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The article discusses the efforts of cruise lines to push for meetings bookings by touting their ships' ample facilities and cost-effectiveness compared with hotels. It is said that cruise lines struggle to get their share of the market for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions. The Cruise Lines International Association has identified business meetings as a potential growth area for the market. A joint survey with the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives is reported.

Examines the growth of the online travel market in the U.S. Increase in the number of U.S. households that booked leisure travel online in 2002; Factors that contribute to the growth of online hotel booking; Information on the dynamic travel package offered by online travel agencies.

The article deals with the use of new-generation hotel booking-technologies by travel agencies to find and book the right hotel at the right price for each customer. The adoption of these technologies is also seen as a way for agencies to counter online discounting. It announces that new hotel booking engines will be introduced by ABC Global Services and Thor Travel Services. Information is presented on the Stream program launched by Travel Leaders Group.

The article discusses the highlights of a roundtable discussion involving travel and tourism executives at the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort & Spa in Waikiki, Hawaii in late May 2012. Topics discussed include summer season bookings, the feasibility of all-inclusive resorts in Hawaii and the potential of cruise to grow in the islands. Participants include Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief of "Travel Weekly," Shari Chang of Aston Hotels & Resorts and Jack Richards of Pleasant Holidays.

The article focuses on the slump in hospitality industry in Hawaii. It mentions that the state has only gained 68.1% occupancy from June to August 2009, a 15.9% decline compared to the August 2008 record. Accordingly, the event has stimulated the 19.9% drop in revenue per available room which amounted to 126.05 dollars. Hence, the industry provides more incentives to their travel professionals since they are the considered entities that will help the industry to be refurbished.

Reports on the forecast of Hilton Hotels on sales over its branded Web sites in comparison with telephone reservations as of January 2004. Forecast of Choice Hotels and Cendant for its Web bookings; Comment from Bala Subramanian, Hilton's senior vice president, electronic distribution, on the hotel's Web site; Brands encompassed on the site. INSET: Hilton makes sure it doesn't get left behind.

The article discusses the Airbnb which has booked a win by acquiring HotelTonight for an undisclosed sum. It states that the HotelTonight was launched in 2010 and was originally introduced as a mobile app offering users the ability to book a room at a discounted price. It also states that Airbnb has officially opened its homesharing-focused platform to hotels in 2018, offering users access to boutique properties, bed-and-breakfasts and other hospitality venues like hostels and resorts.

The article focuses on the improvement of the booking app of Hotel Tonight Inc. with the help of its top users through extending the booking window and introducing multiroom booking.

The article focuses on the growth of the online supplier-direct channel of hospitality industry in the U.S. as it outpaces online travel agency (OTA) bookings, according to Phocuswright data, following an investment for hotel companies that encourage customers to book directly.

The article presents the business forecast of ARC chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Premo, on popularity and trends for global distribution system (GDS) services for travel and tourism industry, at the annual ARC conference on October 2016.

The article offers information on the efforts of several hotel companies in the U.S. to move away potential guests from online travel agents (OTAs) and toward direct bookings. Hotel companies include JDB Fine Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and Preferred Hotels & Resorts. Topics mentioned include the incentives being offered to travel agents, various programs offered by hotels, and the commissions for agent bookings.

The article focuses on Direct Booking Summit held in Washington, to discusses use of new technology in order to win consumers' brand loyalty through increasingly personalized care. It mentions that the summit organized by technology provider Triptease featured speakers and workshops. It mentions views of Charlie Osmond of Triptease on hotel bookings.

The article reports on introduction of zero tolerance policies regarding upgradation of non-discrimination approaches for prohibition of stay request imposition by Airbnb. Topics discussed include assessment of several complaints by hosts regarding minority guests; initiation of the Instant Book by the firm for management of accommodation booking services from January 1, 2017 by avoidance of discrimination; and appointment of attorney general Eric Holder by the firm.

The article offers information on how attendees at the annual Virtuoso Travel Week learned several initiative which include a lead-generation program through consumer hotel-booking tool on Virtuoso.com held in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2016.

The article provides an answer to a question concerning travel law along with information data privacy and how to change agencies and demands that can transfer pending airline and hotel reservations to the new agency.

In this article, the author argues that travelers should not go with cheap price options while they are planning for vacations. it recommends finding a part-time travel agent and asking the person to give you back some portion of the commission earned on your booking. It states that commission is paid to travel agents as a form of compensation and is not meant to be used to rebate back to the customer.

The article provides an answer to a question regarding hotel reservation if its a binding contract.

