Touring Bird has flown the coop from Google's Area 120
internal incubator to the search giant's core travel group, Google
announced today.
As part of Google, the Touring Bird team "will continue
building compelling experiences for travelers and connecting them to tour and
activity providers in destinations around the world," the company said.
It is not confirmed if the product will migrate to Google's
primary travel portal, Google.com/travel (which replaced Google's Trips app,
which shuttered in June), but TouringBird.com will shut down on Nov. 17 and
users of the site will be notified via a banner on the page beginning today.
Ever since the platform, which functions as a
metasearch-like tours and activities discovery and price-comparison tool, first
emerged in stealth mode in April 2018, speculation has mounted as to if and
when Touring Bird would join Google proper.
In September of last year, Touring Bird general manager Lax
Poojary told PhocusWire the focus was on expanding the product's reach and
improving the user experience -- not on joining Google’s Trips app.
Following a successful test run in Paris in 2018, Touring
Bird launched with 25,000 experiences in 20 markets and has grown to 75,000
experiences in 200 markets as of April of this year.
It was built inside Google's Area 120, an experimental incubator
in which Google employees test products with dedicated resources and support.
As for Touring Bird's plans now that it's officially part of
Google's travel portfolio, a Google spokesperson declined to give specifics but
said: "We see an opportunity for us to not only improve the research and
booking experience for users with tours and activities, but also to better
connect users and partners on a larger scale."
Elsewhere in tours and activities, Google has been adding
vendors to Reserve with Google, which enables suppliers to connect with
customers and allow them to book and pay for experiences.
In April, Berlin-based Bookingkit joined as a partner
alongside existing Reserve with Google partners Peek, Checkfront and Tiquets.
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Source: PhocusWire