Despegar rolls out generative AI trip planner, starting in Argentina

phocuswire 2023-9-27

travelers can use the planner to receive customized itineraries put together packages that combine flights accommodations and car rentals and receive recommendations of what to do in their...

Bookings for vacation rentals in Asia are on the rise

phocuswire 2023-9-26

trip101 reports that vacation rental bookings jumped 84 in asia from 2022 to 2023 with stay length also increasing

While no longer unexpected, the "cost" of air travel disruptions continues to rise

phocuswire 2023-9-26

two new airline industry reports provide insights into how consumers feel about air travel disruptions and also the costs both economic and environmental that these problems bring 160

Ireland’s Shackle raises £12M for digital hospitality platform

phocuswire 2023-9-26

the startup provides contactless tools to manage hotel services such as check in room entry food ordering and payments and last year raised 5 5 million in seed funding 160 160

Poor security, clunky processes driving online hotel booking abandonment

phocuswire 2023-9-26

most important to consumers when booking accommodation online is an easy and secure booking and payment experience 53 followed by video and images of rooms and the property 50

Amex Ventures makes strategic investment in travel risk platform Sensible Weather

phocuswire 2023-9-26

sensible weather said the funding advances its goal to support travel event and outdoor businesses in the face of growing weather uncertainty 160

World Tourism Day highlights need for sustainable destination strategies

phocuswire 2023-9-25

three ways destination marketing organizations can showcase their commitment to providing sustainable tourism not only to attract travelers with similar values but to ensure their destination is...

4 things to know about the future of the U.S. OTA market

phocuswire 2023-9-25

the u s travel market continued its stellar recovery in 2022 with total gross bookings of 422 2 billion an increase of 51 over the prior year

Líbere Hospitality raises €6M internally for growth in Europe

phocuswire 2023-9-22

the hospitality company recently opened properties in barcelona and bilbao spain

How long before airlines grasp the potential of resale marketplaces?

phocuswire 2023-9-22

like retailers before them airlines have been reluctant to embrace resale options 160 even though they could reap even greater benefits than retailers by embracing their secondary market 160

السفر إلى مالطا.. 3 أماكن لا تفوتها

مصراوي 2023-9-22

السفر إلى مالطا 3 أماكن لا تفوتها

Fliggy wants to help overseas travel companies market to Chinese tourists

phocuswire 2023-9-21

the alibaba subsidiary is adding new tools and services to help travel partners particularly those in southeast asia 160 tap into the massive potential of chinese tourism in a cost effective manner

Airbnb announces new system to verify listings

phocuswire 2023-9-21

verified listings will be denoted by an icon starting in february for the u s canada australia the u k and france with 30 more countries to be added next fall 160

Hopper-Turo partnership brings car-sharing to booking platform

phocuswire 2023-9-21

turo also has partnerships with kayak to make its cars available on that site and capital one and delta airlines to provide rewards to those companies loyalty members who book on turo 160

Expedia Group builds generative AI into multiple products in its “Fall Release”

phocuswire 2023-9-21

among many other updates to its products and services for both travelers and industry partners expedia group is partnering with travel influencers to offer short form videos in the expedia and...

Bird boosts U.S. micromobility presence with acquisition of Spin

phocuswire 2023-9-20

bird has paid 19m for spin which it acquired from germany based tier mobility

HomeToGo creates chief investment role for further M&A activity

phocuswire 2023-9-20

bodo thielmann has joined hometogo as chief investment director after previous stints at oyo vacation homes and axel springer group

Paramount teams up with travel startup for "Emily in Paris" trips

phocuswire 2023-9-20

in this latest example of set jetting initiatives travel startup dharma 160 will manage the bookings payments and guest experience for trips hosted by lifestyle influencers called emileaders

Booking.com dominates review market share but is losing ground to Google

phocuswire 2023-9-20

the shiji reviewpro guest experience benchmark for q2 2023 found overall consumer satisfaction with hotels is up but still trails 2019 levels 160

HotelRunner acquires point-of-sale system PayPad

phocuswire 2023-9-20

founded in 2011 this is hotelrunner s third acquisition and the company said it is a significant milestone as its first product for on premises sales and payments for hotels

Booking.com prepares to launch credit card in U.S.

phocuswire 2023-9-19

the online travel agency has brought in a former jpmorgan chase executive to lead the effort and is also hiring for a manager of co branded credit card growth and strategy 160

Kayak, Tripadvisor on growing their in-house media studios

phocuswire 2023-9-19

in the last two years both kayak and tripadvisor have created content studios that are becoming a growing part of their overall businesses and spurring plans for future investment 160

OCTO takes next step in simplifying connectivity for tours and activities stakeholders

phocuswire 2023-9-19

the nonprofit is releasing its open source messaging specification and supporting documentation for the tour activities and attractions industry 160 160

Latin America’s mobile-first market means higher online penetration

phocuswire 2023-9-18

a new phocuswright report shows overall mobile penetration of supplier direct online travel bookings is predicted to nearly double from 2022 to 2026 in the latin america travel market 160

