m-Travel.com and Travel Distribution News

Archives for August 2008

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Aer Lingus may post a loss of about €100 million in 2009

Irish carrier Aer Lingus could make a loss of about €100 million in 2009 if the price of fuel remains high and consumer demand remains weak.

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VFM Interactive to power DerbySoft's media distribution

VFM Interactive and DerbySoft, a technology company serving the hospitality and travel industries in China, have signed an exclusive partnership.

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Yatra.com expands its premium retail chain

Online travel company Yatra.com is expanding its premium retail chain, Yatra.com Holiday Lounge.

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TUI Travel mulls airline merger talks with Lufthansa, Thomas Cook

TUI Travel and Thomas Cook are in talks with Germany's Lufthansa about a possible merger of their respective low-cost and charter carriers.

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Zoom Airlines suspends operations

Zoom Airlines, a low-cost carrier operating between North America and Europe, has suspended operations.

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Consumption power of consumers makes travel market in China attractive

China Special: Insight from eLong's CEO Guangfu Cui

In the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing, the travel industry including online travel players had projected a rosy picture for the industry.

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Changing the Perception of Revenue Management Within an Organization is a Slow Process

Revenue management as a discipline finally seems to be getting its due in the industry.

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Abacus appoints Nikhil Dhodapkar as MD for India

Abacus International has named Nikhil Dhodapkar as managing director of its wholly owned subsidiary Abacus Distribution Systems (India) Pvt Ltd.

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Virgin gets the taste for premium travellers – but monster monopolies off the menu

Virgin Atlantic this week reported a healthy pre-tax profit for the full year to 29 February, at GBP60.9 million, up from GBP44 million the previous year.

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Wotif Group sells a record 4.91 million room nights

Wotif.com Holdings Limited has posted a 31 percent increase in net profit after tax, driven by strong accommodation sales growth and business acquisitions.

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Viator targets 60 percent growth in natural search and revenue

Viator has renewed its relationship with Range Online Media for the third successive year, continuing the search and interactive marketing agency's SEO programme for Viator, focusing on Web 2.0/user-generated content and local search strategies.

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GetThere focuses on APAC region

GetThere has appointed Grant Rattray as director of its Asia-Pacific division as the company focuses on growing its corporate travel procurement business in the region.

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China will struggle without a post Olympic strategy

Can Chinese travel suppliers maintain their growth momentum, post the Beijing summer games?

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Booking.com offers smaller hotels direct online tool to drive bookings

Online hotel portal Booking.com has launched a new avenue for smaller hotels and guesthouses, integrating a direct booking tool into their own websites.

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Business travellers lift profits at Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. has stated that a record number of business travelers sent annual pretax profits before one-off items up 38 percent.

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Sabre introduces new merchandising feature

Sabre has introduced a merchandising first through its Air Merchandising Suite. The new initiative will allow airlines to differentiate and sell premium airline seats at the time of the original booking, in all distribution channels: online, offline, direct, and travel agency.

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Ryanair justifies 'screenscraper' cancellations

Ryanair has justified cancelling about 500 tickets bought by passengers using other websites.

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Lufthansa interested in buying stake in Austrian Airlines

Lufthansa has formally expressed an interest in buying the Austrian government's stake in Austrian Airlines.

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WorldMate launches hotel booking capability, ties up with hotels.com

WorldMate, Inc. has partnered with hotels.com to enable users to book travel securely on their mobile phones without requiring a phone call.

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IHG strengthens Holiday Inn portfolio in the first half

Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express signed a combined 203 hotels (24,327 rooms) globally the first half of 2008. With this, InterContinental Hotels Group has sustained the momentum from a record year in 2007 when the brands signed a combined 524 deals (63,431 rooms).

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Southwest appoints VP for strategy and change leadership

Southwest Airlines has appointed Kathleen Wayton as VP - strategy and change leadership.

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Marriott plans new online travel community

Marriott is gearing up for a new online travel community, Marriott Rewards Insiders, where Marriott Rewards members can exchange travel advice and share their personal tips.

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TripAdvisor launches site in India

Travel community TripAdvisor has launched its local Indian site, www.tripadvisor.in. The site will offer localised features, reviews and recommendations. 

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Amadeus expands Business Solutions Group in Asia Pacific

Amadeus has added two new senior management roles to its Business Solutions Group (BSG) in the Asia Pacific region.

