Sean O'Neill

Can you really grow a unicorn in a lab? In other words, can companies like Air France-KLM read all of the innovation advice books in airport bookshops and methodically create the next Airbnb? We're skeptical. But the travel industry could use much more innovation.

It's anyone's guess whether travel distribution giants Amadeus and Sabre might have run afoul of the European Union's rules. But a look at the history of those companies' airline contracts provides clues as to what might be top of mind with investigators.

Tiqets tackled the hard problem of helping many museums that lacked tech savvy to adopt modern sales techniques. Now it's seeing a payoff. In other news, events tech company Headbox and online travel agency Sastaticket raised money.

Sabre allegedly tried to kill smaller rival Farelogix years ago. But now there's peace in the valley. Farelogix's merchandising and direct connection technology will plug a gap in Sabre's offering and could accelerate the travel tech giant's growth.

Vacasa's interest in partnering with property developers to put more short-term rentals in multi-family communities is part of a broader trend toward greater professionalization of the market. But not all of the players entering the market may avoid being bruised in an eventual economic recession.

Lufthansa Group has responded to digital disruption by creating a company within a company, Yilu. The group's low-cost carrier Eurowings has already begun using the subsidiary's tools for cross-selling taxi rides.

Travel startups are receiving remarkable investor interest this year, suggesting a bit of irrational exuberance. But in Sojern's case, fundraising can be seen as recognition of a company that's taken years to build consistent, profitable growth. Its tools could be scaled up to address a multi-billion-dollar market.

The conventional wisdom has been that the online travel market in Latin America will narrow down to a fight between Expedia-supported Despegar and global brands like Booking.com. But Almundo, thanks to backing from Iberostar, might put up a meaningful fight.

Rail operator SNCF also announced that it is has led a $113 million investment in BlaBlaCar as a new investor. Perhaps carpooling could prove to be a path to building a major travel brand.

PredictHQ, which helps travel companies like Booking.com and Qantas anticipate surges in demand, was joined by other startups in announcing investments this week, including Hotelmize, Journy, KKday, and Smartvel.