Tours & Activities

PhocusWire's in-depth coverage of the tours, activities and activities sector, featuring news, analysis, interviews, research and more on operators, intermediaries and their strategies.

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News / Online
Online travel giants spent more than $14B on marketing in '22
By Mitra Sorrells | March 27, 2023
Combined marketing spending by Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, Airbnb and Trip.com Group exceeded 2019 levels in 2022. Read More
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News / Online
Citi’s new travel portal powered by Booking Holdings goes live
By Mitra Sorrells | March 21, 2023
The site includes supply from Booking.com – such as 1.4 million hotels around the world - and is powered by technology from Rocket Travel by Agoda, another of Booking Holdings’ brands. Read More
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News / Online
Travel Talk: Is travel fully back?
By PhocusWire | March 20, 2023
While most industry sectors have been rebounding, travel experts suggest areas where caution may be merited. Read More
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News / Online
Tripadvisor CMO talks travel marketing, membership, video
By Linda Fox | March 16, 2023
Tripadvisor's chief marketing officer John Boris, who joined the company in late 2022, shares more on the company's strategy as well as his thoughts on the state of travel marketing. Read More
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News / Online
Outdoor sports booking platform Captain Experiences reels in $2M
By Kathryn Walson | March 14, 2023
While the Austin, Texas-based startup is currently catering to the fishing and hunting verticals, it plans to expand across all outdoor sports and geographies. Read More
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News / Startups
Travel startups consider cost of SVB collapse
By Linda Fox | March 13, 2023
News of SVB’s demise left the startup world reeling, with the bank said to work with more than 50% of U.S. startups and 40% of U.K. startups. Many feared they would be unable to make March’s payroll. Read More
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Interview / Startups
STARTUP STAGE: Awai seeks to simplify travel booking with one-stop shop
By Kathryn Walson | March 13, 2023
The Melbourne-based startup says it saves consumers time, money and headaches during trip planning, while removing the need for travel agents. Read More
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News / Startups
Wheel the World lands $6M to boost accessibility in travel
By Kathryn Walson | March 10, 2023
Founded in 2018, the San Francisco-based startup plans to expand its listings with the goal of having 12,000 travelers book through its platform by December 2024. Read More
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News / Technology
TourConnect releases booking automation tool
By Derek Catron | March 9, 2023
The reservations-focused tool drastically reduces time spent manually processing email bookings by using intelligent technology. Read More
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News / Online
When will travel agencies deliver the “Connected Trip”?
By Christian Watts - Magpie | March 6, 2023
Will it be Booking.com, Expedia or an AI startup that finally develops an app that helps you from the start of booking a trip until you get home again? Read More
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News / Online
RocketRez acquisition adds AI tech to guest experience
By Kathryn Walson | March 3, 2023
TourOpp Go! says its chatbot technology automates communication between tourist attractions and ticket buyers. Read More
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News / Startups
BinBin swoops up GO Sharing in micromobility consolidation
By Linda Fox | February 28, 2023
The deal gives Turkey-based BinBin a foothold in West Europe after its recent growth in Eastern Europe, but the two companies will operate separately. Read More
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Interview / Startups
STARTUP STAGE: Travel platform Mapathink targets Southeast Asia
By Kathryn Walson | February 27, 2023
By disrupting the travel ancillary services market, Mapathink says it is looking at a huge addressable market. Read More
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News / Startups
El Camino Travel raises $1.1M following pivot to focus on women travelers
By Mitra Sorrells | February 24, 2023
El Camino Travel says it will use the funding to further develop its technology and build awareness of its brand as a “premium marketplace for women travelers." Read More
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News / Technology
Magpie launches new tool for tour operators built on ChatGPT
By Mitra Sorrells | February 23, 2023
Magpie's ChatGPT-based “product optimization tool” is intended to help tour and activity suppliers create better quality marketing content, including titles, descriptions, keywords and... Read More