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"Travel planning process is as sophisticated or as simple as the traveller wants it to be"

Social Media in Travel Special: Exclusive with Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Online travel researchers use user-generated content (UGC) throughout the buying cycle. In its "Travel Consumer Survey, 2007", JupiterResearch found that 32 percent of online travel researchers who used UGC did so early in their research process while 56 percent used to verify their hotel choices prior to booking.

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Is Lufthansa going to be a saviour for Alitalia?

Lufthansa is the airline in talks with Alitalia over a partnership deal aimed at saving the cash-strapped Italian national airline from bankruptcy.

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Mobile ad campaigns increase brand metrics: research

Mobile advertising can be an effective medium for raising brand metrics throughout the purchase funnel, according to research company Dynamic Logic.

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Tripmela launches rate comparison engine in India

Tripmela.com has launched Searchmela for Hotels, a search engine that allows consumers to compare hotel rates from multiple websites from one web page.

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Ctrip.com ties up with Google

Online travel company Ctrip.com has tied up with Google to develop e-map and the ranking service Google Rebang.

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Microsoft increases its focus on commercial search

Microsoft is restructuring its Search Business Group to create a new group focused on commercial search.

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lastminute.com appoints Drew Robinson as Head of Country Distribution

Online travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com has appointed former Hotel Reservation Services Partnership Manager Drew Robinson as Head of Country Distribution (UK).

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Sabre Airline Solutions introduces Mobile Check-In solution

Sabre Airline Solutions has launched its Mobile Check-In solution in conjunction with Italian carrier, AirOne.

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TheTrainline.com launches ticket alert service

TheTrainline.com has launched Ticket Alert, a new service that allows consumers to make significant savings on the cost of their rail travel.

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Spirit Airlines to increase on-board retail sales

Spirit Airlines Inc. is to deploy GuestLogix Mobile Virtual Store on its domestic and international flights. The move is part of airline's focus on growing non-ticket revenue and adding customer value in the face of escalating fuel prices.

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Three brand new events: EyeforTravel@World Travel Market 2008

EyeforTravel launches three brand new events for this year’s World Travel Market.

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"Recognise that ancillary revenue is important to an airline's prosperity"

Ancillary Revenue in Travel  Special

Maximising your ancillary return is not just about commissions, products or technology but also your ancillary strategy which should now be at the core of any airlines' business.

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Roster of OpenTravel Members Speaking at Travel Distribution Summit In Las Vegas on October 1 and 2, 2008

August 20, 2008 – WASHINGTON, DC - The OpenTravel Alliance (OpenTravel), the travel industry’s leading distribution standards development organization, will be very well represented at EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit.  Representatives from more than a dozen member companies will be speaking at both the Travel Distribution Executive Conference and the Ancillary Revenue in Travel conference.

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LOT Polish Airlines expands use of ITA Software

LOT Polish Airlines has launched a new weekend airfare search capability using ITA Software's QPX system.

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Flight Centre opens its biggest store in London

Travel retailer Flight Centre has opened its biggest store in the UK.

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Kuoni reports increased turnover and profit in the first half

The Kuoni Group's first half turnover totalled CHF 2 228 million, increasing by 9.9 percent to the prior-year period.

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Are hotel bookings falling short of expectations in Beijing during Olympic Games?

Recently, Ctrip.com shared that many leisure and business travellers were delaying trips until after the Beijing Olympic Games.

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Understanding the politics of the BA-AA alliance

Fort Worth's Mayor, Mike Moncrief, weighed in last week to support British Airways' proposed operational merger with American Airlines.

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Orbitz.com adds vacation rental inventory

Online travel company Orbitz.com has formed a partnership with vacation rental provider Zonder.

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Facebook's first user generated travel book

San Juan Marriott Resort is offering free travel via its new application, iGO iWRITE, on Facebook. The application is positioned as Facebook's first user generated travel book.

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isango! launches German site

Online travel experience provider isango! has introduced its localised offering in the German market.

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Kayak appoints MD for Europe and Asia

Kayak.com has appointed Faisal Galaria as MD for Europe and Asia.

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Opodo incorporates "a little personal touch" to bookings

Online travel agency Opodo is giving its customers a personalised send off before they go on their travels with its new Tarmac Text.

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Suppliers gear up for direct online sales in Russia

Travel Distribution Russia Special

Online sales in the Russian travel industry, according to EyeforTravel Research, mainly emerged few years ago. For its part, an airline like Lufthansa says its e-commerce business has been developing a bit quicker than the market in general.

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Advantages of outsourcing in Revenue Management

Many enterprises within the industry have been doing it for a long time, even newspapers are not afraid of it any more: They outsource specified tasks into the hands of external service providers.

