2013 Archives

It looks like Southwest's controversially tame advertising campaign will need some major tweaks next year when the airline starts flying internationally.

Yahoo is hungry to buy small companies and absorb in the talent, unlikely the interest is in building out the Milewise brand and service as a standalone. None of the miles/points startups -- AwardWallet, Traxo, UsingMiles, Superfly -- have broken through yet, and Milewise is in the same general category.

TripAdvisor's acquisition of CruiseWise is great news for TripAdvisor subsidiary Cruise Critic, which is a leading cruise news and cruise-information site, but is hampered by an outdated user interface and bulletin-like forum technology. This acqui-hire will enable TripAdvisor to finally modernize Cruise Critic, a project that's probably been on the agenda for years.

A special welcome sign in the window isn’t necessary; hotels and businesses that show respect and serve all clients without bias will see a boost in profits and visitors regardless of where they're located.

Any corporation that jumps into a hot social issue risks alienating customers, but the conversational and personal nature of social media allow brands to take a chance on controversy.

You know that optimism about airlines is higher when they start splashing out on new uniforms and high-quality talent to design them.

The recent staff cuts could be business as usual or a nascent sign of troubled times for the $27 billion worth of projects in production on Saadiyat Island.

Dubai hotel occupancy is among the highest in the world at 88 percent, but few are the full-service apartments that appeal to business travelers, frequent regional visitors, and most importantly, investors.

Big stakes game of hide-and-seek in the local taxi business in New York City, with huge entrenched players on one side with some legit demands, pushing against brash upstarts with dreams of disrupting.

First quarter growth has been inconsistent among U.S. hotel brands with several beating analysts’ expectations, and others like Hyatt citing weak demand as the continued cause of their depressed profits.