SkiftX

Two deals in the space of a week show how serious Skyscanner is about improving the content it offers to customers. The days of it being a pure price-comparison site are definitely over.

Ctrip-backed Skyscanner will tap in-destination content from social reviews company Trip.com. But is the acquiring company's true plan to further mobile engagement? Or is it to nab a domain name that may be appeal more to Americans than Ctrip.com -- or Alibaba's Fliggy?

There is still a ton of consolidation to come in tours and activities as smaller consumer and tech companies, in particular, will get bought up or fade into the waiting arms of the usual suspects, which will pick up some of the pieces.

This acqui-hire of Tel Aviv chatbot start-up Evature underlines the intense interest travel companies now have in natural-language search by text or voice -- and for the technical talent that can make the magic happen.

Skyscanner had been sniffing around Brazil's homegrown metasearch leader Mundi and checking its books. Kayak appears to have swooped in to shore up market share.

In a short period, the number of companies at the top of the business-to-business travel market has shrunk dramatically. The deal continues Webjet's transition from a regionally focused consumer travel company to a global travel business; other acquisitions will follow.

Wyndham's version of a great American idea? Buying AmericInn. (Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves.)

Is affordable luxury an oxymoron? Do luxury products risk diluting their images by brand extensions? We speak with a global branding expert about the underpinnings of luxury brands.

Etraveli was sold for more than twice what it fetched just a year and a half ago. That's an impressive trajectory — and it looks like all parties are invested in continuing that kind of growth.

TrustYou's hotel clients have remained relatively modest in scale as the company has grown. Perhaps it will be able to attract bigger brands, and more companies based in Asia, with a more robust global presence.