m-Travel.com and Travel Distribution News

Archives for July 2007

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Start Utazas goes for proactive customer service with voice, video and text chat capability

Hungarian online travel portal Start Utazas has launched what is being termed as “the industry’s first proactive live voice, video and text chat capability developed exclusively for sales and customer service on the company’s website.”

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SideStep partners Silverjet, expands its luxury travel search offering

SideStep has expanded its luxury travel search offering as it signed a partnership with business class  British airline Silverjet.

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First Choice enhances customer service with Verint’s software

First Choice has witnessed enhancement in the quality of customer service operations with Verint Systems’ Witness Actionable Solutions Impact 360 Quality Monitoring solution.

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Flight Centre abandons JV with Pacific Equity Partners

Flight Centre has decided to terminate its proposed leveraged joint venture with Pacific Equity Partners.

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Wizz Air and Hotelopia sign a deal to tap Eastern European market

Online hotel booking specialist Hotelopia has formed a partnership with Wizz Air to supply accommodation services on www.wizzhotel.com

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Wikia gets closer to a new open source search platform

Wikia has acquired Grub, a web crawler that will enable Wikia's forthcoming search service to scour the web to index relevant sites.

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Travel brands most at risk from user generated comments

Travel products and services was identified as the sector most at risk from negative comments on social networks, according to the 2007 Social Media for Brands Report commissioned by search conversion agency Tamar.

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First stage of new pan European reservation system Project GLOBE completed

BlueSky Travel Systems, a provider of open travel distribution software, has announced the first stage of the implementation of its itour Travel Distribution Suite into Project GLOBE.

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Travel management companies need to take an active role in aggregating content

The full-content agreements signed in 2006 between airlines and GDS are at best a stop-gap measure for corporations seeking efficient access to airfare inventory, according to a white paper on current trends in travel distribution released today by BCD Travel.

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Baidu continues to be ahead of Google in search engine market in China

Baidu continues to lead the China search engine market, according to a report China Search Engine Market Quarterly Tracker Q2 2007 recently released by Analysys International.

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Hertz acquires former licensee in UK, focuses on leveraging its global infrastructure

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.’s car rental brand Hertz has acquired the vehicle rental business of former licensee, Autotravel, in the UK.

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Travel companies are taught important behavioural differences between European travel consumers

A 22% growth of European online travel spend is expected this year, accruing more than EUR 46 billion and representing 18.4% of the European travel market. EyeforTravel reports that the online sector of the European travel market grew 30% from 2005 to 2006, was worth EUR 38.3 billion and 15.5% of the market. This is a significant jump from its 4% share in 2002. Looking ahead, a 16% Compound Annual Growth Rate (2007 to 2010) for the online sector is expected, as well as an 8% erosion of the offline market.

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Webjet officially introduces its travel planning software

Australian online travel service Webjet has shared that its travel planning software Planitonearth has officially moved out of its initial Beta release phase and turned into full live operation.

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Tvtrip introduces first online hotel video search in the UK

Hotel video guide Tvtrip.com, which had recently raised $4.8 million, has launched its UK version www.tvtrip.co.uk.

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Evite registered user base crosses 15 million-mark

Social event planning Evite has announced that it has surpassed 15 million registered users mark, which represents a 30 percent annual increase in its user base.

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Airline sites are appealing particularly to the heaviest travel category users

Airline sites are appealing particularly to the heaviest travel category users, while online travel agency sites have a lower proportion of Heavy travel category users but a larger visitor base.

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IHG focuses on aligning worldwide brand strategy

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) recently set up a worldwide brand management leadership team to drive brand development across the globe.

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Manager Dubai & Northern Emirates - Dubai

The Emirates Group is a highly profitable business with a turnover of approximately US$ 9 billion and over 31,000 employees. The Group comprises of Dnata, the successful Airport Ground Services and Travel Industry division, and Emirates, the Group's rapidly expanding and award winning international Airline. Emirates global network now sees it flying to over 85 destinations in 59 countries, and with aircraft orders worth over $US 35 billion identified, Emirates fleet will grow to over 200 wide-bodied jets by 2013, with many more destinations coming on line.

