Articles tagged “online travel agencies”

In today’s marketplace, it’s not enough for an airline to simply have an app. Cutting-edge functionality, efficient tools and, yes, fun bells and whistles are needed to engender consumer loyalty and drive increased revenue. The new app from Singapore Airlines ticks all the boxes and provides a new model for the industry.

India’s largest online travel agency may beat analysts’ expectations and break even sooner rather than later. Ctrip, which now owns nearly half of the company, could be a factor. Another is boosting hotel content, which offers higher margins than air.

We get it, startups often have to accept substantial losses in order to quickly expand a particular business. But given the size of Culture Trip's revenue and the market in which it operates, it's difficult to see why investors have pumped more than $100 million into the business.

Since Saudi Arabia introduced a new tourist visa on Sept. 28, the focus has been on what it means for non-Muslim leisure travelers. But the new visa holds a bigger significance for the huge Muslim travel market in Asia and elsewhere.

Consumers are so overwhelmed by choice these days, they sometimes simply give up on travel plans altogether. Brands like American Express Travel are hoping to end that lamentable state of affairs by combining old-school service with new technological tools that make the complete “customer journey” both high tech and high touch.

Like low-cost carriers before them, low-cost hotel chains are playing a big role in the growth of online travel in Southeast Asia, according to a new Google report.

This is going to be a slugfest. Some hotels view resort fees as key to business and argue that they are already transparent in how they advertise them. Consumers, states, and now federal legislators are putting great pressure on that notion. Something's gotta give — and the status quo is not a likely winner.

Thomas Cook's collapse was a disaster played out in slow motion. An ill-fated acquisition spree, a bloated retail footprint, and a commoditized product left it unable to deal with changes in consumer behavior and economic shocks.

In an I-just-saw-an-elephant-fly moment, Marriott International will be directing businesses to Expedia Group to access certain Marriott wholesale rates. Bedbanks, tour operators, and smaller online travel agencies that play games with room rates are put on notice.

The collapse last week of Amoma suggests that an industrywide crackdown on online travel agencies that violate hotel contracts is getting serious. For example, many hoteliers have wanted Hotelbeds to crack down on bad behavior by some agencies. The distributor of wholesale rates has responded by taking action.