Sean O'Neill

Falling victim to the so-called law of large numbers, Booking Holdings saw its total revenues for the first quarter drop 3 percent from the prior year. Industry ears perked up when CEO Glenn Fogel mentioned mergers and acquisitions as a possible tactic to reignite growth a few times during an investor conference call.

Texas-based Sabre can no longer take for granted its home market of North America as Amadeus attempts to make inroads on the continent.

TripAdvisor's key tactics to grow its tours and activities business include the discounting of some products for consumers, practically giving away a reservation system to operators, and rolling out a brand marketing campaign this year. The company talks like it's in it to win it.

TripAdvisor's greater transparency in its financial reporting is to be applauded, showing its investment in growing units. But the stuttering of its legacy businesses is notable, too.

SeaWorld's challenges have not gone away. But it enjoys several advantages over its theme park rivals, such as having marine-themed parks, which are a rare and distinctive product. Its new CEO is rightly focused on investing for growth while finding operational efficiencies.

Masabi enables cities, such as Denver and Sydney, to sell tickets on public transit via the mobile apps of travel companies like Uber. Meanwhile, Elenium disrupts airport self check-in, Pana pivots into corporate travel, and Sweetguest surfs the growth in management services for vacation rentals.

Peter Fankhauser needs to act speedily to bolster Thomas Cook Group's resilience in the face of tumult in the packaged holiday segment. But the CEO is persuasive in arguing that he has a winning plan that's begun to show results.

Turns out it's through its cloud-based services that Amazon is embedding itself in the travel and restaurants sectors. The company’s recent hiring hints at the scope of the opportunity.

InterContinental Hotels Group aims to use its new reservations system from Amadeus to set and shift rates based on customer preferences and spending habits. But the move will eventually force the company to throw away its rulebook on how to maximize revenue.

It makes sense that Ctrip, the market leader in China, would be interested in strategically working more closely with MakeMyTrip in the fast-growing Indian market. In a new deal, it now has five of the 10 board seats at India's largest online travel agency group.