March 3, 2010HomeAway, provider of online listings for vacation rental homes, has acquired BedandBreakfast.com, a site that performs a similar service for B&Bs. March 1, 2010Orbitz is looking to offset the effect of eliminated booking fees in the U.S. by growing its inventory of hotels in Asia and Latin America, as its competitors broaden their hotel inventory in Europe. March 1, 2010Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Expedia's cruise booking site that offers franchises and host agency services, appears to be putting more muscle behind the technology its independent contractors use. February 23, 2010Orbitz Worldwide closed 2009 with an $18 million net loss in the fourth quarter and a $337 million net loss for the entire year. February 18, 2010Priceline.com's pitchman may be big-voiced William Shatner, but it has the small European hotels largely to thank for its robust fourth-quarter results. February 17, 2010Orbitz has launched a site for travel agents that pays commission on hotels and travel packages. February 11, 2010Expedia Inc. said today that it would boost marketing spending this quarter and rapidly expand its inventory of European hotels, after reporting that it turned a fourth-quarter profit on a 26% jump in overall bookings. February 3, 2010Travelocity has sold Travelocity on Location, a retailer of Las Vegas event tickets and tours, to Entertainment Benefits Group for an undisclosed amount. February 2, 2010Online travel companies have won another round in their fight against cities and states trying to hit them with back taxes on hotel rooms they have sold. February 1, 2010Groupon, a shopping website that offers a daily deal on the best local goods, services and cultural events, launched in Las Vegas on Jan. 25. January 27, 2010The number of U.S. customers booking trips online won't change much over the next few years, according to a Forrester Research report published this week. January 21, 2010Online travel agencies won another victory on Wednesday when a judge ruled in their favor against the city of Houston’s claim that its hotel occupancy tax should apply to markups. January 6, 2010After a year when the online travel agencies took turns matching competitors' booking fee reductions, Expedia.com's message now is we're better than the other guys. January 5, 2010TripAdvisor, the hotel review site that once was a thorn in the side to most hoteliers, has launched a service that lets hotels pay to post their contact information and direct links to their websites. December 22, 2009Online travel agencies won an important court decision on Tuesday, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District upheld a lower court decision to dismiss lawsuits brought by two Kentucky counties seeking back taxes on hotel sales and damages from the OTAs. December 8, 2009Enhancements to the U.S. Virgin Islands' official website mark the second phase of a marketing push to drive awareness of the destination. December 7, 2009Toronto-based TripAtlas.com is launching its vacation-planning and lead-generation website to the general public this month. December 3, 2009Less than six months after its launch, Oyster.com, a hotel review site that offers independent property critiques from professional journalists, is cutting back its staff. November 25, 2009The Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office launched a website and social media platform, Hola Riviera Maya, targeted to the U.S. market. November 19, 2009Orbitz now guarantees that its prices for prepaid hotel rooms will be the lowest on the Web. November 17, 2009Cities do it. Counties do it. Now, states are doing it, too. Suing online travel agencies over hotel taxes, it seems, has become a national pastime. November 12, 2009While Expedia’s decision last week to eliminate all phone-booking fees is likely to have an immediate effect on rival online agencies, the longer-term effects may weigh greater on airlines that charge as much as $25 a ticket for phone reservations. November 10, 2009The travel industry had a rough summer, but Priceline.com bucked trends by reporting a $319 million net profit for the third quarter. November 9, 2009Florida’s Office of Attorney General has sued Expedia and Orbitz, claiming that the companies violated state law by failing to remit the appropriate amount of taxes on hotel sales. November 5, 2009U.S. online travel agency bookings will likely fall for the first time in 2009, according to a report by online travel research firm PhoCusWright. |