Articles tagged “tours and activities”

Tour buses bring thousands of people to Rome each day, but many increasingly run on cleaner fuels than their passenger car counterparts. Buses also replace some of those cars and probably know the traffic laws better than the average driver, another reason that has us scratching our heads at Rome's plan.

TripAdvisor faces a quandary: It needs to have an alternative accommodations business to round out its hotel offerings, but rentals revenue declined and slowed the otherwise-positive trajectory of its non-hotels segment. While TripAdvisor is a market leader in experiences and restaurants, its rentals business is muddying up the works.

MakeMyTrip's management deserves credit for ending a period of decelerating growth and for reducing operating losses over several quarters. But many investors are impatient for an era of profits.

If it ends up being successful, and we don't see any red flags why it wouldn't be, Equinox will have a value proposition not many travel brands can touch: an exclusive place to work out, sleep, and explore the world.

Tours and activities partnerships like the one between Atlas Obscura and Chase seem like a win-win. Card companies acquire knowledge about trends in the sector, and what travelers are demanding. Meanwhile, tour operators get access to loyal consumers willing to shell out for the trip of a lifetime.

The newspaper business continues to go through an evolution in the digital era, all while the travel industry is thriving and demand grows for tours and activities. City Tours probably won't be the biggest revenue generator for the Times anytime soon, but it could do a lot to make the publisher cooler and more relevant.

The global heat map for tours and activities continues to burn bright this year as big players like TUI scoop up small players like Musement for back-end technology that will help them get more personalized products to travelers.

The market for off-the-beaten-path tours and experiences has been heating up this year with the emergence of Airbnb’s Experiences. TripAdvisor, which emphasizes on-the-beaten path offerings, is putting a huge effort into trying to stay on top. Its new travel agent program is part of that effort.

Can a budget carrier like AirAsia also be an aspirational brand, and a hotel and activities booking site? The dual operations — running an airline and an online-travel-agency-like operation — seem like a big stretch. That's especially so when the airline is facing intense pressure from rising fuel costs.

Here's an unorthodox thought in business: TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer knows that the company's value proposition for its customers can remain strong even when the financials face difficulties every once in a while. That's a truism that sometimes gets lost when pundits focus merely on stock price variations.