Formed in 1995 in Sydney, Viator, with its Paris Chocolate and Pastry Food Tours, as well as the traditional Moulin Rouge gawking fests, is all grown up. Headquartered in San Francisco, with regional offices in Las Vegas, London and Sydney, the privately held global tour and activities provider is expected to do about $87 million in sales in 2009. And, that’s not peanuts for a company that acts as an intermediary for suppliers ranging from big guys like Paris Vision, but more commonly for a disparate legion of mom-and-pop ground operators around the world. I caught up with Viator CEO and President Barrie Seidenberg, and founder and Chairman Rod Cuthbert, to see where this whole thing is headed.... Read More

What is my agenda for the site, what do I say, what is my voice, my goal, my cause, what will I write about? Those of you who know me well are already aware of what drives my personal ambition as well as my writing: travel, technology and the environment. And while future posts, articles and theoretical ramblings will present a stronger focus on tourism technology, I felt it appropriate to address a larger subject. Global, if you will.... Read More

Twitter has become an interesting playground for brands of all shapes and sizes to test their marketplace - or at least their followers. Travel brands are no exception, throwing out links to new pages and products on their websites. It's a quick and dirty approach which yields next to no fantastically empirical results yet can give some indication of enthusiasm - or not - for a new offering. Step forward TripAdvisor, the hotel review site everyone loves to have an opinion on.... Read More

Radisson Hotels & Resorts has become the latest in a long line of hotel chains looking to boost their responsibility to modern CRM by launching a consumer mobile platform. Created and operated by Dublin, Ireland-based Mobile Travel Technologies, Radisson will allow customers in the India, Australia and the UK to book rooms and browse through pages of information and images about individual hotels.... Read More

The importance of Rome-based Venere to the wider Expedia Inc empire is becoming more apparent by the month following its acquisition of the brand in July 2008. The streamlining of the Expedia businesses late last year indicated a need by chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi wanted to position its myriad of brands in a more efficient way, with accommodation-based services such as hotels.com and Venere falling under the auspices of David Roche, who became a president of the business.... Read More

Expedia appears to be seeing the benefit of partnering with as many third parties as possible through its Affiliate Network. After stating earlier this summer that there is “no technical limit” to the number of organisations it can sign content deals with, Expedia’s roster of partners keeps growing – probably faster than any other part of its business (apart from TripAdvisor).... Read More

UK-based travel technology outfit Comtec took a reasonably brave step in 2008 when it committed itself to expanding into the North American marketplace. An injection of capital a few months before as a result of a management buyout led by chief executive Simon Powell gave the company a warchest of sorts to open an office in Alexandria, Virginia, led by ex-Sabre hand Denise Womble.... Read More

Alt-meta search shop Zoombu has managed to attract a fair amount of positive vibes in recent months, despite not throwing open its front door to the wider consumer web community. The Oxford, UK-based start-up won the EyeForTravel Get Funded Show in London in May 2009 ahead of the widely acclaimed Joobili, niche content site Tourdust and brochure distribution service Travelwhere. But co-founder Rachel Armitage admits the fledgling company is now reaching a pivotal point in its short history – and the next few months are critical.... Read More