Articles tagged “online travel agencies”

Booking.com has a substantial presence in the Middle East, but there is a vacuum that Wego Group and homegrown players could begin to fill over the next few years.

In Skift's top stories this week, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines unveil plans to merge in a massive deal, Philippines Airlines makes a tumultuous leadership change, and European officials implement new metrics for measuring tourism success.

The online travel space has always been super-competitive, but established players like Expedia Group and Booking Holdings face a growing roster of formidable competitors, including hotels, Google and Airbnb.

Sonder's delayed stock market debut came to be, finally. Now with a $310 million injection of proceeds from private investors, and tapping into a $165 million credit line, the company can go about its business trying to build the next household name hospitality brand.

After Covid put the travel industry under a microscope, Ecuador aims to define who’s who in the agencies segment, create a clearer environment for online sales, avoid embezzlements and improve the quality of professionals.

In Skift's top stories this week, Barbados creates its own online travel booking platform, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky takes suggestions from Twitter followers about what the company should launch, and 2022 will likely see a large number of major deals in the hotel industry.

This is what action looks like, if Caribbean tourism is to build back better. Investment in technology, a solid private-public relationship, and homegrown talent driving the framework and the narrative.

Worth a read, not just to appreciate the transparency into the product-led thinking of a giant, now-iconic company but also to just get inspired by some of these suggestions, and who knows, more startups to come out of these ideas.

Hipcamp, a booking site led by Alyssa Ravasio and backed by Andreessen Horowitz, seems intent on international expansion. The startup's skill at creating supply, not just listing campsites, has set it apart and given it momentum so far.

Big names drove many of the top 10 travel mergers of the year. But among the largest deals, aircraft lessors, rail manufacturers and an online travel agency used the pandemic to scoop up infrastructure and technology to shore up their positions.