In Phocus

You could be forgiven for thinking that travel companies might shy away from taking companies public via special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Many will have seen industry peers have a rough ride back in 2022 and question what has changed. For Chris Hemmeter, managing director of Thayer Investment Partners, the travel industry is in a very different place now. In an interview with PhocusWire...

While ancillaries are often discussed as a way to boost profit, not every travel company has introduced these revenue streams. But what's holding them back? Mark McLaughlin, CEO of  Coras , and Inigo Valenzuela, CEO of  Smartvel , opened up about the hesitancy they encounter in the pitching process to travel suppliers. Mclaughlin identified technology as a roadblock. As an API provider f...

As the short-term rental (STR) industry continues to evolve, it’s become clear that vacation rentals can be more than just a place to rest one’s head—and  Airbnb  has tapped into this opportunity with its  recent launch  of  Services . But what benefit do ancillaries really pose to STR providers? Industry leaders shared their thoughts in a panel-style int...

The travel industry has had pretty much everything thrown at it in the first six months of 2025. It has faced ongoing global conflict, economic instability, political uncertainty and challenges related to climate change. The second quarter earnings of online travel agencies , hotel groups and airlines reflected some of this turmoil. Airlines blamed macroeconomic factors for revenue losses and dema...

Loyalty has long helped brands drive engagement but not everything is plain sailing in the travel loyalty world. The  landscape is shifting  with younger generations demanding something different from programs and companies reassessing what's working. At the end of last year, for example,  Morning Consult reported  that travelers aren’t totally satisfied with programs as...

Travel’s tours and activities sector has been  growing in recent years , and the space is continuing to evolve in 2025. Industry leaders opened up about current trends during a studio interview with senior reporter Morgan Hines at  Phocuswright Europe earlier this summer.  Right now, experts said there are some key shifts tied to demographic, booking behavior and emerging tech...

Peter O’Donovan's career has included several leadership roles, and he now sits as the CEO of  CarTrawler . O'Donovan was appointed to the role in 2022 after four years as chief operations officer. CarTrawler works to connect clients and travel brands to mobility solutions and car rentals across the world. During a CEO Spotlight interview in the PhocusWire studio at Phocuswright Europe,...

The travel industry is known for being susceptible to just about everything, from financial downturns and global conflict to rapid technological development and climate change. However, it's also known for its ability to bounce back—often quite quickly. At  Phocuswright Europe 2025 ,  CheckYeti , a specialist in outdoor experiences, and  WingBuddy , a packaged tour operator, j...

If the first quarter of 2025 proved lackluster for travel startup funding with only  about $1 billion going into newcomers in the space, the second quarter slipped further. It seems all the  headlines around tariffs  as well as the political uncertainty and global conflict may have put investments on hold, with only about $800 million going into travel startups, according to Phocusw...

During an interview at the PhocusWire studio at  Phocuswright Europe , Maxim Sevastianov, founder and CEO of  Trava , said he defines API connectivity success in the course of a long game. “You define that there is a certain need in the market for that particular application, right?” he said. “Then you develop and you talk to the customers, of course, and they say there...

As travel came to a screeching halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jari Virtanen, CEO of  Stena Line Travel and Retail Group , was faced with a blank slate.  So, Virtanen, who oversees a portfolio of brands including Sembo, European Online Flights, Motorist and Best Travel, took the time to innovate and look to the future. According to Virtanen, at the time, he looked at larger online tra...

API-first property management system (PMS)  Apaleo  aims to help hoteliers scale business. And according to founder and CEO Uli Pillau, the platform give developers and startups, as well as established players, the opportunity to innovate. “When you look at us, we are the only not all-in-one PMS in the market—we are a true platform, so our innovation comes really from al...

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), search engine optimization—or at least SEO as we know it—has been effectively kicked out of the party. And it's a “reality” that the travel sector is being forced to confront. Mario Gavira, vice president of growth and brand for  Kiwi.com , who has been  vocal about the future as it relates to AI and agentic AI , said...

In an executive interview, Gillian Jones, senior business development manager of Condatis , and Vikas Bhola, CEO of  Neoke , suggested that a shift towards digital ID adoption may help facilitate the connected trip, but it can feel daunting.  And while fragmentation presents a barrier, standardization is another concern, with regions and industries developing their own frameworks for imp...

Speakspots , an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered WhatsApp hotel chatbot, has entered the B2B space with a white-label AI agent for hotels. The new feature was announced at  Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona. “We started as an AI travel planner. Now we have over 50,000 users every month, especially in Europe,” said Andres Martinez Artal, CEO and founder of Speakspots, in an...

Multiday adventure and experiences platform  TourRadar has unveiled TourRadar Moments in its app. The social commerce initiative enables travelers to book trips from uploaded photos and video reels content. The company is also rewarding the creators for sharing the content with travel credits for future trips. TourRadar co-founder and CEO Travis Pittman said "the timing is perfect" for the in...

The road to modern retailing in the airline world is long and very complex. Implementing the International Air Transport Association's New Distribution Capability technology standard is still a source of consternation for many carriers and their retail partners, but others are beginning to evolve towards offer and order and the dream of offering travelers personalized services. Flyr , which was fo...

Founded in 2012,  Snowflake  is a cloud-based data storage company that works across a variety of verticals including travel and hospitality. In  September 2024 the company launched its “AI Data Cloud for Travel and Hospitality”  to address industry needs such as dynamic pricing and sustainability tracking, reputation management and performance advertising. Whitnee...

Flight specialist  Oojo  is a relative newcomer to the online travel world. The company launched four years ago and is part of  Trevolution Group , which is the travel technology and services part of the wider Dyninno Group. During an interview in the PhocusWire Studio, Gulce Karsli Rozeveld, who joined Oojo as CEO earlier this year, discussed the online flight specialist’s gr...

Airline distribution developments such as new commercial approaches and the move to offer-order have been the topic for many debates in 2024. Discussions around IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) technology standard are ongoing but general adoption is still quite low and there seems to be an acceptance, or perhaps resignation, that although there has been a little acceleration, it will...

Turkey with its East meets West location, high internet penetration and relatively young population is well-positioned to further strengthen its presence in the online travel market. At least that is what Çağlar Erol, CEO of online travel agency  Wingie Enuygun Group , is hoping for as he shapes the business for further growth. In an interview in the PhocusWire studio, Erol said that t...

Group travel in particular seems to be flourishing with an uptick in internal meetings and further growth predicted for 2025. Research from American Express Global Business Travel, released in October, revealed that 66% of  meeting planning professionals expect their budgets to rise . Dennis Vilovic, founder and co-CEO of  Troop , a  PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2021 , belie...

When travelers are on the move, ground transportation can be considered in isolation or in combination with another travel element — a traveler could be taking a car to the airport, to a hotel or to the train, the list goes on. It makes sense therefore that some companies are setting their sights on linking the bookings and data from various travel suppliers — a concept known as t...

Alberto Gutiérrez, the founder and CEO of tours and activities marketplace  Civitatis , had no business plan when he set out to build the company. Asked for his advice for travel startups, Gutiérrez attributed the success of the Spain-based platform, which was founded in 2008, to his ability to do a little of everything from coding and finding partners to accounting. "I alw...

Travel is all over social media — and it’s continuing to  play a big role in travelers’ decisions while planning and booking their trips , according to  research from Phocuswright . But misconceptions around how travel brands should be using social media remain, according to experts. “Travel brands are seeing social media as a category of the internet still w...