Latest News

Latest News

Stay up to date with the latest travel technology news, startup updates, and industry developments from across the global travel ecosystem.

Plenty of room? Heavyweight-backed, China gets a brand-new online travel agency
News / Distribution
Plenty of room? Heavyweight-backed, China gets a brand-new online travel agency
By Martin Cowen | May 26, 2015
The hyper-competitive online travel market in China welcomes - if that's the world - a new entrant with news that HNA Group and NetEase are combining to launch a brand-new business. The announcemen... Read More
Nigerian travel booking site Hotels.ng raises $1.2M, plans expansion
News / Distribution
Nigerian travel booking site Hotels.ng raises $1.2M, plans expansion
By Sean O'Neil | May 26, 2015
Hotels.ng, the Nigeria-based travel booking startup founded by Mark Essien, has raised a $1.2 million Series A round from the Omidyar Network and EchoVC funds. The 34-employee company declined to r... Read More
Facebook continues content push by adding critic reviews to restaurant pages
News / Online
Facebook continues content push by adding critic reviews to restaurant pages
By Nick Vivion | May 26, 2015
In its bid to increase the quality of hosted content beyond user-generated tidbits, Facebook has added selected critic reviews to restaurant pages. The run is limited to only a couple of thousand r... Read More
Is virtual reality ready for deployment in commercial airliner cockpits?
News
Is virtual reality ready for deployment in commercial airliner cockpits?
By Nick Vivion | May 26, 2015
Boeing is pushing to make virtual reality a standard piece of technology in aircraft cabins. The airplane manufacturer, in partnership with Honeywell, is working to standardize what's known as synt... Read More
The consumer interface (not assets) is where the action is
News / Distribution
The consumer interface (not assets) is where the action is
By PhocusWire | May 26, 2015
Ponder this new reality for a moment - Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles.... Read More
How consumers choose a destination - an untapped opportunity for travel startups?
News / Online
How consumers choose a destination - an untapped opportunity for travel startups?
By Alex Bainbridge | May 26, 2015
Web 1.0 travel services tend to start with a website homepage with the question: "Where do you want to go?" The next generation of services, primarily mobile based, tended to assume location (and t... Read More
Priceline Group pumps in additional $250 million into Ctrip
News / Distribution
Priceline Group pumps in additional $250 million into Ctrip
By Kevin May | May 26, 2015
Just days after Expedia Inc reduced its focus on China, Priceline Group has injected a quarter of a billion dollars in Ctrip. The $250 million investment comes less than a year after the Booking.co... Read More
With Expedia out of the picture, what next for Chinese online travel agencies?
News / Distribution
With Expedia out of the picture, what next for Chinese online travel agencies?
By Viewpoints | May 26, 2015
Following the exit of Expedia as its majority owner, eLong is now set for a new chapter. NB: This is an analysis by Ritesh Gupta, a reporter with ChinaTravelNews. After Expedia’s decision to sel... Read More
Gogobot releases API, AxisRooms joins TripAdvisor TripConnect, CarTrawler gets Swiss, and more...
News
Gogobot releases API, AxisRooms joins TripAdvisor TripConnect, CarTrawler gets Swiss, and more...
By PhocusWire | May 26, 2015
This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel SYSTEMS in tourism and hospitality for May 2015. Tuesday 26 May 2015: Gogobot releases API to supply third parties with content... Read More
Google is waging a secret war against advertising fraud
News / Online
Google is waging a secret war against advertising fraud
By PhocusWire | May 25, 2015
Sasha, a Russian computer engineer, is a member of Google's secretive anti-fraud team.... Read More
Mapquest shifts gears, partners with Mapbox for its mapping UI
News / Technology
Mapquest shifts gears, partners with Mapbox for its mapping UI
By Nick Vivion | May 22, 2015
Clearly we're not the only ones that were paying attention with Mapbox's product that can fuel all kinds of mapping needs within web and mobile apps: AOL's Mapquest has inked a deal with the mapping c... Read More
One in every five dollars spent on travel now coming from mobile
News / Technology
One in every five dollars spent on travel now coming from mobile
By Nick Vivion | May 22, 2015
Mobile continues to drive more bookings in travel, with one in five dollars now coming from the channel. This is according to a new report from Adobe, called the Digital Index, which features a mas... Read More
VCs buy stake in hotel tech provider Ariane for Euro 3 million
News / Technology
VCs buy stake in hotel tech provider Ariane for Euro 3 million
By Martin Cowen | May 22, 2015
Ariane Systems, a provider of self-check-in/out technology for hotels, has sold a minority stake to investment firm Ardian for Euro 3 million ($3.3 million). Paris, France-based Ariane has been aro... Read More
How and why travel metasearch will have to evolve
News / Distribution
How and why travel metasearch will have to evolve
By Kevin May | May 22, 2015
Thank goodness that travel metasearch has grown up over recent years. That is not to say that its inhabitants were childish (ahem), but its acceptance by the rest of the industry as a valuable part... Read More
Expedia sells stake in eLong to Ctrip and others for $671 million
News / Distribution
Expedia sells stake in eLong to Ctrip and others for $671 million
By Kevin May | May 22, 2015
Expedia Inc has offloaded its majority stake in Chinese online travel agency eLong to rival agency Ctrip and a consortium of financial backers. The 62.4% ownership will now belong to Ctrip with Key... Read More
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