Online Travel

Breaking news and insights about online travel booking, online travel agencies, travel startups, venture capital investments, and more essential news about digital travel.

Online Travel

Grab and Western Superapp Confusion

Grab emerged as a leading superapp because of conditions specific to Southeast Asia. Don't look for U.S. and European copycats to get traction.

Dennis Schaal | 21 hours ago

Online Travel

Russia’s Aviasales to Debut Subscription Plan for Cashback on Hotels

The subscription experiment in travel is gaining momentum. Will company's ultimately make money on what in some cases are very low annual subscription prices? That's the plan.

Dennis Schaal | 2 days ago

Online Travel

Trivago and China’s Huawei Partner for Smartphone Company’s Paid Search

The Trivago-Huawei deal is one of several Trivago is piloting where it provides backend services to business partners. These could develop one day into a material revenue stream for the German company.

Dennis Schaal | 2 days ago

Online Travel

Full Video: Tripadvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer at Skift Global Forum 2021

Many observers will be watching the trajectory of Tripadvisor Plus in 2022. In the video, Tripadvisor's Steve Kaufer details his thinking behind the strategy changes.

Skift | 3 days ago

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Online Travel

2021 Holiday Trend: Giving the Gift of Travel

With the holiday season fast approaching, research shows that people are more excited than ever to give the gift of travel. By taking advantage of this trend, brands have an unprecedented opportunity to surprise and delight their customers in a unique way while giving their businesses a much-needed boost going into 2022.

Facebook + Skift | 2 weeks ago

Online Travel

Booking.com Tests Native Ads for Hotels in Destination Searches

All of the online players, from Google and Facebook to Expedia and Tripadvisor, want greater chunks of hotels' advertising budgets. This is Booking.com's latest entry, and it's a bid to play catch-up.

Dennis Schaal | 7 days ago

Online Travel

Full Video: Trivago CEO Axel Hefer at Skift Global Forum 2021

How does a well-known European travel brand, Trivago, get more engagement with customers? Just make a sponsorship deal with Chelsea of the Premier League. The cost might be top-notch, as well.

Skift | 1 week ago

Online Travel

Full Video: Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel at Skift Global Forum 2021

Booking CEO Glenn Fogel's "connected trip" strategy has drawn critics, but he did make a compelling case for the need for it, and just how broken the travel experience still really is.

Skift | 1 week ago

Online Travel

Does Google Hijack Travelers in Gmail?

Google's Gmail itinerary feature can be helpful to travelers — up to a point. But Google's execution of it is deceptive, and a disservice to its travel partners.

Dennis Schaal | 1 week ago

Online Travel

Full Video: Expedia CEO Peter Kern at Skift Global Forum 2021

Look for Expedia's vacation rental unit, Vrbo, to keep gaining market share in geographies where it is already strong. But the brand hasn't always been nimble, and it may be missing out opportunities.

Skift | 2 weeks ago

Online Travel

Will User Reviews Impact Sonder’s and Vacasa’s Debuts as Public Companies?

Both Sonder and Vacasa need to clean up customer service issues, but they are probably not so acute as to give investors much pause.

Dennis Schaal | 2 weeks ago

Online Travel

Hopper Notches First Fintech Deal With Online Travel Agency

This deal with MakeMyTrip is likely to be the first among several tech agreements that Hopper will make with rival online travel agencies. This potentially could become a big side of Hopper's overall operation.

Dennis Schaal | 2 weeks ago