Articles tagged “ceos”

During the decade he ran Virgin America, David Cush couldn't always speak freely. But now Cush can discuss how airlines struggle with Google's mobile land grab.

Rectifying the difficulties in shopping for hotels online is a tremendously complex problem given travelers' fickle nature -- a business trip today, a romantic escapade tomorrow -- and varying quality levels from property to property even within a given brand. Trivago at least recognizes what one of the main problems is in matching a traveler's hotel preferences with the right hotel and hopes to address it with a heftier bank account after conducting its IPO.

Ten quotes on China that were said this year by ten CEOs who are some of travel's biggest decision makers and game changers dictating what direction the industry will take in this market of one billion-plus people.

Travel startups pivoting from a consumer business toward a B2B focus is trendy, with founders and CEOs believing that there will be fewer marketing woes and reduced competition. But get in line when it comes to joining the droves of startups trying to sell to big corporations, hotels and travel agencies. The sales hurdle can be almost as intractable as the marketing roadblock.

Oh, it's downright trendy. Trivago's new tilt toward building direct ties to hotels takes place as TripAdvisor is signing up chain after chain for its book-on TripAdvisor Instant Booking product, Google has debuted a similar initiative, Booking.com has created its BookingSuite hotel division, and Expedia has debuted a mobile app for hotels to manage rates and access analytics.

Airbnb wants to infuse more lifestyle and boutique hotels want to create more authentic experiences. Where's the happy medium and who wins?

There was a sense of camaraderie among the hotel industry leaders on the panel despite the intense competition for more heads in beds.