[UPDATE, June 23, 2017: Expedia completed its acquisition of a majority stake in SilverRail. Terms were not disclosed.] [UPDATE, June 16, 2017: Adds information about Amadeus Cytric.] Announcing plans to acquire a majority stake in rail distribution and IT firm SilverRail, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi last month said rail was “ready for an online revolution.” It can’t come too soon.… Read More »
Many travel management companies and tech firms are working to process more of their clients’ hotel bookings. Continuing its push, Carlson Wagonlit Travel is rolling out a simplified rate aggregation system and using loyalty points as incentives. During a Wednesday interview, CWT president of hotels Scott Brennan said some clients in Europe that use the KDS and Traveldoo… Read More »
Following Expedia’s acquisition of Orbitz Worldwide, leaders of Egencia and Orbitz for Business have been meeting for about six weeks. On Nov. 16, they informed Orbitz for Business clients they would migrate “in waves” next year to Egencia’s booking systems and other technology. This won’t include IBM, which was one of the biggest Orbitz for Business clients although it used only… Read More »
Hotels had to reckon with Expedia before it acquired Travelocity and proposed the same for Orbitz. If it’s able to enhance its negotiating power, Expedia could reinforce the notion that online travel agencies offer lower lodging rates than traditional managed travel sources. In a Feb. 13 research note, Oppenheimer analyst Manish Hemrajani wrote that Expedia’s “Hulk-esque proportions in the U.S.… Read More »
Egencia three years ago said it would begin building technology globally rather than regionally, and now it’s on the verge of some real accomplishments. Although the endgame is beginning to emerge, the 325 software engineers working on Egencia’s Fusion project need not update their résumés. Parent Expedia on Feb. 12 announced plans to buy yet another corporate travel platform in… Read More »
Some think an obvious consequence of dramatically lower fuel prices is lower airfares. But it’s not that simple. It may not even be likely. “Lower fuel prices translate into lower operating costs for airlines, and, sometimes, air carriers pass along these savings to travelers in the form of lower air ticket prices,” according to an ARC/Expedia report published… Read More »