What else is going on in the world of travel tech? A round-up of other stories from across the industry.
- Decisions, decisions ... After delaying a decision earlier this year on who would provide Southwest Airlines with a new reservations system, CFO Laura Wright, speaking at the Rodman & Renshaw Airline Conference in Boston this week, indicated that a decision will come in 2012. Southwest's plates had been too full to deal with it because of its integration of AirTran Airways. A new reservations system would enhance the Southwest's international, codeshare and revenue management capabilities, she said.
- Hold the veggies because New York-based Starwood Hotels took a 49.8% stake in Berlin-headquartered Design Hotels. Starwood purchased the shares of Design Hotels, a public company which provides hotels with distribution, design and marketing services, from longtime partner Arabella Hospitality.
- Not just a switch - hotel tech giant Pegasus has launched OpenFlex, the debut offering from its Open Hospitality system. OpenFlex is a web design kit for mobile sites, allowing accommodation providers to launch promotions direct to any mobile device. "Displaying a desktop version of a special offer website on a handheld smartphone has the potential to frustrate the consumer, who won’t book as a result," reckon David Millili, CEO of Open Hospitality and chief web officer for Pegasus.
- Happy days for consumers in Singapore, with metasearch site Wego targeting the city-state as the first to take delivery of a new suite of search tools. The functions include the chance to view destinations and accommodation ranked by whether other users consider the product "interesting, well-placed and well-priced".