Top Travel Tech Weekly News

News / Startups

Surveying the travel startup landscape, part 4: Exit strategy

By Mitra Sorrells | August 28, 2018

For the final piece in our month-long series on startups, we gathered learnings from three companies that have been purchased in recent years. Read More

News / Online

Toyota invests $500M in Uber as part of deal to develop driverless cars

By Mitra Sorrells | August 28, 2018

Toyota and Uber will work together to develop self-driving cars, and the agreement comes with a $500 million investment in Uber by the Japanese automaker. Read More

News / Online

Luxury counts as Sonder gets $85 million deal

By Kevin May | August 27, 2018

High-end rental network platform Sonder has raised a Series C round of investment to the tune of $85 million. Read More

Interview / Startups

STARTUP STAGE: PopulStay uses blockchain for rental bookings, management and security

By Mitra Sorrells | August 27, 2018

PopulStay is a booking and property management platform for vacation rentals that uses blockchain to create a direct connection between hosts and guests and to lower transaction costs. Read More

News / Technology

QOTW: Something about not moving fast enough

By PhocusWire | August 24, 2018

Quote from Terry Jones, chairman of WayBlazer, in an article on PhocusWire this week. Read More

News / Technology

New app aims to boost tourism in Puerto Rico, nearly one year after Hurricane Maria

By Mitra Sorrells | August 24, 2018

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company is partnering with hotel operations platform ALICE and Roca Marketing to bolster tourism on the island by enhancing communications between hotels and tourists. Read More

News / Distribution

Evolve scores big with $80M investment to grow rental tech services

By Kevin May | August 24, 2018

Big investment is heading in the direction of Evolve Vacation Rental Network following a $80 million injection this week. Read More

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Interview / Startups

In the green room at Phocuswright with... Chris Hemmeter

By PhocusWire | August 23, 2018

A well-known figure on the travel startup scene through his venture firm, Thayer, Chris Hemmeter is a "dragon" at The Phocuswright Conference 2018 in Los Angeles. Read More

Interview / Startups

STARTUP STAGE: SpareFare creates a sharing economy for travel refunds

By Kevin May | August 22, 2018

London-based SpareFare has developed a mechanism and platform so that travelers can get their money back on non-refundable ticket reservations on hotels or airlines. Read More

News / Startups

Car-share service Getaround nails $300M funding round

By Mitra Sorrells | August 21, 2018

Getaround, a platform that provides instant and keyless carsharing, has secured $300 million in a Series D financing round led by SoftBank, with participation from Toyota Motor Corporation. Read More

News / Startups

Travel startups: What's the ten-year investment, growth and failure picture?

By Kevin May | August 21, 2018

The number of new travel startups has fallen dramatically in the last two years, coinciding with a significant increase in the amount of money flowing in to the market. Read More

Interview / Online

STARTUP STAGE: WhyHotel turns luxury apartment buildings into pop-up hotels

By Mitra Sorrells | August 20, 2018

WhyHotel transforms unoccupied apartment units in brand-new luxury buildings into temporary hotel rooms. The pop-up hotels employ 24/7 on-site staff with the intention of giving guests the "like-home"... Read More

News / Startups

Surveying the travel startup landscape, part 3: The support systems

By Mitra Sorrells | August 20, 2018

In the last few years, several support programs have launched to help entrepreneurs evaluate, develop and grow their innovative ventures across every aspect of travel and tourism. Read More