Articles tagged “online travel agencies”

On the Beach’s careful approach to expansion shows just how difficult it can be to grow in foreign source markets. Europe isn’t one big country and if you don’t make acquisitions, expansion can be a tedious process. But one of those acquisitions might just be the one that pays off in the long term.

Despegar will need to become even more of a force in Latin America if it hopes to tempt major shareholder Expedia Group into acquiring it.

Agoda's new CEO John Brown will be leading the company to increasingly push into Europe and the Americas, beyond its traditional online travel agency turf of Asia Pacific. The early numbers show that parent company Booking Holdings is putting its money where its mouth is.

We come in peace, a top Google executive essentially said while addressing the travel industry on Thursday at Skift Forum Europe in Berlin. One possible industry response might be: "Trust, but verify."

Who knew that adding affiliate booking links to the hotels mentioned in articles and videos could earn record levels of investment?

Airbnb always gives us plenty to talk about — and this episode of the Skift Podcast features a lively conversation about the many ways the homesharing company is venturing beyond its original focus and disrupting wide swaths of the travel industry.

Booking.com keeps hinting that it intends to become a full-service travel agency. But these products are often less profitable than hotels. So it risks a bumpy ride. No wonder it is considering revamping its rewards program and building a chatbot to help with merchandising.

It has become harder to find the online travel agencies with the lowest prices in Google's metasearch. The apparent change this week implicitly favors travel giants, which can afford to dominate ad auctions for online search.

It sounds like the potential buyers didn't accept the company's new strategy — or the buyers weren't willing to pay enough. Regardless, while it's certainly a risk, eDreams Odigeo is doing the right thing in diversifying its business and improving price transparency.

In our view, hotel owners stand to gain, as online travel agencies, brands, and disruptors like Airbnb all battle it out. Subscribe to Skift Research to learn more.