2013 Archives

eLong is putting its money, specifically $100 million of it, precisely where the company believes its future is, in mobile hotel technology. This initiative has certain parallels with what Concur is doing in using its own, larger investment fund, to encourage the development of travel startups doing interesting things.

Some of these services are certainly more interesting than others, so Virgin will be a leading contender. Its "Red" in-flight entertainment system is impressive, innovative, and even a little racy - the ads that announced it strongly encouraged seat-to-seat flirting through the IFE chat application.

Don't expect American Airlines to exit bankruptcy anytime soon. Emerging from bankruptcy without the merger issue resolved isn't an option.

This strange but successful campaign challenges traditional wisdom about how to promote a tourist destination.

The lawsuit shows in graphic detail that the merger would cripple competition on more than 1,000 domestic routes, and that's a deep challenge to the airlines' contention that there is overlap on merely a dozen routes.

Today marks the beginning of what is expected to be extensive haggling between American, US Airways, and the DOJ. With enough concessions, the airlines still have a shot at completing their merger.

Despite its huge and continuing growth, the travel and tourism industry has a PR problem among Generation Y grads looking for serious business careers. The industry must fix its image quick, since it will be looking to fill millions of new jobs over the next few years.

The merger quickly gained approval from creditors, shareholders, and the EU before encountering this potential game changer. The filing could mean serious trouble for the airlines, especially since the U.S. government approved previous aviation tie-ups.

Officials from American Airlines and US Airways may have blundered big-time when they publicly stated that their respective airlines could indeed operate independently. This deal looked so bad from an anti-competition perspective that even the attorneys general from Texas and Arizona, where AA and US Air are headquartered, respectively, joined the suit.