News

Hotel cancelation rate at 40% as online travel agencies push free change policy
News / Distribution
Hotel cancelation rate at 40% as online travel agencies push free change policy
By Kevin May | April 23, 2019
Key findings from a major study carried out by D-Edge, the Accor-owned hotel technology group that includes the AvailPro and FastBooking platforms.... Read More
OYO Near You experiences launch
News / Distribution
OYO enters experiences space with “OYO Near You”
By Mitra Sorrells | April 23, 2019
OYO will offer activities such as comedy shows, wine tastings and live music at some of its OYO Townhouse properties in India.... Read More
Uber gets $1B investment boost for autonomous vehicle unit
News / Online
Uber gets $1B investment boost for autonomous vehicle unit
By Kevin May | April 22, 2019
Three organizations are behind the move to back Uber's Advanced Technologies Group: car manufacturing giant Toyota, SoftBank Vision Fund and the Denso Corporation.... Read More
wit checkout
News / Online
Online payment solutions crucial to travel, as Middle East travelers book later and more often
By Marissa Trew - WiT  | April 22, 2019
At WiT Middle East, Checkout.com’s Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo looked at the purchasing behaviors of travelers in the Middle East, where the opportunities lie and what some of the core challenges facing the industry are, as online payments begin to overtake traditional methods.... Read More
Middle East series part 3 distribution
News / Distribution
Middle East, part 3: How homegrown travel brands are diversifying distribution
By Mitra Sorrells | April 22, 2019
For the third part in our series on the Middle East, we analyze the distribution landscape and the role of homegrown online travel agencies.... Read More
Sounding Off: The Middle Eastern travel startup scene can learn from errors of others
Interview / Startups
Sounding Off: The Middle Eastern travel startup scene can learn from errors of others
By PhocusWire | April 19, 2019
The fledgling community in the Middle East must acknowledge how other startup "scenes" have evolved and learn from the errors that have hindered new businesses.... Read More
GDS interfaces drag advisors out of the dark, green ages
News / Distribution
GDS interfaces drag advisors out of the dark, green ages
By Jamie Biesiada - Travel Weekly | April 19, 2019
Increasingly, GDSs and agencies are encouraging advisors to switch to graphical user interfaces.... Read More
U.S. airports biometric identification
News / Technology
U.S. aims to use facial recognition on nearly all departing air travelers within four years
By Mitra Sorrells | April 19, 2019
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security expects to use facial-recognition technology on 97% of departing passengers within that time frame.... Read More
WEBINAR REPLAY! The role of social media content across the travel buyer journey
News / Online
WEBINAR REPLAY! The role of social media content across the travel buyer journey
By PhocusWire | April 19, 2019
Explore how tourism brands should be using user generated content in 2019 to create the most engaging experiences both digitally and on-site.... Read More
sabre-NDC-beyond
News / Distribution
Going beyond NDC: Answers to your questions
By PhocusWire | April 19, 2019
We caught up with the three panelists from a recent webinar to answer some of the top audience questions that we didn’t have time to address live at the event.... Read More
Tripoto brings in $3.7M to boost community and travel search platform
News / Online
Tripoto brings in $3.7M to boost community and travel search platform
By Kevin May | April 18, 2019
The India-based travel community secured the round from Orchid India, Hornbill Orchid India Fund, Chiratae Ventures, 3one4 Capital and Lasmer NV.... Read More
lyric investment
News / Online
Airbnb leads $160M investment in hospitality platform Lyric
By Jill Menze | April 17, 2019
The Series B round will allow the San Francisco-based company to expand its relationships with local real estate developers.... Read More
locale raises funds
News / Online
Apart-hotel brand Locale nabs $2.5M to expand operations
By Jill Menze | April 17, 2019
It's the first funding round for the Austin, Texas-based company since launching in 2016.... Read More
Ryanair to get new website, promises more personalization
News / Online
Ryanair to get new website, promises more personalization
By Linda Fox | April 17, 2019
The move is part of the airline’s customer strategy for 2019, which aims to deliver a more personalized service on its digital channels.... Read More
WEBINAR REPLAY! The real parity problem that no one is talking about
News / Distribution
WEBINAR REPLAY! The real parity problem that no one is talking about
By PhocusWire | April 17, 2019
Through this webinar you’ll leave with the tactics you need to step up your parity game and stop leaving money on the table.... Read More