Sean O'Neill

MakeMyTrip continues to drive more online hotel bookings in India, despite protests by some hotel owner groups about its allegedly excessive commissions. The company must tread carefully as it tries to woo online customers with discounts while maintaining good relationships with its partners.

The old idea of payments in monthly installments is seeing new life in the U.S. online travel sector. Uplift is one of the leading tech vendors powering loans to travelers for buying from airlines such as Spirit and search sites like Kayak. Expect a lot of marketing around this in 2019.

The hotel tech group that Jonas Hospitality has put together through acquisitions of Leonardo, MSI, Springer-Miller, and BookAssist is admittedly small. But its creation says a lot about the pressures to consolidate in hotel tech. Experts debate the pros and cons of such roll-ups.

Outdoorsy, an outdoor recreational vehicle marketplace, has raised $50 million in Series C funding. Plus, more travel startup funding news this week from esports brand ReKTGlobal, social trip-tracking company Polarsteps, and South Africa-based public transport data and technology startup WhereIsMyTransport.

This week travel startups announced funding for event management tech (RainFocus and B Network), luggage with power ports (Horizn Studios), short-term rental booking in Vietnam (Luxstay), and travel rewards tools for financial companies (Upgrade Pack).

This tuck-in deal is minuscule, but it underscores Yatra's drive to maintain its position as India's largest online provider of travel booking tools for corporations. Yatra has the potential to build an "Egencia for India" over the course of five or 10 years.

Google's voice-powered assistant now lets you check in for United flights. Nice. The tech giant is also working with Hyatt and other hotels on testing a translation device at front desks. The early word is that the translations need to improve.

Surprising factors have delayed the coronation of MakeMyTrip Group as India's queen of domestic online travel. Paytm came out of nowhere to grab share, Oyo upended budget hotel distribution, Ixigo tried to make price comparison chic, and Booking.com outmaneuvered Expedia for premium hotel bookings. From this scrappy mix, online travel will find new lessons.

Nezasa, a provider of booking tools for travel agents, and Halan, an Egyptian ride-hailing service for tuk-tuks and motorcycles, have recently received funding.

Lately the improbable keeps happening. Exhibit A: Donald Trump. So we've ventured some bold forecasts on everything from cruise ship dining to the acquisition plans of Airbnb, Oyo, Microsoft, and Sabre. Chances are these things won't happen, but our editors thought this mental exercise may help prep readers to expect a surprising 2019.