What else is going on in the world of travel tech? A round-up of other stories from across the industry...
- The AAA Trip Tik Mobile app for iPhone and Android devices added hotel booking capabilities through a relationship with the Travelocity Partner Network. The app for the road club and travel agency enables club members to book hotels at special member rates.
- In its first foray into the US, Regatta Travel Solutions says it will be replacing Expedia as the booking engine for the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau's Visit Seattle.org. "We were excited to find an organization that is willing to align its goals with ours on a 100% performance-based model," says Tom Norwalk, CEO of the CVB. "Their experience and empathy with what hotels are dealing with has won over our membership. We have experienced first-hand Regatta's willingness to customize their solution to fit out needs, and we are more confident than ever that we made the right choice." Regatta recently began powering the NicaraguanTourism.us site and does likewise for several DMO websites in the Caribbean.
- Viator launched a new shore excursion and port tour website and is promoting the feature to travel agents and affiliates through the Viator Partner Program. Viator previously offered shore excursions, but the company feels a dedicated website will improve the customer experience for cruisers.
- Worldhotels is looking for the F-Spot with a major new campaign to boost brand awareness via Facebook. Running for the next three weeks (until April 22), Worldhotels wants its followers on Facebook to share photos and stories of "off-the-beaten-track" places. The last promo on Facebook for Worldhotels saw the brand boost its number of fans by 230%, the company claims.
- New senior executives and re-jigging of corporate structure at airline and airport tech provider SITA this week, with business units separated into four teams covering the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, India and Africa. The new divisions will be headed by Paul Houghton, Ilya Gutlin, Dave Bakker and Hani El-Assaad respectively.