Articles tagged “skift scoop”

There's no doubt that an independent and privately held Kayak, freed from the broader considerations of Booking Holdings, could have benefited from focused investment and attention.

The integration charges are more than minor annoyances for smaller OTAs. And the cumbersome way the Ryanair pop-ups work, plus the lack of promotional fares, make the OTAs second-class flight sellers.

Google is expanding its experiences' advertising business, heightening competition among online travel agencies and the attractions themselves.

That Airbnb didn't acquire Tiqets for its own experiences business after leading a Series C funding round, didn't give Tiqets much street cred. The Expedia deal couldn't have been a very substantial one for investors given the lack of financial disclosures.

A new deal may serve to loosen the Capital One-Hopper partnership. Meanwhile, Hopper CEO Fred Lalonde co-founded and chairs a climate company: Doesn't a struggling Hopper require his full-time attention?

The core Tripadvisor brand, which has been profitable but shrinking, took the brunt of the layoffs.

Tripadvisor is feeling the heat from activist investor Starboard Value. The merging of Brand Tripadvisor and Viator's operations should enable Tripadvisor to wrangle some cost efficiencies.

So far Starboard Value hasn't publicly called for any leadership changes at Tripadvisor, but the activist investor's views aren't exactly a ringing endorsement.

Navan's landing of OpenAI, Perplexity and Anthropic as customers is a coup, and shows the company's offerings resonate in Silicon Valley. But Navan's revenue is also broad-based geographically.

The creation of business profiles for property managers on Airbnb would be a step forward in the name of transparency. Guests would be better served if they have a preference for individual versus professional hosts.