TUI Adds Standalone Hotel Booking for UK Market

In January, Bilt Rewards added live award flight availability powered by Point.me to the Bilt app. This integration lets Bilt Rewards members easily search for award flights they could book with their Bilt Rewards points through the 12 Bilt Rewards airline transfer partners.

TUI-owned FirstChoice.co.uk has relaunched as a vibrant new travel and experiences booking platform as the brand looks to strengthen its position with the flexible, independent traveler.

TUI Group wants to shift more than 50% of its bookings to its TUI App, an ambitious long-term goal for Europe’s largest holiday package tour operator, given that app bookings account for less than 10% of its sales in key markets like the UK and Germany. 

Earning miles and points is easy for consumers who sign up for credit cards or special rewards programs. But knowing where and how to use those points to make their travel dreams come true has proven much more challenging – an estimated $30 billion in loyalty points go unredeemed each year.  

Travels and Textiles in Central Asia Textiles expert Chris Aslan explores a crossroads of history where ‘fortunes were made and lost through shimmering silks, life-giving felts and gossamer cottons’. Most travellers know of the Silk Road, but older still are the Wool Road and Cotton Road, whose tightly woven stories Aslan seeks to untangle. 

The city of Oxford revolves around its university, England’s most prestigious alongside Cambridge. Because teaching started in the city in the 11th century, Oxford is filled with historic colleges, many hundreds of years old, and all incredibly beautiful in their architecture. Visitors to the city can walk the cobblestone streets that weave around the colleges, libraries, churches, and museums, and even take tours of the colleges’ lecture halls, chapels, and dining halls. But a day trip isn’t enough to get a good feel for Oxford. Even if the city is only 50 minutes away by train from London, you need to stay in a hotel in Oxford, England, for and take the time to fully explore this one-of-a-kind city.

TUI is expanding the season in Turkey. Turkey is one of the most popular holiday destinations for TUI guests from all markets. 1.9 million guests travelled to Turkey with TUI in 2022. The country is not only a sought-after destination in the summer season. TUI Deutschland customers can book holidays in Antalya all year round. The region on the Turkish Riviera is TUI’s fifth largest destination in the winter season. Now the offer is also being expanded for British guests: for the winter season 2023/24, capacities for Antalya will be increased by 30 per cent.

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.

Indian online travel agency EaseMyTrip announced this week that it has acquired a 55 percent stake in hotel booking marketplace cheQin, owned by Gleego Innovations, for around $370,000.

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

U.S. hotel operators are expected to post a rise in first-quarter profit even as they pour in money to lure travelers to make bookings directly through their websites, instead of turning to travel agencies.

Here are some excerpts from Daily Lodging Report from the past week. If you’re not a subscriber, you should be. Get news on hotel deals, development, stocks, and career moves. Sign up here, now.