Startups

TravelPerk's and TravelTriangle's fundings are yet a further sign that Skift called it right in our 2018 megatrend predictions. We said companies are investing heavily in treating business travelers as respectable consumers rather than as animals that need prodding like goats.

It's old news that many hotels are enabling guests to text requests to the front desk. But it's still early days for them to piece together the tech systems in a way that will let them successfully upsell guests on additional services via chat.

MasterCard, Hyatt, and others must have done their homework before they invested in IfOnly. Still, the startup certainly expects outsiders to take too much on faith about its progress.

As winter gives way to spring, at least in the northern hemisphere, startups raised more than $24 million to expand online travel booking and planning in the Middle East and Europe. Just in time for consumers planning summer trips.

There's a new generation of property managers trying to bring hotel-like professionalism and scale to the vacation rental market. Their tech chops will play a large role in determining if they succeed or fail.

We were skeptical of claims from Skyroam that travelers would pay a premium for seamless mobile Wi-Fi. After all, the internet has become cheap and easy to access in many destinations. But the startup has attracted millions of paying users. The lesson: There's always a premium version of an existing service waiting to be invented.

Does yet another big funding round signal that the vacation rental property market is over-heated? Nah. It's reasonable given the huge size of the opportunity and how much investment will be needed to digitize and automate the sector.

The concept of a budget brand hotel network that promises consistent amenities has been popularized by India's OYO Rooms. RedDoorz has traction with a similar model in Indonesia, which suggests the model may have legs worldwide.

Talk about using incentives to change behavior. Is the threat of obsolescence due to new technology and startup business models enough to prompt incumbent travel management companies such as Egencia and Carlson Wagonlit to adapt?

WeTravel finds itself in a competitive payments market. The company had a good first year, and expanding to larger travel companies is likely on its to-do list.