Switchfly + Skift
Nearly every travel brand knows that direct bookings offer a powerful opportunity to take control of their relationship with customers. But knowing how to make it happen can be challenging. The emerging set of best practices below offers a road map to move from idea to action.
13 mins ago
Raini Hamdi, Skift
Grab’s partnership with Indonesia’s tourism ministry, the first of its kind between a national tourism body and a ridehailing platform, reveals one of the initial ways it is trying to become Southeast Asia’s super app for a plethora of travel services.
4 weeks ago
Deanna Ting, Skift
If Airbnb is indeed seeing a slowdown of its business in more mature markets like Europe and the U.S., that's all the more reason for the company to double down on its efforts in emerging markets like China, and to work on adding more professional inventory, ahem, hotels.
1 month ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
If travelers aren't ready to book, feed them some inspiration and hope they'll hang around until they are. That is essentially what TripAdvisor's new travel feed is all about. Will the grand experiment work? We'll have to wait and see how the feature evolves.
1 month ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
When it comes to Google and its hotels redesign, few things are all or nothing. TripAdvisor can worry that Google now has more traveler photos and reviews, but some of them are from TripAdvisor. Hotel websites and phone numbers get featured, but clicking on a book button brings customers to an online travel agency site. In travel, it's never winner take all.
2 months ago
Meghan Carty, Skift Research
The India outbound travel market is poised to boom in a matter of years. The global travel industry needs to make itself aware of this market and why it matters now, so they’re not scrambling to catch up later.
4 months ago
Gerrit De Vynck, Bloomberg
HomeAway, like Airbnb, has started courting hotels to list their rooms on its platform, but is it too little, too late at this point? Will success in homesharing equate to having the most listings, or is it going to be something even bigger than that?
4 months ago
Seth Borko, Skift Research
Many online travel agencies are no longer specialists in one product, instead aiming to become one-stop shops. The platform that a booking site can offer is a key part of its competitive moat and the contours of supply at Booking Holding and Expedia vary widely from each other.
4 months ago
Meghan Carty, Skift Research
Chinese outbound travel continues to boom and shows high potential for future growth. Travel brands and destinations need to understand the evolving behaviors and preferences of Chinese travelers in order to most effectively appeal to this market.
7 months ago
Gerrit De Vynck, Bloomberg
Booking.com CEO Gillian Tans says she welcomes stricter regulations on homesharing, but we have to wonder: What are Booking.com or its peers doing currently to ensure that their home listings are actually in compliance with local laws?
8 months ago
Seth Borko, Skift Research
Large travel corporations can't seem to get enough of the tours and activities space. It's one to watch as the year unfolds. Deals can be a great way to get a foot in the door, but don't forget to make sure there is a strategic fit — and, of course, that the price is right.
8 months ago
Souhail Karam, Bloomberg
It's no surprise that Morocco, which has a huge tourism industry, is looking to crack down on Airbnb and Booking.com. This is the new normal around the world as the so-called sharing economy changes the way people travel — and longstanding travel companies suffer.
8 months ago