Travel Technology, Online Travel, and Travel Startup News by Skift

Expedia’s Barry Diller Calls on Google to Be Regulated

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Diller is one of the godfathers of online travel and Expedia is probably among the top two travel advertisers in Google. Whether his comments will lead to lobbying or business practice changes, is today's multibillion dollar question.

4 hours ago

How Alibaba-Backed Shiji Is Expanding Its Tech Sales to Hotels Outside of China

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Beijing-based Shiji serves more than 47,000 hotels outside of China. This is the first time it has spoken candidly with independent English-language media about its acquisition strategy. This year its subsidiaries have won deals with MGM Resorts, Radisson, and other major brands. Reading between the lines, it has big plans in the works.

20 hours ago

TripAdvisor Plays Meta on Meta Marketing Game With Google

Dennis Schaal, Skift

TripAdvisor still isn't crazy about Google emphasizing its own travel businesses ahead of those of competitors. Still, in the wacky world of online travel marketing, metas will advertise in other metas when the financials work in their favor. User experience? It isn't always the best.

20 hours ago

Expedia CEO: Mergers and Acquisitions Are Always on the Table

Dennis Schaal, Skift

An Expedia acquisition of Thomas Cook? While problematic on many fronts, including buying all of those offline agents, it isn't out of the question. Consider that Expedia would gain access to a customer base in Europe that it hardly touches. Expedia's Barry Diller has made a ton of acquisitions. He and Okerstrom are hardly done yet.

21 hours ago

Expedia’s Voice Bookings and 7 Other Digital Trends This Week

Sarah Enelow-Snyder, Skift

This week in digital news, Expedia expands its voice-based offerings, and don't miss the on-stage videos from Skift Global Forum, featuring executives from Booking Holdings, TripAdvisor, Google, and more.

2 days ago

Ctrip Will Show Frequent Flyer Earnings With Searches

Grant Martin, Skift

Supplemental flight data like Wi-Fi availability and seat pitch is slowly coming to online search. Ctrip's entry may accelerate that.

5 days ago

Stay Alfred Raises $47 Million for Serviced Rentals: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Combined with earlier deals, Stay Alfred shows that a convergence in hospitality is upon us.

5 days ago

Skift Webinar: Winning Strategies to Reach Today’s Omnichannel Traveler

Epsilon and Conversant + Skift

Our upcoming webinar on November 7, 1-2pm EST examines the winning strategies travel brands can use to succeed in this new era of omnichannel marketing and deliver personalized experiences to consumers in an environment where consistency, relevancy, and privacy are more important than ever before.

6 days ago

Mastercard Adds New Hotel Benefits for Elite Cardholders

Grant Martin, Skift

Mastercard is launching new best rate and service guarantees, which should help woo some travel-focused customers away from American Express.

6 days ago

The Roadblocks Airbnb Must Tackle on Its Way to Possible IPO: Skift’s Latest Research

Rebecca Stone, Skift Research

What is hurting Airbnb’s ability to see true success? Increasing regulation, the company’s potential impact on local housing markets and the traditional hotel sector, and the company’s increasing role in hospitality and accommodation distribution. In this report, we attack all three.

1 week ago

Expedia Brings Voice Bookings, Cancellations and Rewards to Google Assistant

Dennis Schaal, Skift

Voice-based search will not only have technology issues to overcome, but in an era when news of data breaches is commonplace, companies such as Expedia will have to address the personalization and privacy issues as well.

1 week ago

Free eBook: How Travel Marketers Drive Video Engagement Across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram

Pixability + Skift

Pixability’s new eBook digs into how travel brands are using video across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, what travel brands have seen success with video, and the video strategies that are most effective for each platform.

1 week ago