Dennis Schaal

The UAE and Israel clearly aren't chummy, but Etihad appears to have a fairly open policy about transporting Israeli passport-holders.

To borrow an immortal line ... There is no joy in Mudville -- mighty Travelocity has struck out.

Tours and activities are indeed a huge potential market, but it is highly fragmented and still mostly offline. There is a substantial upside when the market catches up with the mobile revolution.

This sounds like it was a very nice exit for Glad To Have You, an app that debuted in 2012. And the acquisition helps HomeAway provide a nice mobile service for owners and property managers.

Expedia is going to ride Trivago until the last bull has left the arena, and it is putting a lot of digital marketing money behind its prize, particularly in Eastern Europe.

Lastminute.com will remain the last man standing of what was once Travelocity -- but only until Sabre can find a buyer in a fire sale because keeping it makes no sense at this juncture.

Top10.com fits into the travel industry curation trend as its recommendations are geared to help people looking for a room combat information overload. It's a crowded space, though, with an over-abundance of hotel search and booking sites to compete with.

Despegar's statement doesn't say it will begin paying local taxes in Argentina -- or how much -- but its actions give Latin America's largest travel agency some breathing room to work out a settlement.

Well, you know what they say. Regardless what the activity is, there's an app for that. And, now there is. Hourly room rentals via a mobile app. We know HotelTonight is poised to broaden its offerings a bit, but we doubt the company will try to mimic Breather on this one.

With norovirus outbreaks hitting the cruise industry relatively hard in the beginning of 2014, Costa Cruises, still in recovery mode from the Costa Concordia crash, didn't need a suspected measles outbreak among crew on one of its ships. Neither did the passengers who, according to reports, have so far not come down with the virus.