Online travel tips

Big banks are making a bold statement in travel and will increasingly become the first place — at the top of the proverbial trip-planning funnel — where customers look to book their trips.

Tour operators need to catch up in digitizing their systems to improve booking efficiency, brand reach and the overall quality of their experience. In a nutshell, the traditional way consumers find and book an attraction or activity needs to be more convenient. 

G Adventures, the small group tour operator, is restructuring as G Travel Community (GTC). The holding company sets the scene to bring its existing brands into one stable but with expanded space for new brand acquisitions.

Oyo, which advertises itself online as “India’s Best Online Hotel Booking Site for Sanitized Stays,” said it is performing well in the U.S. — after de-emphasizing its U.S. presence during the height of the pandemic.

Peakwork, a software company that develops distribution systems for travel companies, said Friday that it has been acquired by Constellation Software.

Brazilian travel operator CVC has engaged financial and legal advisers to study a potential follow-on share offering and is in talks with “strategic investors”, the company said on Friday, driving its shares over 11% up.

MakeMyTrip said Tuesday that all its travel segments have now grown past pre-pandemic levels, and that it posted its highest-ever quarterly gross bookings at $1.98 billion. Here are other highlights from the online travel agency’s quarterly results:

European-based experience gift platform Smartbox Group has acquired the Scandinavian experiences platform Truestory.