Editors Pick

Top Travel Tech Weekly News

Booking.com’s U.S. managing director on growth plans, STRs and marketing
News / Online
Booking.com’s U.S. managing director on growth plans, STRs and marketing
By Morgan Hines | August 27, 2024
Booking.com’s partnership with rapper Ludacris is its latest in a string of celebrity tie-ups. The marketing effort is more complex than a flash in a pan, according to Ben Harrell, U.S. managing... Read More
MultiOn targets travel use cases for its AI agent
News / Technology
MultiOn targets travel use cases for its AI agent
By Mitra Sorrells | August 26, 2024
Backed by General Catalyst, Amazon Alexa Fund, Maven Ventures, Samsung Next and individuals from OpenAI, MultiOn is rapidly developing its AI agent technology for travel and other applications. Read More
Travel social content sways some consumers more than others
News / Online
Travel social content sways some consumers more than others
By Linda Fox | August 23, 2024
Converting looks and likes on social media to actual bookings is a challenge for travel marketers, but Phocuswright research has interesting insights on those consumers most likely to convert. Read More
Hospitality retailing tech looks to fulfill “ultimate guest experience”
News / Technology
Hospitality retailing tech looks to fulfill “ultimate guest experience”
By D.J. Catron | August 22, 2024
The combination of new technology and deep data resources is opening opportunities for hoteliers to digitally offer concierge-like recommendations and bookings of a wide variety of products and... Read More
CEO Spotlight: David Woolenberg of Duetto
Interview / Technology
CEO Spotlight: David Woolenberg of Duetto
By Mitra Sorrells | August 21, 2024
Duetto provides a suite of cloud applications for more than 6,000 hotels to help them increase efficiency, revenue, and profitability. David Woolenberg has been Duetto's CEO since January 2020. Read More
Sonder writes new chapter with Marriott licensing deal, new funding
News / Distribution
Sonder writes new chapter with Marriott licensing deal, new funding
By Linda Fox | August 19, 2024
Sonder, which has faced challenges recently including a delisting from the Nasdaq and job cuts, will have access to $146 million to drive growth as well as help with the integration of its... Read More
Wizz Air’s marketing gimmick shows need for more regulation of aviation emissions
Opinion / Distribution
Wizz Air’s marketing gimmick shows need for more regulation of aviation emissions
By Justin Francis - Responsible Travel | August 19, 2024
Responsible Travel's chairman Justin Francis discusses how marketing ploys designed to entice already frequent flyers to fly are irresponsible in light of climate challenges. Read More
The role of DMOs in helping their partners effectively use AI
News / Technology
The role of DMOs in helping their partners effectively use AI
By Morgan Hines | August 16, 2024
As travelers begin to use AI search engines and agents for trip planning, should DMOs play a role in helping their suppliers understand how to use the technology to drive revenue?   Read More
Short-term rentals feeling pinch of overtourism backlash
News / Online
Short-term rentals feeling pinch of overtourism backlash
By D.J. Catron | August 15, 2024
While strict new regulations in New York, Barcelona and others pose threats, the STR industry sees hope in more balanced approaches in Valencia and the European Union.   Read More
Keeping the "Human in the Loop" in travel
Opinion / Online
Keeping the "Human in the Loop" in travel
By Klaus Kohlmayr - IDeaS | August 14, 2024
Chief evangelist and development officer at IDeaS, Klaus Kohlmayr, shares his thoughts on AI and its impact on humans. Read More
Priorities, challenges and next steps for Lufthansa Innovation Hub
News / Technology
Priorities, challenges and next steps for Lufthansa Innovation Hub
By Linda Fox | August 13, 2024
Travel startups including Squake, Navit, Swifty and Uptrip have come out of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub. Now, at 10 years old, the corporate venture unit is looking at how it scales further, does more... Read More
Q&A: Travelport's Greg Webb talks future of NDC, IT outage, more
News / Online
Q&A: Travelport's Greg Webb talks future of NDC, IT outage, more
By Morgan Hines | August 12, 2024
At the Global Business Travel Association conference in Atlanta late last month, Greg Webb sat down with PhocusWire for a wide-ranging interview on the travel industry, Travelport and more. Read More
Expedia sees rise in Q2 earnings – but warns of “softening travel demand”
News / Online
Expedia sees rise in Q2 earnings – but warns of “softening travel demand”
By D.J. Catron | August 8, 2024
New CEO Ariane Gorin oversaw 6% increases year over year in gross bookings and revenue in Q2, but a slow July has the company expecting those numbers to fall between 3-5% for Q3. Read More
Will Airbnb’s eventual relaunch of Experiences be successful?
News / Online
Will Airbnb’s eventual relaunch of Experiences be successful?
By Morgan Hines | August 8, 2024
Industry experts’ opinions vary as to whether Airbnb can pull off a successful relaunch of its Experiences vertical. Read More
Seeking “deeper engagement,” Tripadvisor launches in-app hotel bookings
News / Online
Seeking “deeper engagement,” Tripadvisor launches in-app hotel bookings
By D.J. Catron | August 6, 2024
A partnership with Hopper’s HTS will power in-app booking for Tripadvisor, which also announced that revenues for the second quarter rose by 1% year over year.   Read More
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