Flightroutes24 adds hotels as it continues global expansion

phocuswire 2023-9-15

flightroutes24 a global b2b marketplace for flight content will launch a hotel booking channel to offer a one stop flight hotel product 160

Staples tests travel agents in stores in plan to grow travel services

phocuswire 2023-9-15

the office supply retailer has offered tsa precheck and passport services for several years and is now talking to travel industry partners about expanding its offerings

United Airlines inks deal to buy 1B gallons of SAF

phocuswire 2023-9-14

houston based cemvita to provide 50 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel a year for 20 years to the airline 160

Go City launch taps into one of China’s largest social media platforms

phocuswire 2023-9-14

surpassing 2019 revenue from mainland chinese customers go city becomes first global sightseeing pass to launch a mini program 160

Caravelo raises €3.5M in series A round

phocuswire 2023-9-14

160 subscription focused travel company caravelo is looking at expanding into new markets with its series a round

tripla acquires BookandLink to boost hotel guest experience technology

phocuswire 2023-9-13

the acquisition will enable tripla to speed up its development in asia while boosting revenue for each company in their respective markets

First Choice relaunches with flight-free vacation options

phocuswire 2023-9-13

tui brand first choice believes traveler needs are changing and it wants to offer them more options when it comes to booking trips

9 months into the GPT Era, what has travel learned?

phocuswire 2023-9-13

an early stage tech investor shares his three main takeaways in the first year of generative ai s widespread use in travel and other sectors 160

Will EU’s drive to regulate STRs lead to more data-driven policies?

phocuswire 2023-9-13

a new report from eu travel tech shows how the greater availability of data could lead to more targeted measures on short term rentals in europe 160

French company CDS Groupe acquires Germany-based Corporate Rates Club

phocuswire 2023-9-11

cds groupe is continuing its international expansion bringing its total to nearly 300 employees across france poland italy croatia and germany

Klook unveils AI tool, social media focused affiliate program

phocuswire 2023-9-11

klook plans to integrate its k ai trip planning tool into its things to do activity page the company also hopes its kreator affiliate program will bring conversions via social media

STARTUP STAGE: Tango targets “mass affluent” travelers with AI-based booking platform

phocuswire 2023-9-11

tango combines artificial intelligence machine learning and human curation to provide design booking and servicing of hyper personalized trips 160

Travel executive launches new marketplace for adventure travel

phocuswire 2023-9-11

headed by drew patterson formerly with kayak jetsetter room 77 and transparent thermal is a marketplace for booking unique surfing experiences all around the globe

موريشيوس ليلا.. رحلة إلى عالم السحر والإثارة

مصراوي 2023-9-9

موريشيوس ليلا رحلة إلى عالم السحر والإثارة

Booking will fight any decision to veto Etraveli acquisition in court

phocuswire 2023-9-8

booking holdings has responded to rumors that european regulators will veto its etraveli acquisition saying that decision would be flawed on both factual and legal grounds

Report reveals cybersecurity vulnerabilities in hospitality

phocuswire 2023-9-7

trustwave spiderlabs reveals that the transition to mobile and contactless services is making the hospitality industry more vulnerable to cyber threats 160

Travel embraces generative AI

phocuswire 2023-9-6

the industry has embraced artificial intelligence as a timesaving tool with vast potential and advisors are studying use cases and developing best practices for deploying the nascent technology

As robotaxis start offering airport transfers, will OTAs be left behind?

phocuswire 2023-9-6

autonomous vehicles are transforming the transportation sector potentially disrupting airport transfer services and posing challenges to otas

Airbnb is partnering with Breezeway

phocuswire 2023-9-5

breezeway is linking up with short term rental platform airbnb as its new software partner

Point.me raises $10M to boost partnerships and expand concierge service

phocuswire 2023-9-5

point me enables loyalty program members to find flights using their points via its proprietary algorithm

Smartvel extends travel content with acquisition of ArrivalGuides

phocuswire 2023-9-5

arrivalguides provides destination guides in multiple languages from tourism boards and travel experts for travel brands to integrate into their websites mobile applications and marketing campaigns

Skiplagging isn’t likely to stop anytime soon, even if airlines fight it

phocuswire 2023-9-5

while the practice is nothing new a lawsuit by american airlines puts skiplagging back in the headlines and raises questions about why it persists

CosmoTrips no more one year after launch?

phocuswire 2023-9-1

cosmotrips was launched a year ago by cosmopolitan publisher hearst targeting a millennial and gen z audience

Automation, innovation, ChatGPT: The future for travel agents

phocuswire 2023-9-1

here are three ways travel agents can adjust to and integrate future forward technology and automation to successfully work with clients

Are dynamic bundles for air travel personalization?

phocuswire 2023-9-1

the evolution toward personalized pricing would require some underlying changes to the way personal profiles are created stored and interact with the booking process

Climate disasters renew focus on travel sustainability goals

phocuswire 2023-8-31

will another summer of climate calamities galvanize the level of coordination necessary to keep the travel industry growing 160 while helping to save the planet 160