Top Stories
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Naspers may buy India’s RedBus booking service for $140 million
DigitalNaspers, the South African media and internet conglomerate which has a global portfolio of digital acquisitions, is now close to another one: it is buying India’s biggest bus booking service RedBus.in, for a reported price of between $100 million to $140 million, according to two reports in Economic Times and NextBigWhat. The talks are still in advanced [...]
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Travelocity wins hotel-price fixing lawsuit skirmish
DigitalA federal judge in Dallas ruled that plaintiffs suing Travelocity over allegations that it engaged in price-fixing with hotels would have to take their claims to arbitration in Tarrant County, Texas, where the online travel agency is headquartered. U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle ruled June 15 that the provisions of Travelocity’s user agreement of February [...]
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Meetings and conventions bookings sluggish compared with trips for vacations
DigitalWith the economy on the rebound, Americans once again are cracking open their pocketbooks to take family vacations and other leisure trips. But corporate managers in charge of spending for business conferences and conventions remain tightfisted with their money.
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TripAdvisor promotes Jetsetter and kills its SniqueAway flash-sales brand
DigitalLess than three months after acquiring Jetsetter, TripAdvisor is phasing out its home-grown private-sales brand, SniqueAway, Skift has learned. When TripAdvisor acquired Jetsetter in April, the spin was that the two brands, Jetsetter and SniqueAway would co-exist, but sales director Kathleen Hanefeld has emailed hotel partners, informing them that “as of June 28, SniqueAway.com will [...]
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Hotel searches for Brazil spike up to 126 percent ahead of World Cup
DigitalBooking inquiries for hotels have more than doubled in some Brazillian cities this year, as interest in the country gathers pace ahead of the World Cup. Figures from the hotel comparison website Hotels.com suggested that searches for accommodation in Salvador have more than doubled in the first half of 2013, increasing by 126 per cent [...]
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Hotel booking site says Turkey hotel searches have plummeted
DestinationsOngoing protests in Turkey have seen a sharp fall in inquiries for hotel rooms from holidaymakers. Hotel searches for Istanbul have decreased by 99 per cent between May 28 and today, according to the hotel comparison website Trivago. Searches for Ankara, where protests have also taken place, have dropped by 86 per cent over the [...]
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Five travel startups walk the line between imitation and inspiration
DigitalAlthough there is undoubtedly much innovation still to be seen in the travel sector, an overwhelming proportion of startups are more focused on booking tools and photo sharing apps than creating an entirely new market. There is always room for improvement when it comes to the former platforms, but often real success, or at least [...]
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Asia’s booming tourism market attracts a new generation of travel startups
DestinationsWith 52 primary languages, over 1,000 dialects, and 27 currencies, Asia is a potpourri of different cultures, races, and economic environments. While many entrepreneurs find the diversity daunting, online travel startups thrive on it. Such cultural vibrance positions Asia as an attractive destination for travelers of all stripes, seeking anything from conventional resort stays to [...]
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Confusion about taxes from online hotel bookings continue as Ohio bill stalls
DigitalA proposal to tax the booking markups of online travel companies, including Expedia and Travelocity, stalled at the Ohio Statehouse this week in a blow to bricks-and-mortar hotels. A version of Ohio’s $61.7 billion, two-year budget that cleared the Senate last week eliminated a House-passed measure that called for applying the state lodging tax on [...]
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Data collection is biggest challenge facing European booking website GoEuro
DigitalTwo startups in Berlin are hoping to change that. Late last month, GoEuro launched an early version of its travel booking website, where users can search and compare rates across different modes of transportation — plane, train, bus, and car — at a single glance. For now, the site is only optimized for travel within Germany and [...]
