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Online Travel News

These articles delve into the latest trends, technologies, and strategies that are shaping the online booking landscape, ensuring that industry insiders stay informed and prepared for change. These stories cover essential topics such as the development of innovative booking platforms, the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in personalizing travel options, and the impact of mobile technology on customer behavior. Additionally, the news stories highlight the growing importance of user-generated content and reviews in shaping consumer decisions, and the role of social media in the online travel booking ecosystem. Skift’s stories examine the competitive landscape and offer insights into the successes and challenges faced by major online travel agencies (OTAs), startups, and traditional travel companies transitioning to the digital space.

Online Travel

Is Hipmunk the best travel booking website on the planet?

Hipmunk is innovative, for sure, but is it more than a few features and does it have enough staying power to get its brand known beyond Silicon Valley?

Online Travel

KwikChex rates review sites through its own lens

KwikCheck, which represents hotels, hates unverified hotel reviews so TripAdvisor is near the bottom of the list. TripAdvisor-owned Flipkey, which publishes only verified reviews about vacation rentals, is a favorite. In publishing its list, where is KwikChex's transparency about filing complaints with UK regulatory authorities against at least two of the companies in its ranking?

Online Travel

Social travel startups eat your heart out: “Facebook bragging” boosts Aussie tourism

Hence our general skepticism of specialized social travel startups.

Airlines

Zagat airport restaurant ratings could be coming to Google

Expect a lot more airport, airline, airport restaurant and hotel coverage from Zagat as its content begins to permeate Google search.

Online Travel

The hotel total price fiasco and Kayak’s mobile experiment

Travelers need to see the total price of a hotel room instantly, but online travel agencies and comparison-shopping engines have bowed to competitive pressures.

Hotels

Social-travel site CasaHop takes big step with $1.2M in funding

CasaHop might be called social tech rather than social travel because it is a heavy tech play in the home-exchange arena.

Online Travel

Expedia partners with Greek travel agency — debt crisis will travel

Tight economic times are fertile ground for discounters, whether it's Priceline, Hotwire or airtickets.gr, which is partnering with Expedia for dynamic packages.

Online Travel

Mac and iPad users get premium treatment on Orbitz

Orbitz is beginning to skew hotel displays according to the computing or mobile device you use. Get a grip on those iPads, this is only the mere beginning of an online travel agency personalization push.

Online Travel

Gogo obtains $135M credit facility as IPO patiently waits in the wings

Give Gogo credit. The WiFi provider has to get working on its international expansion and can't wait for its IPO try to be sorted out. That may be the reason behind a $135 million debt-financing agreement.

Hotels

How Booking.com turned the other OTAs into converts

The global hotel business is wide open with room for plenty of players to succeed, but Booking.com is way ahead of the curve and the article tells why.