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District Manager (Abu Dhabi & Al Ain) Dubai

The Emirates Group is a highly profitable business with a turnover of approximately US$ 9 billion and over 31,000 employees. The Group comprises of Dnata, the successful Airport Ground Services and Travel Industry division, and Emirates, the Group's rapidly expanding and award winning international Airline. Emirates global network now sees it flying to over 85 destinations in 59 countries, and with aircraft orders worth over $US 35 billion identified, Emirates fleet will grow to over 200 wide-bodied jets by 2013, with many more destinations coming on line.

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Travelocity introduces its first North American Spanish travel site

Travelocity has launched a site for Mexico, marking the entry of online travel company’s first Spanish language site in North America.

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Kuoni continues its acquisition spree

The Kuoni Group has acquired the French-based Les Ateliers du Voyage travel company, with immediate effect. The move is part of group’s expansion in the premium and specialist segments.

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Avis.Com booking engine optimised for use with portable Internet devices

Avis Rent A Car System, LLC has launched a new online booking tool optimised for use with portable Internet devices.

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easyJet goes for all-inclusive pricing online display on its site

Low-fares airline easyJet is to display all-inclusive pricing from the beginning of the booking process on its newly updated website.

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Lessno.com ties up with Mobissimo

Discount airfare website Lessno.com and Mobissimo, a travel search engine, have signed a distribution partnership.

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WestJet CEO to step down

Clive Beddoe, who co-founded Calgary-based WestJet in 1996 with three others, is to relinquish his job as CEO to WestJet president Sean Durfy this fall and will step back as Executive chairman.

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Top 10 challenging questions to ask your Internet marketing vendor

By Jason Price and Max Starkov

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Holidaybreak focuses on improving 'Look to Book' online conversions

European specialist holiday group Holidaybreak Plc has selected the Tealeaf CX suite to help enhance the online experience of visitors to its most prominent UK camping websites: www.keycamp.co.uk and www.eurocamp.co.uk.

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American Express Business Travel launches new web-based MI data reporting solution

American Express Business Travel has unveiled its new web-based management information (MI) data reporting solution, American Express AXIS @ Work.

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cFares to offer insight into price variability via new airfare dashboard

CFares has launched an enhanced user interface that presents travelers with a visual dashboard that charts the trade-offs a traveler can make between departure time and prices among similar flights.

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Generic terms may increase visits to a travel site, but they decrease conversion rate: study

Search engines drive 21 percent of all traffic to travel aggregator websites as Compete.com’s new Search Analytics tool analysed which search terms drive surfers to eCommerce sites like travel aggregators.

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Delta selects Omniture as its web analytics partner

Delta Air Lines has selected Omniture, a provider of online business optimisation software, to enhance the online experience for their customers.

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American Airlines and four of its oneworld Alliance partners to cooperate in operational areas

American Airlines and four of its oneworld Alliance partners in Iberia, Finnair, Malev Hungarian Airlines, and Royal Jordanian Airlines filed with the United States Department of Transportation for antitrust immunity effective March 30, 2008.

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First joint airline-sponsored corporate travel site launched

SkyCorp Direct, a free online corporate travel management tool, has been launched to offer corporate customers a new choice for booking and managing their business travel.

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Orbitz Worldwide signs data reporting contract with TRX

Orbitz Worldwide is to offer travel administrators greater control of their travel programmes through a new data reporting contract with TRX.

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Expedia Corporate Travel introduces integrated global consolidated reporting

Expedia Corporate Travel has introduced what it is being termed as the industry’s first fully its integrated global consolidated reporting capability.

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Expedia Corporate Travel offers `75 by 75 Guarantee’

Expedia Corporate Travel has come up with 75 by 75 Guarantee, a programme guaranteeing that new customers will achieve 75 percent online adoption within 75 days of implementing the online booking tool or Expedia Corporate Travel will provide a full refund on all online and agent-assisted transaction fees.

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GetThere2go to enable booking and managing trips via hand-held device

Corporations using online corporate travel reservation technology GetThere can soon offer business travelers the capability to book and manage trips anywhere around the globe via their hand-held device.

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Driving travelers to make ticket exchanges online rather than calling an agent

Travelocity Business has introduced a new report targeted at travel procurement executives.

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TUI UK and AOL sign two-year deal

TUI UK has strengthened its five-year relationship with AOL by signing a new two-year deal.

