2015 Archives

The latest revenue numbers from Airbnb explain why Expedia is acquiring HomeAway, the Priceline Group is touting its 21 million bookable rooms, and Wall Street analysts are questioning hotel-chain CEOs on the prospect of selling hotel rooms through Airbnb.

HomeAway, as it becomes part of Expedia Inc., will become more urban-oriented, and Airbnb is determined to onboard vacation rentals in resort locations. All of which means that Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com will increasingly butt heads over the next few years.

This isn’t about the industry’s largest seat-back screens or more content than you can consume on 100 trips around the world. It’s about personalization. Giving passengers what they value most is the new brand loyalty builder. The key for airlines, which serve global markets, is to understand that what passengers value most differs by region, by demographic, and from individual to individual. Airlines either get that, or passengers will deplane and never come back again.

Detour has redesigned the audio walking tour for the mobile generation, and the user experience is almost flawless. But there's still a lot of work to do to convince travelers that audio tours are relevant in this day and age, and a long way to go until the economics make any sense.

Luxury travel is undergoing a transformation from traditional to experimental, as brands try to appeal to a new generation of wealthy vacationers.

Boxever put 15 airline executives in a room to tackle the challenges facing the industry.

The Schengen Area in Europe has led to reduced security at national borders, due to de-centralized border controls. The Visa Waiver Program in the U.S. is completely different-- and already leads foreign countries to increase their border security to meet America's high standards.

These are the tourism trends we were talking about this week.

These are the aviation travel trends we were talking about this week.

These are the digital travel trends we were talking about this week.