Articles tagged “attractions”

SoftBank has upended the sales of tours and attractions by investing record-breaking sums in GetYourGuide and Klook. That's boosted valuations to such lofty levels that it may leave only a few options: Merge or go public.

Booking.com's hotel focus has given way to a strategy to serve travelers at every portion of the trip. TripAdvisor already does it, Expedia too. Airbnb is on that full-service road. So Booking.com will have plenty of company.

With two of the company’s minority shareholders on board, this bid looks like it’s got a good chance of succeeding. But will any of Parques Reunidos’ rivals fancy getting involved with their own bids?

GetYourGuide may close an approximately $300 million funding round this year with possible participation by new investors like SoftBank and Temasek. If true, investors would be betting that the attractions booking agency can continue to defy several assumptions about young travel companies.

GetYourGuide is betting that travelers will prefer to book GetYourGuide-branded tours over locally branded ones. This diagonal integration echoes marketing moves made by Oyo in hotels and RedAwning in lodging rentals. But will it work?

And the winner is ... "experiences." It's a trendy way these days to refer to what formerly were known as tours and activities or attractions. Following Airbnb and Booking.com, TripAdvisor's new business unit will be called TripAdvisor Experiences. Breathing is an experience and living is an experience. Does the name du jour really reflect tour and activities offerings?

The digital revolution has finally come for tours and activities. Our latest research report dives into challenges for this fragmented sector as it shifts increasingly online and to mobile, but highlights the potential market opportunity for a very diverse, experiential space.

Disney's Hollywood Studios has been a construction site for years now, which can be off-putting to guests. Some will visit for the new Toy Story-themed land this year, but we expect the biggest crowds to appear in 2019 for the Star Wars expansion.

The attractions booking sector is TripAdvisor's to lose, especially given its recent success. But unless it pushes faster on mobile innovation, rivals like GetYourGuide and Klook might overtake the company.

It is a war zone in tours and activities this week as all of the platform players are scrambling to pick up the pieces of Zerve.