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SITA and CarTrawler form alliance, to boost airline car rental revenue

SITA and CarTrawler have signed an agreement to integrate CarTrawler’s car rental distribution platform within the SITA Horizon portfolio of passenger management solutions used by over 100 airlines worldwide.

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New travel 2.0 website gets seed round of financing

VibeAgent Inc., a new travel 2.0 website, has announced a seed round of financing and appointed Trip Davis, President and CEO of TRX to its Board of Directors.

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Ryanair ties up with Ticket Text for low-cost ticketing for concerts and other live events

Europe’s largest low fares airline Ryanair and Ticket Text, a Dublin based mobile technology company, have signed an agreement that will provide Ryanair’s 52m customers with low-cost tickets for concerts, sport, theatres, galleries and exhibitions in Ireland, UK and the rest of Europe.

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Sabre focuses on XML connectivity to deliver enhanced services through the GDS

Sabre Travel Network is ready with its latest set of next-generation air shopping and booking capabilities.

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FCm Travel strengthens reporting capabilities

FCm Travel Solutions has teamed up with travel technology company Cornerstone Information Systems to strengthen its reporting capabilities and enhance data management.

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Teletext launches new `Stay In The UK’ section on its site

Teletext has launched a new dedicated UK breaks and attractions channel on its teletextholidays.co.uk website.

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Google’s revenues from outside of the US totaled $1.84b in 2Q

Google reported revenues of $3.87 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, an increase of 58 percent compared to the second quarter of 2006 and an increase of six percent compared to the first quarter of 2007.

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Holiday Direct Travel Group opts for Dolphin TravelScanner

The Holiday Direct Travel Group has signed a deal with Dolphin Dynamics, providers of specialist software to the travel industry.

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Virgin America signs deal with Orbitz, Galileo

Virgin America has named Orbitz Worldwide as its exclusive online travel agency in the United States for its launch.

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TMCs partner with Concur for end-to-end travel and expense management solution

Concur, a provider of on-demand Employee Spend Management services, has launched the Concur Travel Management Company (TMC) Partner Program.

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Orbitz Worldwide prices $510 million IPO

Online travel company Orbitz Worldwide has priced the initial public offering of 34,000,000 shares of common stock at $15.00 per share.

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Atlas Travel to adopt G2Agent desktop tool

Atlas Travel International has signed an agreement with G2 SwitchWorks Corp. to use G2Agent throughout their US agency locations.

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LeisureLink connects to Pegasus distribution platform

LeisureLink has signed an agreement with Pegasus Solutions Inc. to add LeisureLink Vacation Lodging to the Pegasus distribution platform, adding access to thousands of websites and strengthening LeisureLink distribution.

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Will Your Next CEO be a Revenue Manager?

The days of Revenue Management being labeled as a voodoo science are (hopefully!) behind us.  But there is a still a long way to go before RM is truly given the respect is deserves. Every decision a revenue manager makes ultimately affects the company’s profitability. However, in order to realize the full potential of RM and strategic pricing, revenue managers need to be viewed as executive-level positions, with influence over other departments. A successful revenue manager should be able to convince senior management to see RM as part on the bigger picture and develop an integrated culture of revenue management within the organization. 

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Does User Generated Content represent the missing link in the online travel buying cycle?

Web 2.0 or Travel 2.0 is a hot topic for the travel industry and new research by EyeforTravel has revealed that User Generated Content (UGC) now plays a remarkable role in the UK young professional’s online travel buying cycle, with 72% saying that consumer reviews have influenced their travel choice.

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Revenue fall fuels Yahoo sale talk: media

The chance that Yahoo Inc. will put itself up for sale has reportedly increased since the company lowered its revenue forecast, according to Stanford Group, and one of its analysts reportedly said Microsoft Corp. is a candidate to buy the company.

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Ryanair ordered not to repeat an ad related to environment

Ryanair has been ordered not to repeat an advertisement that played down the impact of aviation on the environment.

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Search Works to drive traffic to easyJet.com websites across Europe

European low-fares airline easyJet has chosen London-based search engine marketing services agency

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Kayak.com offers advertisers a chance to reach its audience with graphical ads

Travel Ad Network (TAN), a vertical ad network in travel, has become the exclusive sales representative for the ad inventory in travel search engine Kayak.com’s weekly Trip Ideas newsletter.

