In total they today have five different ways to digitize the world. Unfortunately, India is still missing in this puzzle but, however, you at least can find a man in a lamp and some other quirky scenes…
Sounds interesting? Indeed, it is – as well as dangerous… Continue reading
So what exactly does that mean?
According to Michael Strauss, CEO of PASS Consulting Corporation, in 2010, “already more than half of the bookings are being made online in EMEA as well as in North America”. The latest figures from a report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc estimate that the online travel will reach US$533.8 billion by 2018.
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On the bright side one can appreciate the try to get several travel technology companies to work together on the project. There is no need to remind that the airline industry has been through an intense period. The tough battle between airline companies and global distribution systems about direct connects and the display of ancillary revenues deeply affected their relationship. Continue reading
PASS Consulting was founded in 1981 by the former computer science student Gerhard Rienecker. He had the vision of developing an individual software program at the price of a standard software that is based on reusable components. Continue reading
To ensure fair competition Google has to continue to license ITA’s QPX software to competitors, to fund research and development of ITA’s QPX software and to further develop and offer ITA’s next generation InstaSearch product to travel websites. Continue reading
Since it is not an exclusive deal, Kayak can bring in other partner and might also extend its direct booking offers to flights or car rentals.
Starting in a few weeks Kayak, the leading metasearch site, will power Bing’s metasearch for flights. Most likely other services will follow. Kayak could for example supply Bing’s hotel search which is currently sponsored by Orbitz. Bing plans to use Kayak’s search results as a basis for new innovative travel search offers, such as autosuggest solution, price predictor, rate indicator and Flight Answers.
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In his keynote presentation Jim Young, Executive Director of the Open Axis Group, delivered a status update on current developments of Distribution 2.0, a standardized traveler authenticated based set of XML schema and distribution practices, and the future plans to promote this Open Axis XML standard. Continue reading
To strengthen its position among business travelers, one of its main target groups, Research in Motion, the company behind BlackBerry, has just launched a new travel app called Blackberry Travel. Continue reading
Considering Google’s ITA-acquisition, it is interesting to see how they foster their travel-related services. Although it is too early to say what this will ultimately mean for the travel industry, it’s definitely worth taking a closer look.
Over the last days hundreds of thousand people have been demonstrating in Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and other Egyptian cities to end the 30-year long rule of President Mubarak. Continue reading
Since experts assume that there will be a judgement soon, it is time to review all the facts, analyze the current situation and the implications this acquisition might have for the travel industry. Continue reading
The following is a list of the most remarkable predictions and their implications: Continue reading
What sounds like a rather amusing story, raises an interesting question: Is reclining your seat a right or is it a privilege? Continue reading
So even if they are the dominant search engine, the “real war” is about advertising revenues and it is not decided yet: Even though Google’s advertising revenues were about $7 billion in Q3 2010 which is much higher than Facebook’s estimated ad revenues of about $ 1.3 billion a year, with 23.1% in Q3 2010 Facebook has the biggest share in the market for display ad impressions. Continue reading
Keeping this in mind the acquisition clearly indicates the growing importance of mobile devices in travelling. State-of-the-art mobile phones such as Blackberry or iPhone and easy accessible high-speed internet connections at almost every location in the world have provided the basis for convenient mobile booking. Continue reading
What could be the reasons behind this bold decision? From a business point-of-view this move is interesting, because it shows that Google tries very hard to keep its talented workers and to prevent them from quitting their jobs at Google and start their own businesses or move to other, competing companies like Facebook, Twitter etc. Continue reading
With about 500 million registered users and still growing, Facebook is the biggest social network in the world. And about 70% of its users use apps each month to play games or to customize their own Facebook pages. Considering the huge number of users, leaking sensitive data to advertising companies is a serious issue. Continue reading
