Dennis Schaal, Skift
Flush with SoftBank and other venture capital money, GetYourGuide and Klook, as well as Airbnb and Booking.com, are nipping at Tripadvisor's heels in tours and activities. Tripadvisor will try to leverage its brand, Viator, which already had a following before Tripadvisor absorbed it, to keep the insurgents at bay.
16 hours ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
When you're Google, you can take more than a decade to hone a product such as Google Maps and attract more than a billion users without having to worry that it isn't making lots of money. But the monetization of Google Maps will soon start in earnest, and travel marketers, for the most part, will hustle to get in.
5 months ago
Accor Group + Skift
Today, we know better than to treat design like a last-minute top coat on a finished project. Instead, design must become an integral part of how hospitality brands do business, how they interact with consumers, and how they leave their mark on the world.
8 months ago
Danni Santana, Skift
There is little doubt that a limited-time hotel offering will attract the fast food chain's superfans in droves — and result in some extra revenue for the company.
8 months ago
Ranjeetha Pakiam and Joyce Koh, Bloomberg
This sounds like a crazy rich nightclub. The Singapore tourism boom revolves around more than just the benefits of a popular movie, but that didn't hurt, either.
9 months ago
Patrick Whyte, Skift
CEO Stephen Kaufer seems confident that the "new TripAdvisor" will be successful. We'll have to wait until later this year before we know whether it is helping the company earn more cash.
11 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
TripAdvisor is leveraging its strengths — tours and activities, and restaurants — where it has leadership positions rather than choosing to devote the bulk of its energies in the crowded field of hotels and alternative accommodations. It is a wise choice to differentiate rather than be a mere clone of its competitors.
11 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Fickle investors, meaning those without a long-range view, didn't necessarily appreciate the breadth of the TripAdvisor platform in the past. The company isn't the biggest player out there, but its strong positions in tours and activities, as well as restaurants, is injecting momentum.
12 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Expedia has dealt with a ton of distractions in recent years as it acquired Wotif, Travelocity, Orbitz Worldwide, and HomeAway, for example. CEO Mark Okerstrom wants to focus on the basics instead, and doesn't want to take bold steps into dining reservations or food delivery for now. On the other hand, Expedia is a very acquisitive company so never say never.
1 year ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Tablet Hotels found itself a world-class strategic buyer to propel its growth. Tablet as part of Michelin will face huge marketing hurdles, and the challenge of trying to reshape Michelin's legacy guide offerings.
1 year ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Booking.com is taking its sweet time to implement a flights-to-attractions travel offering. Some would say the pace is Google-like in its slowness. But behind the scenes, data reigns supreme, and dictates whether a product is scrapped, implemented with a twist, or then reshaped anew. Refill the popcorn. This will take a while.
1 year ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Google officials aren't losing any sleep over TripAdvisor spending a few million dollars less on paid search, but TripAdvisor's pullback, as well as similar moves by other large travel players, symbolizes a changing advertising climate and a long-term challenge.
1 year ago
