Sean O'Neill

This week investors bet more than $104 million on companies that help people plan trips (Tourlane, SnapTravel, Fineway, and AsiaYo), recruit hotel workers (Hosco), create adventure travel content (Roam), and book medical tourism (Hospals).

Travelport has only been on the public market for four years, but hedge fund Elliott Management believes it can engineer a leveraged buyout that will unlock more value from the company. A spin-off of payments unit eNett is a likely early goal.

The acquisition of once-high-flying Tripping.com as a distressed asset was a losing deal for investors. It's not clear what the payoff will be for HomeToGo acquiring a Silicon Valley rival at vacation rental price-comparison. HomeToGo faces daunting expectations now, having raised $150 million.

Until recently, Selina has been a glorified hostel operator. Its ambition to provide work-life balance to millennials who travel internationally has been more of a work-in-progress than a consistent offering. Yet massive fresh funding this year will help drive Selina to become one of 2019's most fascinating experiments in hospitality.

In settling this lawsuit, Amadeus doesn't admit to any wrongdoing or violations of antitrust law. Along with Travelport, Amadeus agreed to have its team engage in antitrust compliance training.

Several years ago, the hotel industry fought U.S. federal watchdog efforts to fine chains for negligent data protection practices, arguing that hotels had things under control. Hmm. A rash of hotel security incidents since then undercuts the claims of hotels, which need to take a more bank-like approach to data protection.

Bidroom, one of Skift's Top Startups to Watch in 2018, aims to challenge traditional online travel agencies with an Amazon Prime-like subscription model. Plus, fundings galore for Festicket, GlobalTix, Zizoo, Hotel Effectiveness, Loisirs Enchères, Bookaway, LokaLocal, and Vacation With an Artist.

A $150 million investment in Plusgrade may seem like a lot, given the scope of the market for the company's services. But we're not surprised that a business that specializes in drawing out the highest price from bidders in consumer markets would attract this level of funding.

The dream of being a turnaround artist who swoops into a distressed company to restore growth is appealing to many people. But CEO Dana Dunne is finding that the turnaround of eDreams Odigeo that he has been pursuing since 2015 is a long hard slog.

Can you really grow a unicorn in a lab? In other words, can companies like Air France-KLM read all of the innovation advice books in airport bookshops and methodically create the next Airbnb? We're skeptical. But the travel industry could use much more innovation.