Articles tagged “online travel agencies”

The subscription model continues to show promise in travel.

Despegar, Latin America's largest online travel company, will pay much, much less than its original $136 million proposed price to buy Mexican travel agency Best Day. Expect similar tough haggling over deal terms by travel companies across the globe.

Smaller online travel agencies try to make money by grabbing nickels and eurocent coins ahead of the steamrollers of global advertising behemoths. The underreported story of why China's largest travel company acquired a tiny Dutch travel group highlights the phenomenon.

Google will make it through the coronavirus firestorm and will be in a relatively strong position on the other side. We don't know what kinds of deals the search giant is making with its largest travel advertisers behind closed doors, but for the majority of advertisers Google's largesse is pathetic.

Despegar had offered to pay a premium for Mexico's Best Day in January, but today the two companies are strapped for cash due to the pandemic's destruction of travel bookings. This acquisition may be one of several deals across the sector imperiled by coronavirus.

The hotel room bedbank Hotelbeds confirmed on Thursday that it had received a loan of about $435 million (€400 million), boosting its cash cushion. But will cautious travelers be as interested in the company's typically non-refundable rates and otherwise typically restricted offers during months of uncertainty about possible travel restrictions?

Many short-term rentals offer extra space and control over your living environment. Both attributed highly valued during this time of pandemic. Nothing's decided yet, but some early evidence suggests that short-term rentals might be doing less worse than traditional hotels peers.

The online travel industry is marginally better positioned to deal with this current outbreak than many of their suppliers in the hotel and airline industry. Still, the damage will get worse — and be severe and long-lasting.

The situation is dire for many suppliers, but corporate travel managers could help hotels and airlines prepare for the rebound — if they act responsibly.

Everyone in the travel industry is frustrated right now with much of the world frozen up. But Nicolas Brumelot, the co-founder and president of travel startup Misterfly, speaks for many agencies frustrated by alleged delays in refunds by some airlines.