maria Harrison, president of Bullseye Strategy. How travelers really use technology for direct bookings (part one of three) A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Consumer Journey for travelers used to be simpler and more direct. But the contemporary digital…
Tours and activities are a growing part of the travel industry. This growth continues to garner more attention for this segment of the industry, as more technology providers vie for the business of connecting inventory to digital distribution channels, as well as helping tour operators run their businesses more…
Hilton has announced a year-long partnership with London & Partners incubator Traveltech Lab. The tie-up starts this week with the first of two pitch events, with the winners guaranteed “a financial contribution from Hilton to develop their proposition and an opportunity to work with Hilton’s innovation experts to roll…
India’s Verteil Technologies has facilitated what it claims is the “first live NDC transaction from India”. Its NDC-based Verteil Direct Connect platform is live with British Airways, and the ticket was a Chennai-London flight, booked by Magellan Travel. When pressed on the claim that NDC is now live in India,…