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Delta manages $1.8 billion second-quarter net income, plans to serve London’s Heathrow

Delta Air Lines Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy in April, reported a profit in the second quarter of 2007.

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Via Just Go opts for Galileo as its GDS provider

Travelport’s Galileo has formed an alliance with Via Just Go, a Bangalore-based travel solutions company.

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"First half confirmed the uptrend in the hotels business in Europe": Accor

Accor's consolidated revenue rose 8.8 percent to 4,015 million euros in the
first six months of 2007.

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Air One pulls out of bidding for stake in Alitalia

Italian airline Air One has withdrawn from the bidding process for a large
stake in struggling airline Alitalia, a development which threatens to derail
the Italian government's plans to privatise the national carrier.

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Former Europcar owner invests in Oodles.com

Melbourne-based car rental comparison site Oodles.com has found an investor in Mario Salvo, the former owner of Europcar Australia.

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Abacus boosts reliability for agents with Last Mile Monitoring System

Abacus International has developed a Subscriber Last Mile Monitoring System
(SLMS) that can detect problems in third party networks which connect the 'last
mile' between Abacus and its more than 15,000 travel agency locations.

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GetThere offers new dynamic messaging capabilities

Online corporate travel reservation technology GetThere has announced new
dynamic messaging capabilities for its customers.

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Orbitz adds small business offering, strengthens its corporate travel

Orbitz Worldwide's Corporate Travel Solutions is to extend the Orbitz for
Business managed booking tool to small businesses, through the launch of a new
self-managed travel site.

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SkyScanner moves into the Chinese market

Flight search engine SkyScanner is set to launch a Chinese language version of its website www.skyscanner.net as part of its global expansion.

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MSN to offer users Farecast’s predictive technology

MSN and airfare prediction website Farecast.com have signed an agreement as per which MSN will offer its users free airfare predictions and planning tools on the MSN Travel Channel.

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Adelman Travel to launch integrated global fare tool

Adelman Travel Group has enhanced its Adelman Private Fares (APF) offering, which allows businesses to better manage their international travel costs.

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GoQuo powers new online accommodation portal for gay market

Newly launched accommodation website www.gayfriendlyrooms.com is targeting high value gay/ lesbian/ bisexual/ transgender (GLBT) market.

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Making money from videos without turning off the viewer

Considering online videos’ growing popularity, a company has launched what it calls “in-stream interactive online video monetising solution”.

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Strive for Excellence with One of the World’s Fastest Growing Airlines!

As the Middle East’s only 5-Star airline and one of the world’s fastest growing carriers, Qatar Airways is dedicated to excellence and continuous improvement.  We apply this same philosophy towards our people where we provide career diversity, continual development and training.

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Greg Stubblefield to serve as President of Vanguard Car Rental

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has chosen Greg Stubblefield to be the President of Vanguard Car Rental following the completion of Enterprise’s purchase of Vanguard.

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Is it theoretically possible to guarantee lowest price or route for airline tickets?

A study from a computer scientist has highlighted the complexity of airline ticket pricing, stating that its impossible for computer system or travel agent to offer the best fare at any given time.

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Travelzoo expands its operations in Europe and Asia

Travelzoo has come up with new business initiatives in France, Hong Kong, and Japan.

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Tvtrip.com raises US$4.8m

Hotel video guide Tvtrip.com has raised $4.8 million from Balderton Capital (formerly Benchmark Capital Europe) and Partech International.

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Thomas Cook to launch travel portal

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. has appointed Amitabh Pandey as the President and Head for the launch of its e-Business.

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Airlines must show all extra prices: EU

In an effort to bring in more transparency, the European Parliament has decided to adopt new rules as per which air fares advertised in the European Union must show all taxes, fees and surcharges so passengers know immediately how much they will pay.

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Cleartrip launches hotel search model

Online travel company Cleartrip has redesigned its Hotel search section.

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Virgin America gears up for August launch

Virgin America has received approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin selling tickets in advance of their launch later this summer.

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US Airways brings expanded Internet functionality to hand-held wireless device

US Airways has teamed up with Usablenet mobile to provide Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and web-based cell phone users with content and functionality from http://www.usairways.com optimised for these devices.

