Ground Transportation

PhocusWire's in-depth coverage of the ground transportation sector, featuring news, analysis, interviews, research and more on car rental, ride-hailing, taxis and rail.

News / Distribution

Hotelbeds offloads destinations services to TUI for €110M

By Kevin May | March 28, 2018

Hotelbeds has ended its interest in providing incoming services to travel agencies by selling its Destination Management division to TUI for €110 million. Read More

News / Technology

IBM enters voice assistant market with Watson Assistant for businesses

By Jill Menze | March 27, 2018

IBM is throwing its hat into the voice assistant ring, but with what could be a key differentiator over Amazon and Google. Read More

News / Online

Uber offloads Southeast Asia wing to Grab, will now focus on organic growth

By Kevin May | March 26, 2018

Uber claims consolidation is not the "strategy of the day" after seeing another part of the business heading to a competitor. Read More

News / Startups

Tourlane raises $8.5M to expand custom trip-planning platform

By Mitra Sorrells | March 23, 2018

Berlin-based Tourlane has secured $8.5 million to expand its service that combines the customized offerings of a traditional travel agent with the ease of online booking. Read More

News / Online

Amazon’s multifaceted – and likely inevitable – path into travel

By Mitra Sorrells | March 21, 2018

It’s becoming clear that it’s no longer a question of “if” but rather of “when” and "how” Amazon will try to disrupt the travel industry.... again. Read More

News / Technology

Voice tech in travel, part 2: UX and design

By Mitra Sorrells | March 12, 2018

The days of typing search terms into a browser or clicking through drop-down menus may be fading. Rising in their place is a much more natural interface: voice. Here are the characteristics of an... Read More

News / Technology

Trainline creates rap duet to promote its voice app

By Mitra Sorrells | March 9, 2018

Trainline has created a two-minute film with showing what it calls a “voicebot duet” to promote its voice app for Google Assistant. Read More

News / Online

Facebook launches new targeted ad strategy for travel brands

By Mitra Sorrells | March 8, 2018

Facebook is using its knowledge of consumers’ online behavior to help brands market their deals and destinations to travelers earlier in their planning process. Read More

News / Online

Why website abandonment rates are so high for European travelers

By Mitra Sorrells | March 8, 2018

European travelers appear to be more commitment-phobic lately when it comes to booking accommodations, travel and experiences. Read More

News / Online

Ctrip’s Trip.com adds international car rental service

By Mitra Sorrells | March 7, 2018

Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, is bolstering its Trip.com site with the addition of international car rentals, bringing it one step closer to becoming a comprehensive source for all travel... Read More

Interview / Online

In The Big Chair - Clare Gilmartin of Trainline

By Kevin May | March 6, 2018

The former-eBay exec knows a lot about retail, expansion and customers - and can now add distribution, standardisation and mobile technology to her repertoire of skills needed to run an online business. Read More

News / Technology

What airlines stand to gain from better mobile apps

By Jill Menze | March 6, 2018

Many airline mobile apps in the Asia Pacific region are still in their infancy when it comes to the search and booking process, often mimicking desktop purchase flow. Read More

News / Technology

Voice tech in travel, part 1: Brand adoption

By Mitra Sorrells | March 5, 2018

The days of typing search terms into a browser or clicking through drop-down menus may be fading. Rising in their place is a much more natural interface: voice. Read More

Booking Holdings earnings full year 2017 1

News / Distribution

Booking Holdings reveals $12.7B revenue, goes lukewarm on Airbnb threat

By Mitra Sorrells | February 28, 2018

Booking Holdings – the new name for what was Priceline Group – showed significant growth across all sectors in 2017, with most key metrics up around 20%. Read More