More moves in the world of travel metasearch, virtual assistance for travellers via a mobile, and the complex world of airline retailing...
These are my top picks from all the stories I had a hand in during the course of 2013.
Tripadvisor raising the game for business listings with rates, availability and booking service
This was a story that was always going to garner a lot of interest. TripAdvisor has become a beast of a company and generally a story with its name in the headline makes people sit up and take notice.
That aside, the whole metasearch segment has been hotting up in the past year starting with Priceline's $1.8 billion acquisition of Kayak in November 2012 followed by Expedia taking a majority stake Trivago about a month later.
TripAdvisor started testing its hotel metasearch early in 2013 with global roll out in June.
Then in July, the reviews giant announced TripAdvisor Connect enabling all hotels and b&bs to participate in pricing display - basically combining direct booking functionality with review collection.
And, the metasearch space continues to be a scorcher with Skyscanner announcing backing from Sequoia Capital in October effectively valuing the company at $800 million.
Where to next? More moves from Google HotelFinder for sure and perhaps some consolidation from the mid-end of the sector.
Applying some Googlezon magic dust to airline retailing
Reporting on conferences so often ends up as a 'he said, she said' account of the proceedings. Any opportunity to draw some themes together and pull in words of wisdom from clever industry folk makes for a much better read all round the the Googlezon story was no exception.
The fact that the conference was a CAPA CEO gathering entitled 'Airlines in Transition' also helped with high-brow execs from some of the world's largest carriers prepared to give frank accounts of how the world looks to them right now.
A further interesting element is that these are themes which will run and run.
Google's ongoing development of products and services for the travel vertical, the ongoing quest for airlines to find the most effective way to sell ancillary elements and joining the dots for a more seamless journey were just three of the themes.
And, these are not issues that will just go away - think about the latest with IATA New Distribution Capability, Google's moves into the tours and activities market and all the predictions about how we will travel in the future to see how these stories are playing out.
CWT brings virtual face to mobile service
This one may seem a little out of left field but it's more about the issues the corporate travel market is having to address than the fact that one company has come up with a new service.
Travel management companies and travel managers within corporations are having to think about balancing how Generation Y uses technology with the needs of older employees and travellers and ultimately the priorities of the business.
Virtual agent Carla from Carlson Wagonlit is a good example of how companies are trying to tie all the pieces together using mobile technology but also maintaining a human face, which is something online travel agents have long struggled with.
CWT is not the only company making moves in the this direction - KDS introduced its Neo door-to-door service earlier this year and Concur has been on the acquisition trail to fill in the gaps in its quest for Perfect Trip.
And, back in November, CWT unveiled some more of its own initiatives as it bids to become a 'Big Mother' for travellers as opposed to Big Brother.
NB:2013 laptop image via Shutterstock.