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Hoteliers need to work hard to nurture happy customers and avoid negative postings

It's common knowledge that the Internet has certainly changed how travel consumers perceive the credibility of information. Any discrepancy between "official" and "unofficial" content should be dealt with immediately.

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Europcar revenue grows by more than 17 percent in the first half

Europcar Asia Pacific has helped Europcar International's to grow its annual revenue by more than 17 percent.

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Clearing four-star hotel price myth

Discount travel site Hotwire has stated that its low prices for four-star hotels have debunked a school of thought with its rooms often being under $99 per night.

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BA will not give up Heathrow slots: report

British Airways will not surrender Heathrow runway slots in order to secure its proposed alliance with AMR Corp's American Airlines, according to its chief executive Willie Walsh.

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lastminute to sell UK rail tickets

lastminute.com has become the first online travel agency to sell UK rail tickets. The online travel and leisure retailer, also a retailer of Eurostar's cross channel train service, has added UK domestic rail to its site.

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HostelBookers.com introduces videos of properties, teams up with TripAdvisor

HostelBookers.com has rolled-out videos of its properties, offering users as well as agents and operators a better experience on the website.

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lastminute.com introduces mobile restaurant booking service

lastminute.com's Labs team has launched the beta version of its first mobile application FoneFood, a European-wide multi-lingual restaurant table reservation service.

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lastminute.com appoints Andy Washington as Sales Director for Travel

Online travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com has chosen former Cosmos Sales And Distribution Director Andy Washington for the newly created position of Sales Director - Travel.

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Understanding American Airlines' approach towards ancillary revenues

Ancillary Revenue Special

Impact on brand is cited as one of the major reasons by traditional carriers' for adopting a cautious approach towards ancillary revenues.

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Travellers were delaying trips until after the Beijing Olympics: Ctrip

Ctrip.com International, Ltd. has posted a 35 percent rise in its second-quarter net income.

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Accor North America chooses VFM Interactive for Motel 6 properties

Accor North America has entered into an agreement with VFM Interactive to provide rich media management and distribution services to its Motel 6 properties.

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AA, BA and Iberia sign Joint Business Agreement

American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia have signed a Joint Business Agreement (JBA) to cooperate on flights between North America and Europe.

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Virgin Charter ties up with Virtuoso

Virtuoso has added Virgin Charter, an online marketplace and booking tool for private air travel, to its roster of travel providers.

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"Russia is rapidly catching up with Internet and web-payment technology"

Travel Distribution Russia Special

The online travel market in Russia currently accounts only for a small share of the total travel e-commerce pie but it is one segment, which is being tipped to grow aggressively in the time to come.

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Evaluating response of ads on social networking sites

Online Marketing in Travel Special

Aer Arann has run campaigns on YouTube, MySpace, Bebo and eBay over the past few months. Overall, the airline has witnessed limited results compared to the information-based sites. 

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Tui Travel ready to take out capacity for the coming seasons

Tui Travel has posted strong results with Group underlying operating profit up by £18.4m and £89.2m for the third quarter and nine-months respectively.

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Skyscanner unaffected by Ryanair comparison site cancellations

Skyscanner has clarified that Ryanair's recent announcement related to cancelling of flight bookings  made on so called "screen scraper" sites will not affect any Ryanair flight bookings that have been found through Skyscanner.

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CheapOair.com launches affiliate programme with variety of media options

CheapOair.com has launched a partner programme leveraging its relationships with top travel brands and range of inventory.

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BA rectifies error in T5 ad campaign

British Airways has reportedly blamed a mix up for a mistake in its new Terminal 5 punctuality campaign, which has led to the ads having to be rewritten. Bartle Bogle Hegarty worked on the campaign for BA.

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Four Points by Sheraton launches new retail site

Four Points by Sheraton has announced Simple Pleasures and Smiles for sale on the brand's newly designed retail website - fourpoints.com/store.

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Maiden profit for Tiger Airways

Budget carrier Tiger Airways has reported an annual net profit of $S37.8 million. This compares with a net loss after tax of $S14.3 million 12 months ago.

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flydubai appoints COO

flydubai, a new low cost airline formed by the government of Dubai, has appointed Kenneth Gile as Chief Operating Officer.

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Red Lion Hotels signs global partnership with Expedia

Expedia, Inc. has signed a long-term, strategic global supply agreement with Red Lion Hotels Corporation.

