Breaking news and insights about online travel booking, online travel agencies, travel startups, venture capital investments, and more essential news about digital travel.
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Jumia is one of a few companies that deserve credit for building nascent online travel businesses in several African markets. But as Google and other tech platforms gain a continent-wide presence, they may use their pervasiveness to play kingmakers in online travel.
21 hours ago
Seth Borko, Skift Research
Sentiment analysis is a burgeoning field that we can use to add a new dimension to the industry-wide conversation about overtourism.
3 days ago
Sean O'Neill and Dennis Schaal, Skift
Expedia will stop being a controlled company after it acquires Liberty, and Barry Diller, chairman of Expedia, will own about 29 percent of the online travel group's voting power. The move makes the company's ownership structure more transparent, which is a good thing.
3 days ago
SheerID + Skift
In our upcoming webinar on Wednesday, May 8th, 1-2 p.m. EDT, we’ll examine the tactics used by leading retail brands to target high-value customer segments and uncover actionable strategies for travel marketers to build a more sustainable e-commerce model.
1 week ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Consumers in the West reach almost reflexively for the Google Maps app as the service becomes a nearly ubiquitous utility despite a dearth of messaging and payments. Whether it evolves into the next superapp may depend on whether users really want a do-everything app and the mood of regulators seeking to break up big tech.
3 days ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
While Western media tends to focus on the funding moves of corporate venture capital arms of regional brands like JetBlue and EasyJet, it’s also important to see how key investment players in Asia, like Shanghai-based Fosun, are investing, such as in Splitty, a hotel booking startup.
3 days ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
The story of software maker Cloudbeds, named the fastest-growing travel and hospitality company in the U.S., points to a broader trend of smaller hotels adopting new tools to manage their properties.
4 days ago
Isaac Carey, Skift
This week in digital news, Traveloka’s new discovery platform marks a huge expansion into the lucrative food market, Flight Centre becomes the largest stakeholder of startup Upside, and TripAdvisor releases a comprehensive platform for searching cruise reviews.
4 days ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Aditi Balbir, founder and CEO of V Resorts, has impressed investors with her take on asset-light hospitality management in India, like an Oyo for resorts. In a distinctive touch, the company uses and markets goods and furnishings made by local crafts workers.
7 days ago
Eric Newcomer, Bloomberg
It doesn’t look good for SoftBank. The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment has immense power under President Trump and has been cracking down on foreign investment. This puts overseas investors in a very uncertain position, which could lead to fewer international business deals.
1 week ago
Lucca de Paoli and Manus Cranny, Bloomberg
Vista is getting bigger, as more and more companies realize it’s way easier to rent a jet rather than own one outright. Now, this most recent acquisition makes booking seats even easier, but who knows if it will catch on with luxury travelers.
1 week ago
Raini Hamdi, Skift
Here's a riddle: If Traveloka sells lifestyle services and AirAsia is not just an airline, what is an online travel agency? The industry will have to coin a new term since everyone is starting to sell more than just flights and hotels. Any suggestions?
1 week ago