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Spirit Airlines tastes success with its segmented email marketing

Low-cost air carrier Spirit Airlines’ email marketing programme “is experiencing soaring open rates and generating increased revenues.”

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Consumers conducting travel research online continue to outnumber those booking online

Consumers are continuing to use the Internet to make their travel arrangements, but usage has declined over the past few years, according to a new study.

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TripHub integrates group travel planning service on Orbitz.com

Online travel company Orbitz and online group travel planning and collaboration site TripHub have formed a strategic partnership.

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TripWiser and Wcities tie-up to offer an affluent experience for families planning trips

Wcities, a location-based information service, and TripWiser, a family trip planning site, have entered into a strategic partnership to create the most affluent user experience for families planning trips to or within the US and Canada.

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Southwest raises fares, adds PayPal to its website

Southwest Airlines Co. has raised most of its fares by $1 to $10 each way.

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Advito adds three languages to its travel benchmarking service

Advito, an independent consulting division of BCD Travel, has expanded eValuation Service to three additional languages.

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IHG announces senior management appointments for APAC and EMEA

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC has appointed Peter Gowers as Chief Executive, Asia Pacific region and Kirk Kinsell as President, Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA).

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Genesis enhances its FareSpider low cost air and hotel booking system

Genesis Travel Distribution System has enhanced its FareSpider low cost air and hotel booking system to overcome new barriers to combining one way discount fare segments.

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Starwood and Vacation.com sign preferred hotel alliance for agency network

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Vacation.com have announced an agreement to create an alliance that offers incentives, including marketing support and rewards, to agency members that book accommodations with Starwood’s nine brands.

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SideStep acquires social networking site TripUp.com

Internet travel search company SideStep, Inc. has completed the acquisition of TripUp, Inc. (www.tripup.com), a social networking site dedicated to travel.

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Travelzoo comes up with interactive ad campaign at Las Vegas’ Airport

Internet media company Travelzoo has launched what is being described as “the world’s first interactive advertising campaign at an airport involving large-scale projections that encourage traveler participation.”

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Hotwire.com eliminates its airfare booking fees on all flights

Discount travel site Hotwire.com has eliminated its airline ticket booking fees. The savings apply to opaque and retail listings on all flights, from last-minute summer vacations to advance bookings.

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"The Internet is confusing and the travel industry is equally as confusing"

CRM in Travel Europe 2007: By EFT Correspondent in London   
How do search engines/ price comparison sites approach CRM?

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Lonely Planet introduces new travel guide product Pick & Mix

Lonely Planet is to trial Pick & Mix, a new travel guide product that enables travellers to select and purchase individual chapters from a range of Lonely Planet’s award winning guidebooks.

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WAYN.com to offer an interactive experience

Networking site WAYN.com has enhanced its offering by enabling its members to take full advantage of its communication tools, travel guide, trips and full search functionality which will let users find other members based on where they are.

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Nick Hughes chosen as Managing Director, Kuoni UK

Following the recent adoption of a new group structure, Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. has appointed Nick Hughes as Managing Director of Kuoni UK.

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Orbitz may raise US$617m from IPO

Online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. could reportedly raise $617 million by selling shares in its second initial public offering in four years.

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"Total RM has to go over and above room revenue considerations"

Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2007: By EFT Correspondent
   
Philosophically, RM judges "best customer" in terms of maximising current
profitability while CRM philosophy adopts a longer-term view.

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Expedia Corporate Travel revenues from Europe to surpass US by 2008: media

Even as Expedia Corporate Travel plans global expansion, the company's revenue
from corporate travel in Europe is expected to exceed what it gets in the US by
2008.

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Galileo Online Travel launched for agents in Australia and NZ

Galileo has launched Galileo Online Travel, a web-based booking engine developed specifically for travel agents and their customers. 

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Priceline.com extends no-fee airline tickets sale through Labor Day

Priceline.com has extended its Summer Flights Sale through Labor Day. During the sale, customers pay no booking fees for published-price airline tickets purchased for travel up to 330 days from date of purchase.

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Priceline.com extends no-fee airline tickets sale through Labor Day

Priceline.com has extended its Summer Flights Sale through Labor Day. During the sale, customers pay no booking fees for published-price airline tickets purchased for travel up to 330 days from date of purchase.

