Articles tagged “partnerships”

Hosts may come and go on Airbnb's global platform. But the fate of Airbnb's listings will depend much more on supply and demand than on grievances.

The Booking.com flight partnership with eTraveli doesn't seem particularly seamless because travelers still have to hop over to a third-party site, Gotogate, to complete their reservations. Still, the deal is another step in Booking.com's evolution from hotel-only provider in its early days to well-rounded online travel company.

Amazon's deal with Cleartrip using Amazon Pay for India domestic flights could be a forerunner of similar moves in other emerging markets where payment systems are being disrupted. This time around in travel, Amazon has decided to partner rather than build its own offering — a very reasonable way to get back into the game.

When airlines such as Delta and Etihad opt to make investments in partner airlines around the globe instead of making acquisitions, which can trigger regulatory hassles, the investor carriers are going to be subject to economic turmoil in partners' domestic markets. That just goes with the territory.

Yahoo Travel opted to reach a deal with a search site, Hipmunk, which means in some cases users will have to navigate to Hipmunk and then navigate again to an online travel agency, airline or hotel site to complete their bookings. A little clunky, although Hipmunk also provides direct bookings on Hipmunk.com in some instances.

Does HotelTonight really provide incremental bookings without detracting from the hotels' own websites and apps? Several big hotel chains and Barry Sternlicht are now on board and apparently believe so. But, what happens down the road when the humble startup gets too powerful? That's something to consider, as well.