Platform tips

The hotel industry's brand-building bonanza continued Thursday with Hyatt adding its latest offering: a short-term vacation rental platform known as Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt.

Hyatt said on Thursday it would shift its strategy in marketing vacation rentals. It plans to launch before year-end a short-term vacation rental platform called Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt.

CDS Groupe, a hotel booking platform for business travel, is expanding into the German market through an acquisition. 

Jack Ieronimo was one of the people on a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Rome, Italy, that made headlines after passengers said they were stuck onboard for seven hours without taking off. 

Holiday Swap to establish global operations HQ in Dubai Internet City, UAE. New base to create 500 jobs within two years.

When I arrived at Austria's Wien Meidling station to board an overnight train from Vienna to Venice last year, the informative screens said that my train was going to Switzerland. 

Three startups involved in the travel industry announced fundraises this week totalling more than $316 million.

Adventure travel specialist G Adventures has made a “significant financial investment” in Reforest, a digital platform that connects travelers with local communities that are restoring their ecosystems using reforestation.

Travelport is planning to sell its Hotelzon division to corporate travel agency startup TripStax, which was officially launched earlier this year — by two former execs at Travelport.

In a departure from the typical rose-tinted travel campaign, luxury rental booking platform Plum Guide sent individuals dressed as grim reapers around London this month with the stark message “The End Is Nigh” around their cloaks.

Google has added San Francisco-based startup Whimstay as a vacation rental partner.

Two tech startups involved in the travel industry raised $15.3 million this week.

U.S. telecoms conglomerate Verizon is ramping up efforts to gain a foothold in the meetings and events sector.

Two travel tech startups raised $31.6 million this week. 

Booking.com does it and so do Amazon, Etsy and Alibaba, so why not Airbnb?

Three travel tech startups raised $23.5 million this week.

Financial services company Brex is relaunching its travel booking platform after swapping agency partners.

Vacation rental property manager Vacasa saw an increase of homeowner “churn,” namely properties abandoning its platform, in the fourth quarter and into 2023, and forecast that its average gross booking value per home would dip this year.

Four travel tech startups raised $29 million in venture capital this week. 

Seven travel tech startups raised more than $102 million this week.

Four travel tech startups have raised nearly $110 million this week.