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Expedia, Priceline Founders Say Voice-Based Search Is the Next Frontier in Travel

It's hard to disagree with the fact that travel planning and booking are set for a social revolution. But how long will it be until voice-controlled interfaces hit the mainstream?

5 hours ago

Expedia CEO Says Rumors of an Online Booking War Are Exaggerated

Always a cool character, Dara Khosrowshahi is steering a basically steady ship as online travel competitors become more disruptive.

5 hours ago

Marriott Has Its Sights on Expedia and Priceline Now That Starwood Buy Is Complete

The combination of loyalty and direct booking to battle the OTAs is the greatest power hotels have right now. But in the long-haul, should this be the most important battle for hotels to be fighting?

3 days ago

Trivago IPO Gets the Attention But HomeAway Could Be a Bigger Expedia Profit Generator

Vacation rentals and guest-booking fees aren't particularly sexy or headline-grabbing but 11-year-old HomeAway could have a far-reaching impact on parent Expedia's profit numbers. Trivago is a very nice plaything, too.

1 week ago

Hotel Urbano Founders Regain Control, Buy Back Shares of Priceline and Other Investors

They're back. The Brazilian economy and Hotel Urbano have both suffered a very rough stretch. Co-founders Joao Ricardo Mendes and Jose Eduardo Mendes have reasserted themselves in leading the company, but haven't publicly articulated in detail how they will navigate their way out of the online travel agency's current predicament. It will definitely be tough going.

2 weeks ago

Expedia Picks 6 Banks for Trivago’s Impending IPO

Judging by the smallish (OK, not) banks already lined up, Expedia's hoped-for Trivago IPO clearly has momentum. Whether the companies can make the IPO happen before the end of 2016, which was the announced goal, remains to be seen and will depend on market conditions.

2 weeks ago

Flights to Cuba Still Missing From U.S. Booking Sites’ Travel Options

The writer is wrong to posit that the lack of airline commissions is a factor holding back online travel agencies from offering flights to Cuba. Expedia, Priceline, Google and TripAdvisor would love to be in the forefront of bringing Cuban travel to Americans for the first time in five decades but the online travel agencies must first deal the legal and regulatory complexities.

2 weeks ago

Concur Buys Hipmunk to Bring Consumer Tools to Its Business Travelers

Six years after brashly boasting about how it would disrupt travel search, Hipmunk, which had to compete against larger players with more ample war chests, is exiting into the business travel portfolio of Concur. Hipmunk's turn toward business travel may make it more of a business-to-business play than its current consumer incarnation. As Concur's TripIt example shows, it remains to be seen how innovative Hipmunk can be given larger corporate priorities within SAP/Concur.

2 weeks ago

The Future of Travel Metasearch — Digital Marketing News This Week

With the threat of direct booking, the constant spending by traditional online travel agencies, and the move to mobile, metasearch has been forced to rethink its role in the booking funnel.

3 weeks ago

Priceline Kills Name Your Own Price for Flights

Priceline.com downplayed Name Your Own Price four years ago as big thumbs and small screens on mobile phones made the relatively cumbersome bidding process anachronistic. Flight-bidding is gone. The services remains for hotels and car rentals but their days are probably numbered too.

4 weeks ago

Trivago IPO Could Reach $1 Billion as Expedia Begins Selecting Banks

Trivago would likely be a hot IPO given its hyper growth and the potential further expansion of online travel around the world. However, investors will question whether the huge amount of money Trivago pours into sales and marketing is an overreach.

4 weeks ago

Chinese Online Booking Giant Ctrip Readies Itself for Global Expansion

Like Chinese travelers, Ctrip is breaking out of its domestic shell and looking to become much more of an international player. There is vast potential for Ctrip still to take advantage of in China and then there is a whole wide world out there too as it begins to service customers outside of China. But can the company tackle both ambitions simultaneously? Ctrip has great partners -- 16,000 of them, actually -- to assist but the partners may also turn out to be formidable competitors, as well.

4 weeks ago

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