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Carlson Hotels works on its hotel brand websites

Carlson Hotels Worldwide is focusing on enhancing the capabilities of its hotel brand websites to create visually rich new media content and compelling destination information for properties of its five hotel brands.

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If you're fighting on price, is there logic in integrating UGC into your business?

Social Media in Travel Special

Travel suppliers can set up the framework for creation of consumer-generated content via various Web 2.0 applications and features.

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Multimap launches new digital ad campaign

Multimap has launched a digital ad campaign, featuring animated characters from Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations in the ads.

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Airbed&Breakfast introduces alternative travel accommodation website

AirBed&Breakfast has formally launched its website which combines the organic experience of staying with a local with the convenience and efficiency of booking a hotel room online.

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Hawaii.com focuses on increasing its traffic and travel bookings

Hawaii.com, a resource website which includes information about the islands of Hawaii, has chosen digital marketing agency Elixir Interactive to manage its search engine marketing and social media initiatives.

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Travelocity introduces Insider's Guide as a reference for money saving tips

Travelocity has introduced an "Insider's Guide" to give its customers a quick snapshot of the best methods to get the most out of their experience whenever they visit the site.

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Ciaran Lally to quit ebookers

Ciaran Lally is leaving ebookers.com mid September. Lally has been in the company for three years and originally joined as MD of Ireland before becoming MD of UK & Ireland.

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Ryanair's CEO eyes Stansted takeover: media

Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary is reportedly interested in launching a £2 billion bid for Stansted Airport.

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Ryanair to cancel all ticket purchases made through price comparison websites

Ryanair has announced its plans to cancel all those bookings made through online "screen scraping" programmes.

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Lonely Planet to reward travellers for sharing their holiday photos

Lonely Planet has teamed up with Pikeo.com, a photo sharing site, to run a competition which gives readers an opportunity to submit travel photos for the latest London, Paris, Barcelona and Istanbul guides, published next year.

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Cheapflights re-launches its UK site

Flight price search and comparison site Cheapflights has re-launched its UK site, www.cheapflights.co.uk.

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"Trust can be built up over years and be lost in a second"

CRM in Travel Special
<br><br>Access to data and profile of users is a huge asset in a networking site's arsenal. Because loads of data can be compiled, which can be converted into sales leads.

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Riu Hotels & Resorts ties up with Harvest Digital

Hotel chain Riu Hotels & Resorts has chosen online marketing agency Harvest Digital for its digital marketing account in the UK.

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Ballooning market shares of LCCs in Europe – and irreversible for network airlines

Association of European Airlines' (AEA) traffic results for the month of June offer a basic picture, while not as bad as many indications might suggest, of a market slowing or going backwards.

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New widget to allow travel websites to unleash the power of their content

TravelMuse Inc. has introduced a new widget for travel content publishers. Called TravelMuse Plan-It!, the widget has been added by three travel websites - UpTake.com, travel video provider  CompulsiveTraveler.tv and CiaoBambino.com, a guide to family-approved vacation properties.

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Aussie websites tells vacationers to `Do The Math'

Online travel agency Travelscene and Qantas Vacations have teamed up with Tourism Australia to create a "Do the Math" online widget, allowing users to compare costs in Australia vs. Europe.

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ITA gets its first customer in Cleartrip.com in India

Online travel agency Cleartrip.com has chosen ITA Software's QPX, a management system for airfare pricing and shopping.

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Over 300 Senior Executives Sign up to Hear Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline and Travelocity Debate the Future of Online Travel

In the last 6 weeks over 300 travel executives have signed up to attend the Travel Distribution Summit North America, being held on October 1-2 in Las Vegas.  And with another two months before the event, hundreds more senior-level travel suppliers and intermediaries are expected to register.

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"We will see mergers and acquisitions happening early in 2009"

EyeforTravel's Beijing 2008 Olympics Special

The continuing fillip to consumer power, reduction in technology costs and easing of entry barriers are some of the global trends paving way for new business models including ones in the online travel distribution.

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British Airways executives to face price-fixing charges

The Office of Fair Trading is reportedly preparing to press price-fixing charges against four former and current British Airways executives.

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Orbitz Worldwide reports a narrower Q2 loss

Online travel company Orbitz Worldwide Inc. narrowed its loss in the second quarter as the company posted a loss of $5 million, compared with a loss of $32 million in the same period last year.

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TripSay moves into public beta

TripSay, a new travel service, has announced the official release of its public beta.

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OpenTravel announces new projects teams

The OpenTravel Alliance has formed nine project teams for the second half of 2008, dedicated to solving travel distribution business problems with XML schema.