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Latest on transatlantic routes: American to fly Stansted-JFK

Economy flights between Stansted Airport and New York are set to resume for the first time since 9/11 as American Airlines gears up to start flying on the same route.

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Indian Online Travel Market Continues to provide new opportunities for intrepid travel companies

2006 saw a huge amount of activity in the online travel space in India - and this year the market is showing no sign of cooling off. Far from it in fact. Unprecented economic growth, a burgeoning middle class, rapidly expanding access to the internet and favourable e-commerce conditions are all contributing factors in making India the most exciting and dynamic online travel market on the planet.

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European rail operators join hands, to challenge LCCs

Seven European rail operators have forged an alliance to target leisure journeys below six hours and business journeys below four hours.

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Flight Centre to launch a new brand proposition and marketing campaign

High street travel retailer Flight Centre is set to launch a new brand proposition and marketing campaign
as part of the company’s strategy of improving overall customer experience and drawing on the strengths of its sales consultants.

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Galileo Asia provides zero commission guidance to agents

Travelport’s subsidiary Galileo has produced a White Paper to assist travel agents in Asia who are yet to face a zero commission environment. 

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Carlson Wagonlit Travel gains majority control of its JV in India

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has acquired an additional 26 percent stake in its Indian joint venture from AFL Private Ltd.

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Accor Services acquires Surf Gold for €12.6m, strengthens Marketing Services segment

Accor Services recently acquired Surf Gold for €12.6 million, an initiative part of its active external growth strategy.

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Assessing the maturity level of affiliate marketing in travel industry

Affiliate Marketing for the Travel Industry Special

The relationship between merchants and affiliates currently seems to be in a confused state to an extent.

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PE firm Blackstone to buy Hilton for $26 billion

Hilton Hotels Corp. has agreed to be acquired by the US private equity firm
Blackstone Group in a deal valued at $26 billion.

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Lufthansa introduces community toolbars, boosts sales

Lufthansa has deployed Conduit’s community toolbar solution to provide users with real-time updates on flight status, destination weather, seat availability and more.

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Northwest Airlines to provide content to Expedia

Northwest Airlines and Expedia have reached an agreement under which Northwest will provide full content and Expedia will continue to sell Northwest products and services.

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Indian government to launch a LCC modeled on Southwest: media

A new low-cost domestic airline from the Indian government is expected to be launched in October this year.

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Travelzest posts pre-tax profit in 1H

Travelzest plc has shared the Group total transaction value increased by 849 percent to £86.3 million as the British online travel group offering specialist travel programmes disclosed its interim results for the six months to 30 April 2007.

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New dynamic packaging solution for low cost carriers

GoQuo is set to launch its latest dynamic packaging solution, designed specifically for low cost carriers.

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Yahoo! launches SmartAds ad platform, travel advertisers initial beneficiaries

Yahoo! Inc. has announced the launch of Yahoo! SmartAds, an advertising platform that allows marketers to deliver powerful, tailored display ads to highly targeted audiences.

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Traveldoo to integrate TheTrainline content into its online business travel booking platform

UK’s rail retailer TheTrainline has formed a partnership with Traveldoo, a European provider of online travel management solutions for businesses, TMCs and distributors.

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Hostelbook leverages Facebook’s functionality for the backpacking world

Hostelbook has launched a Facebook application - Hostels, offering a link between hostel bookings and personal blogs.

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Utilising personalised content and ads on the web via the right vehicles

Sales and Marketing in Travel USA 2007: By EFT Correspondent

Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts is looking into social networking and user generated content and working on initiatives to bring them into its website experience.

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Kuoni Travel acquires tour operator UTE Megapolus

Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. has acquired a majority shareholding in Russia-based tour operator UTE Megapolus.

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Wotif.com introduces mystery hotel feature

Accommodation website Wotif.com has introduced a new feature that offers consumers better rates with the trade-off being that they won’t know ‘Wot Hotel’ they are booking.

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Moneysupermarket.com plans £1bn floatation

Finance and travel price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com plans to float in London in July.

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SideStep strengthens its European team

Travel search company SideStep has appointed Tim Simmonds as its new Director of Business Development.

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Specialist independent operator hits back at easyJetHolidays

Hidden Croatia, an independent specialist travel company, has hit back at easyJet, which recently  introduced easyJetHolidays to offer the flexibility of hotel and low-cost flight combinations.

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