As happened with major online travel agencies, there will eventually be several winners in short-term rentals beyond Airbnb. But will these come from the independent property managers trying to build consumer brands, or will the larger players take them out as is customary?
Airlines have complained about the hidden costs of online travel agency web-scraping for years, but Southwest takes that sensitivity to a much higher strategic level. Kiwi apparently is adept at out-maneuvering Southwest's page-scraping roadblocks so the courts will have to sort it all out.
Trivago is stepping into an arena where many companies before it have failed, namely travel inspiration presented considerably before people would be ready to book. If it succeeds, Trivago would be breaking relatively new ground among metasearch competitors.
In Skift’s top stories this week, United sees a potential full recovery in 2022, Kayak launches Kayak for Business, and Canada reopens its borders for fully vaccinated U.S. travelers.
Hopper makes more money on add-on, fintech-oriented services than on selling travel — even the usually juicy hotel business. The business isn't profitable but who cares when grabbing market share is on the agenda.
In what could be the travel industry’s most drawn-out launch of a booking tool, the final version will appeal to many small companies — but it could have offered so much more.
At a time when some big hotel brands seek to increase average daily rates, Booking Holdings' expansion of its Genius loyalty and discounting program could hurt that effort. Some individual properties, hungry for increased exposure as they compete with vacation rentals and other hotels, will welcome the move.
Kayak and Life House have joined forces to launch Kayak's first foray into the hospitality industry. The concept is a good one, but to be successful, the kinks in technology and customer service still need to be worked out, as Skift learned firsthand.
A new business model shall set you free. That's the underpinning of Flight Penguin, with the former Hipmunk gang vowing to overturn the coziness between online travel players and their big-spending partners. Google, Kayak and Expedia have nothing to fear; they will hardly notice.