Expedia Gives GetYourGuide Big Lift and 9 Other Travel Stories This Week

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including on the impact of coronavirus. Every weekend we will offer you a chance to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier.

Expedia Partners With GetYourGuide on Tours and Activities in a Blow to Viator GetYourGuide, which has been trying to break into the U.S., scored a major partnership by securing a deal with Expedia.

Europe’s Hotels Will Wait Until at Least 2025 for Full Return of International Business Be wary of everybody’s favorite word at the moment: pent-up demand. Your typical leisure traveler can book a trip and pack their bag in minutes, but companies will keep employees on a tight leash for years to come.

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What Accor’s Top Technology Executive Has to Say May Surprise You In his first interview since becoming Accor’s chief technology officer, Floor Bleeker explains the hotel giant’s contrarian tech strategy. Expect top tech players and Accor’s rivals to take notice.

Hopper Partners With Spirit Airlines to Help It Sell More Extras A significant ancillary play from the Canadian online travel agency, but not quite the leap forward for so-called new distribution capability in the U.S. many would want to see, given Spirit’s reach and target flyers.

Google’s Ticketing for Attractions Off to Rough Start Google’s attractions ticket beta has been among its least elegant in travel to date. This has angered many tour operators because it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time.

Retirement of Best Western’s Longtime Chief David Kong Sets Stage for Competitive CEO Search David Kong took Best Western into a new era of multiple brands across a variety of price points. The next CEO has to take the reins and throttle the company out of an uncertain pandemic recovery.

These 4 Airlines Made More From Upsells Than Ticket Sales in 2020 In an industry record, four budget airlines generated more revenue from ancillaries than they did from ticket sales in 2020. More importantly, ancillary revenue grew across all of the largest airlines last year despite the crisis.

The New Role and Structure of High Performing Tourism Boards, Post-Covid When DMOs are performing consistently at the optimal level it adds a significant amount that no one other body is able to provide. A great overview and recommendations on what should be done in post-covid era.

CheapOair Is Now Enrolling Flyers in AA Advantage American Airlines gave CheapOair a vote of confidence in permitting the online travel agency to enroll AA Advantage members. Look for more online travel agencies to establish these types of deals.

Travel Investor Certares Places $354 Million Bet on Aviation Service Firm Avia Solutions Group No niche purchase this time round, but a more rounded investment in a wide-ranging aerospace business group. Find out more when Certares founder Greg O’Hara speaks at Skift Global Forum in New York next week.

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