Priceline’s Global Ambitions and 10 Other Digital Trends This Week

Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines digital trends.

For all of our weekend roundups, go here.

>>If you follow the money, you’ll see that Booking.com, for good reason, is the parent company’s favored brand even in the United States. Priceline, though, does have brand recognition and will try to make the most of it given the hand that it has been dealt: Newly Rebranded Priceline Has Global Ambitions

>>Who remembers Star Trek anyway? It’s likely that just as many people or more know actor William Shatner through his Priceline advertising gig. Are big-name celebrities better in commercials than owls, gnomes, and belt-less soap opera stars? We’re not sure of his return on investment, but at this point he can almost name his own price: William Shatner’s Travel Evolution as Priceline Pitchman

>>CEO Gordon Wilson of Travelport says his technology company is making it easier for airlines to display on travel agency “shelves” their content in the way they want. If true, that could significantly help airlines maximize their revenue: Skift Tech Forum Preview: Travelport’s CEO on a New Era for Airline Merchandising

>>You could be a winner! Enter our Skift Tech Forum contest for the chance to win two free tickets to the inaugural event in Silicon Valley on June 12: Enter for the Chance to Win 2 Free Tickets to Skift Tech Forum

>>Get prepared for Skift Tech Forum. Next month in California, you’ll meet chief commercial officers, digital, and e-commerce heads of travel’s biggest consumer brands: Check Out Our Finalized Editorial Program for Skift Tech Forum

>>Agoda’s new CEO John Brown will be leading the company to increasingly push into Europe and the Americas, beyond its traditional online travel agency turf of Asia Pacific. The early numbers show that parent company Booking Holdings is putting its money where its mouth is: Agoda Names New CEO as It Aims to Go Global

>>Poor Gogo. Its stock is getting pummeled in public markets, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope among investors. How will the company respond? Investors Are Giving Up on Gogo Even as Airlines Add Wi-Fi

>>Despegar will need to become even more of a force in Latin America if it hopes to tempt major shareholder Expedia Group into acquiring it: Despegar Attempts to Expand Further Beyond Flights

>>On the Beach’s careful approach to expansion shows just how difficult it can be to grow in foreign source markets. Europe isn’t one big country and if you don’t make acquisitions, expansion can be a tedious process. But one of those acquisitions might just be the one that pays off in the long term: On the Beach Discovers the Complexities of International Expansion

>>Cruise lines better hope that Dreamlines and other online booking tools for cruise travel don’t interfere too much with their long-standing business models: Cruise Agency Dreamlines Raises $55 Million: Travel Startup Funding This Week

>>Care to buy a plane ticket without needing a credit card? Soon a few airlines will test enabling air travelers to pay for their tickets by taking payments directly from consumer accounts. Three cheers for testing innovations: Airlines to Test Consumer Payments That Bypass Credit Cards for Direct Sales