Business Travel News

Travel spending is stable globally. Nobody is really sure what 2017 will hold for leisure or business travel, however, given global instability and the high value of the U.S. dollar.

Hotelbeds has an outstanding market position on the strength of its booking technology. The plan to acquire Tourico shows that its financial backers, particularly buyout firm Cinven, see a path to growth. Expect further acquisitions that add new supplier relationships in new market segments.

The work-from-anywhere force is on the rise, but face-to-face time with co-workers remains vital. For their internal gatherings, some remote teams have found co-living spaces can offer a better environment for bonding than traditional meeting venues.

These are the tourism trends we were talking about this week.

The likes of Thomas Cook and Tui Group should be wary of Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who in the past has taken on Google and Apple. Should she find anything amiss there is the potential of a sizable fine and a revamp of their practices.

Confusion surrounded last week's travel ban, and two different surveys reflect the mood of the business community. Will time and a little more information provide clarity to ease concerns — or will the new administration create additional chaos with the implementation?

It looks like travel managers are finally embracing the sharing economy in both ground transportation and lodging. Expect the growth of the sharing economy to continue in corporate travel, but it will be interesting to see if there will be a ceiling on adoption in coming years.

Think of them as tweeners. And that's the point: Travelers in their 50s, squeezed between Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, are breaking new ground in their global meanderings. Brands had better pay attention, although Fifties may be tricky to pigeon-hole.

It's been a big couple of weeks for the meetings and events industry since the Presidential Inauguration. Record levels of live streaming and data-driven community engagement rallied people to come together around common causes, which the meetings industry can learn from.

T&A's love-hate relationship with the internet continues. They love the online reviews, but are reluctant to use the internet as a distribution channel.