Articles tagged “tours and activities”

TripAdvisor and Booking Holdings are seemingly playing nice and fair with the tours and activities companies for now, but what happens five years from now when competition gets more intense and extracting profits is more of a mandate? Will push come to shove?

Expedia and Ctrip are the two large online travel companies that have so far not acquired a technology partner to foster the growth of their tours and activities' businesses. GetYourGuide argues that these tech/connectivity companies should remain independent, but how long will it be before some of these smaller companies get scooped up?

This promotional tour from Airbnb to tout Airbnb Adventures clearly backfired because of traveler outrage and difficulties in booking and paying for the one-time trip. It's not an opportune start for Airbnb's tour initiative, which may be a tad more complex than Airbnb anticipates.

A leaner and freshly funded BeMyGuest is in a stronger position to harness the growth of Asia’s tours and activities sector. But competition is also mightier.

Give Airbnb credit for sticking to its blueprint by offering Airbnb Adventures in its own image, avoiding typical mainstream expeditions. Whether this will develop into a reliable service and big business for the homesharing company will be proven on Colorado cliffs and at Galapagos coffee farms.

Cuts to the Mexico Tourism Board are having an immediate impact on local operators in some of the country's most popular tourist destinations. A lack of marketing resources is especially difficult for some of the country’s smallest and often most alluring places.

SoftBank has upended the sales of tours and attractions by investing record-breaking sums in GetYourGuide and Klook. That's boosted valuations to such lofty levels that it may leave only a few options: Merge or go public.

Booking.com's hotel focus has given way to a strategy to serve travelers at every portion of the trip. TripAdvisor already does it, Expedia too. Airbnb is on that full-service road. So Booking.com will have plenty of company.

TripAdvisor's key tactics to grow its tours and activities business include the discounting of some products for consumers, practically giving away a reservation system to operators, and rolling out a brand marketing campaign this year. The company talks like it's in it to win it.

TripAdvisor's greater transparency in its financial reporting is to be applauded, showing its investment in growing units. But the stuttering of its legacy businesses is notable, too.