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China’s elite to speak at 4th annual distribution event

China’s top local brands are all lining up to present alongside their international peers, at this year’s 4th annual Travel Distribution and Sales China (TDS China) conference in Beijing (24-25th September).

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Webjet posts 80 percent increase in profit before tax

Australian online travel group Webjet Ltd. reported a stronger than expected 134 percent rise in annual profit.

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"Economic uncertainty and high fuel prices are affecting the broad travel market"

Online travel agency priceline.com's second-quarter net income rose to $54.1 million, from $34.6 million in the year ago period.

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Travelocity's ExperienceFinder booking tool adds more cities

Travelocity's ExperienceFinder booking tool has now been expanded to a total of 18 destinations.

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Mobile gets cheaper with lastminute.com

lastminute.com says it has become the only online travel and leisure retailer to distribute SIM4travel's 'travel SIMs', giving customers better value mobile calls while travelling abroad.

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Thomson comes up with £2 per night holidays offer

In what could trigger a fresh round of price war, Thomson Holidays is currently offering sunshine getaways for a mere £2 for a double room or studio apartment in destinations including Turkey and Greece.

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BA creates "T5 is Working" campaign

British Airways has launched a customer experience campaign in support of London Heathrow Terminal 5.

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Destination method of vacation planning out, origin planning in

Online travel company BookIt.com has introduced Fast-Relevant-Origin-Method pricing (FROM), a technology that automatically identifies the starting location of the users and highlights the top deals for them.

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"Our plan is to turn Travelpost.com into a true competitor to TripAdvisor"

Kayak.com has several new initiatives in the pipeline, including the formal launch of its vacations product and addition of Kayak.com UI to Travelpost.com.

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SAS acquires IDeaS Revenue Optimization

Business intelligence and analytics company SAS has acquired IDeaS Revenue Optimization.

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SAS to build a new profit optimisation solution

SAS has formed a new Profit Optimization Global Practice. The division will apply revenue management (RM) techniques to help companies optimise profitability, using advanced analytics to scientifically and proactively determine the most profitable market segments and prices.

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SEM must be part of a totally integrated marketing effort

Online Marketing in Travel Special

There are tools available in the marketplace which offer travel suppliers not only reports about information posted on the select sites, but also educates users on appropriate responses and counter measures for negative consumer generated content.

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BA closes in on American alliance?

British Airways is hopeful of finalising a tie-up with American Airlines within weeks.

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Ctrip adds PayPal payment system

Chinese online travel agency Ctrip International Ltd will now accept payment for air tickets booked via its website through the PayPal secure payment system.

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Patrik Öqvist to head Viator's operations in Europe

Viator, an online resource for travel experiences, has named Patrik Öqvist as managing director and head of operations for Europe.

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Comtec gears up for operations in the US

Comtec Group Ltd has chosen Denise Womble for the role of General Manger and Senior Vice President as the company gears up for its operations in the US.

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Not even the Middle East immune to airline troubles

The headwinds that have buffeted North American airlines are quickly spreading to Europe and Asia, and it would appear even the high flying Middle East carriers are not immune, according to an analysis by Center For Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

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Africa’s Tourism Moving Online – First International E Tourism Conferences taking place on the Continent

Johannesburg… Africa’s first international e-tourism conference will be held early next month. The E-Tourism Southern Africa conference is the first in a series of pan African conferences, which aims to bring Africa’s growing tourism sector into the online spotlight.

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"The amount of time being spent on mundane implementation work is very high"

Revenue and Pricing Strategies in Travel Special

Hoteliers have to take a call between their key resources spending hours updating several channels manually or to opt for a scenario where the implementation of any pricing decision is largely automated.

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"No need of mergers": Ryanair

Low-cost airline Ryanair has no need to merge with another airline, according to its chief executive Michael O'Leary.

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Personal interests are key drivers in vacation decisions: Survey

Travelers are intent on continuing to pursue their travel experiences that allow them to indulge in their personal interests despite the softening economy, according to a recent survey by American Express Travel in the US.

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First-ever GDS solution for private aviation

Virgin Charter (www.virgincharter.com), a full service online booking tool, has recently announced the first ever GDS solution for private jet charter.

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TravelRepublic.co.uk gears up expansion in Europe

Online travel agency TravelRepublic.co.uk has signed a three-year agreement with Worldspan for its GDS product.

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WestJet 2Q profit triples

WestJet Airlines Ltd.'s second-quarter profit nearly tripled from last year.

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