Sean O'Neill

Melbourne, Australia-based luggage maker July was one of several travel startups that announced collectively more than $21 million in funding this week.

The online juggernaut isn't satisfied with dominating urban markets. Airbnb wants to take the beaches and the mountains, too, in the battle for short-term rental bookings. So the company is becoming savvier in how it approaches local property managers.

Sabre's acquisition of Radixx is yet another sign that the travel technology giant is shoring up its competitive position vis-à-vis its rival Amadeus in the lucrative market for selling airlines operational technology.

If you believe internet ratings, you’d think everything sold online is above average. Booking.com appears to be trying to combat that problem in the short-term rentals sector by rolling out a rating system. The company risks upsetting some property managers by acting as self-appointed judge and jury of unit quality. But some travelers may like the additional context.

Airbnb has nothing to worry about. Marriott is mainly interested in using rentals as a tool to build brand loyalty. So the Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel giant won't threaten the established players in short-term rental booking.

By investing in bus booking company Buser, SoftBank continues to add travel-related startups to its portfolio of investments, despite reports of trouble due to its investments in WeWork and Uber that have not met its expectations. Plus, we have this week's news of funding for the startups Jiudianbang, Lyte, Situm, and Skyroam.

Many airline executives insist that their so-called New Distribution Capability, or new method of sharing data for selling tickets, will hit a major target next year. But industry insiders say the target will be missed. To cope in the meantime, several airlines will expand the marketing for bundled fares under a confusing array of brand names.

Hotel tech innovation has been partly hampered by high tolls that property management systems charge for accessing critical data. Impala, Hapi, and other companies hope to bring that connectivity cost down, which could be a windfall for vendors.

The U.S. is enjoying a tight labor market. But not every company is thriving. Data exclusively compiled by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reveals the most notable job cutbacks in 2019 by companies in the hotel, attractions, airline, and airport sectors.

This week, the startups Aero, TravelBank, Impala, Quicko, and Fyle together announced more than $45 million in funding.