Samantha Shankman

Iceland's economy is increasingly reliant on tourism and it only makes sense that the primary carrier bringing visitors there also tout the destination's attractions.

There are too few travelers with Google Glass to make a hotel booking app useful -- outside of the PR buzz -- at this point.

The claim that Airbnb has taken some demand away from major hotel groups is indisputable, but the significance and depth of its long-term impact on the industry is yet to be determined.

Any system that lowers the boundaries to distribution and data sharing is good for consumers who are currently overwhelmed by the comparative tools available.

Americans might be traveling again, but if they're taking their devices and headaches with them, does it even count?

SITA is one of the major industry players and by moving quickly and keeping costs manageable for airlines, it positions itself at the primary competitors in this, now, highly sought after market.

The LGBT community is one of the fastest growing demographics targeted by hotel brands making this campaign less of a marketing luxury and more a necessity in today's competitive atmosphere.

Although China represents the largest growth in inbound visitors, America's neighbors Mexico and Canada continue to deliver the highest volume of visitors and base of the U.S. tourism industry.

A seamless planning and booking tool continues to evade business travelers, but the challenges including privacy concerns, access to open data, and monopoly regulations will keep it at bay or at least dispersed across several travel products.

Although travel brands can no longer ignore social networks, it appears they are more focused on engaging their communities than investing the millions of ad dollars that sites are after.