2014 Archives

The UK's Office of Fair Trading has made the hotel industry a bit more competitive, but the new rules have their limits. Booking.com and Expedia aren't permitted to advertise discounted rooms to the general public, but will only do so for members of their loyalty programs and other closed groups. Still, it puts hotels at a disadvantage.

The global travel industry is going through a lot of disruption, and the biggest sectors include the sharing economy and ground transportation, as well as one large potential winner in the hotel booking sector.

TripIt is doing the right thing for its users by coming up with a work-around to track the loyalty programs of airlines that don't want to be tracked by third parties. Delta, United, Southwest and American are still playing hardball.

Same-day booking is a trend that's here to stay, especially given its popularity during a season when most travelers try to book ahead for the holidays.

Does HotelTonight really provide incremental bookings without detracting from the hotels' own websites and apps? Several big hotel chains and Barry Sternlicht are now on board and apparently believe so. But, what happens down the road when the humble startup gets too powerful? That's something to consider, as well.

Hotels are starting to cater to guests who are more accustomed to ordering services on apps than in person. The complete hotel experience from check-in to check-out is on track to become more high-tech in coming years.

Although a stretch, GetYourGuide has frequently likened its desire to ramp up and aggregate the most tours and activities it can for each destination to that of Booking.com. Along with the founder of Qunar, GetYourGuide now has a Booking.com veteran, its former CEO, on board to help in the tour and activities company's expansion efforts.

With in-flight connectivity and entertainment such a hot commodity, JetBlue could spin off LiveTV or sell it to monetize an asset for its shareholders.

Simply put, the increased traffic is a healthy sign for both inbound and outbound tourism activity in the U.S.

Some travel suppliers who feel confident that they're engaging with the next generation traveler just because they have social media channels are unaware of the value of custom content to share on those social media channels. And why it's valuable to those travelers.