Breaking news and insights about online travel booking, online travel agencies, travel startups, venture capital investments, and more essential news about digital travel.
Tom Lowry, Skift
This week in digital news, we looked at how Avis is stretching beyond the traditional rental car business to offer new digital services, while TripAdvisor began mulling a loyalty strategy to take on giant Google. And we also looked at Eventbrite's struggles as a public company and what that means for the event tech sector.
15 hours ago
Andrew Collins, Jing Travel
WeChat may have eclipsed Chinese social media platform Weibo in recent past, but it can still serve as a key marketing tool for travel brands and destinations that want to attract coveted Chinese outbound tourists.
2 days ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Investors have bet on some innovative business models. AirPortr has hand-delivered about 100,000 bags from homes to airports, lifting a worry off the hands of Londoners as they pass through airport security. PaulCamper is an Airbnb for RVs. Meanwhile, SleepBox converts spare hotel rooms into video game halls and other social zones for college students.
3 days ago
Salesforce + Skift
Higher customer service expectations in the airline industry mandates a new approach to using innovative technology. This means not only deploying solutions to improve direct-to-customer experiences but also empowering employees to provide exceptional service at every touchpoint.
6 days ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
It's no surprise to see Skyscanner absorb the last bits of the user-generated reviews brand formerly known as Gogobot. But the price-comparison search company's bet on soliciting reviews from its own customers remains intriguing. The move highlights its ambition to become a superapp for travel.
6 days ago
Tom Lowry, Skift
This week in digital news, Red Roof launched a new best-rate guarantee program that provides a strong incentive to anyone who finds a cheaper room rate through a third-party site, and we look at what's behind all of Shiji's hotel tech acquisitions.
1 week ago
Iain Shaw, Jing Travel
Travel brands and destinations take note: Offering digital mobile payment methods is an effective way to appeal to Chinese outbound travelers, who are adopting apps like Alipay and WePay in ever growing numbers.
1 week ago
John Lauerman and Lisa Pham, Bloomberg
A drop in the value of the British pound relative to the euro and the dollar is pressuring On the Beach. Smaller players like this UK-based packaged-vacation seller can't afford the currency hedges and other benefits of scale that larger players can. More industry consolidation is likely as a result.
1 week ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
This week travel startups announced more than $40 million in funding. Notably two of the companies, travel medical insurance seller SafetyWing and upselling tech firm HotelFlex, are graduates of the famed Y Combinator startup accelerator.
1 week ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Some religions take it on faith that their messiah will come, but they stoically accept that the arrival has been delayed indefinitely. Similarly, Despegar believes that the online travel revolution will sweep Latin America, but it accepts that the glorious moment has been delayed indefinitely. Consumer financing is its secret sauce to sustain itself while it waits.
2 weeks ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
A new loyalty program and a brand campaign to bolster direct traffic and user engagement are among the measures TripAdvisor is working on to counter the fact that Google is getting more stingy in providing free traffic. But TripAdvisor is also hoping — and anticipating — that U.S. regulators will step in.
2 weeks ago
Patrick Whyte, Skift
On the back of an impressive set of first-half results, Lastminute.com is casting the net further afield in the search for new acquisitions. Buying up companies in other parts of the world doesn't always work out, so executives will have to choose wisely.
2 weeks ago