The article discusses the acquisition of Tourico Holidays and GTA by Hotelbeds, hotels investing in the initiative of direct bookings, and Hotelbeds' schemes for offering in-destination and transfer services.

The article focuses on Sojern's recent collaborative report with Google, which found struggle of travel agents to capture mobile consumers. According to the report, the lower end enjoys the highest percentage with 73% of all searches for economy hotels being done through mobile devices when it comes to hotel searches.

The article presents a reader's legal inquiry concerning on sanctions of penalty application for released hotel rooms under standard hotel-issued contracts for hotel group bookings.

The article focuses on several strategies adopted by travel review website TripAdvisor for competing with online travel agencies that provide a key source of its revenue. Topics discussed include its Instant Booking mobile app that give users booking access to hotels, acquisition of Viator, an online booking service, by TripAdvisor that offers customers access to tours, and TripAdvisor's agreement with electronic commerce provider Travelport that enhances its Instant Booking service.

The article reports that ABC Global Services is promising to make an incentive-based contribution of up to 10,000 dollars to the American Society of Travel Agents Political Action Committee, the actual amount depending on agent hotel bookings made through ABC during the month of February 2014. Topics discussed include contributions based on the ABC rate code bookings by customers and through the company's online hotel booking portal. The law on soft dollar contributions is mentioned.

The article discusses the lingering effect of Hurricane Sandy on the travel industry. It says that the year-end earnings reports from airlines and cruise lines as well as the levels of occupancy at resorts and hotels reflect the storm's financial impact on the industry's various sectors. The challenges faced by homeowners and businesses are also discussed

The article reports on the hotel-booking feature called Express Deals introduced by online travel agency Priceline. According to the company, the deal offers hotel rooms for as much as 45 percent discount off the lowest published rates. It enables customers book hotel reservations that will still be disclosed based on price and specific characteristics like customer ratings and amenities.

The article focuses on the emergence of websites that promise consumers discounts by having hotels bid against each other to force room prices down. It provides a background of some of these sites including Tingo from TripAdvisor, Guestmob and BackBid. It explains how the improving U.S. hotel market may affect the success of these sites. It relates the possible implications if the hotel industry tighten their policies for hotel room cancellations.

The article discusses a report from the Smith Travel Research (STR) and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) presented at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in January 2012. It claims that U.S. hotels collectively discounted their rooms to online travel agencies (OTA) by 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, more than double the 1.3 billion U.S. dollars paid to standard agency sales. It sees distribution costs doubling over the next few years as more reservations are booked online.

The author discusses the challenges faced by travel company Trafalgar Tours Ltd. on certain economic issues in travel industry in Europe affecting their financial performance. He mentions the impacts on the digital trends in travel companies providing instant services to its customers on reservations and interest. He also notes on the importance of marketing campaign by travel agencies to promote business opportunities.

The article focuses on the tourism industry of Spain including an increase in hotel reservations reported by Tourico Holidays; and views of Nadia Younes, regional sales director at Tourico, on the same.

The article focuses on termination of the Name Your Own Price program for booking airplane tickets by Priceline.com. Topics discussed include continuation of the program by the firm for booking car rentals along with hotel reservation; changes in consumer behavior along with evolution of technological innovations in booking services of the firm; and views of Lorraine Sileo, senior vice president (SVP) at Phocuswright, over losses for the program.

The author discusses several technological innovations that are beneficial to travel professionals and the industry. Topics include the advantages of virtual assistant tool Google Home to travel agents, the integration of weather-pattern data from the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), and the use of online sites Cancelon.com and RoomerTravel.com to discard and sell nonrefundable hotel reservations.

The article reports that the cost of TripAdvisor LLC's global rollout of its Instant Booking initiative may be more than what it was earlier estimated.

The author discusses the Travel Agent Appreciation Day meeting held on May 4, 2016 sponsored by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH and LA) on home sharing and online travel agencies (OTAs). He mentions that various websites mimic official sites of hotels. He comments on the direct hotel reservation systems to be the safest way of booking.

The article reports on the prediction of the opponents regarding the enacted hotel reseller tax in New York which amends the Hotel Occupancy tax in New York. They contend that the measure would probably discourage travel agents to book for hotel rooms in the state. It notes that the enactment requires resellers to remit a tax based on the full amount paid by the customers.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in November 2008 issues including "Contrary to Pestronk's assertion, ARC serves agents, carries alike," by Allan Muten in the November 17 issue, "Putting lipstick on the rewards pig," by Jeri Clausing in the November 10 issue, and "Cruise retailer suddenly ceases operations," in the November 14 issue.

Provides tips on marketing Hawaii as a tourist destination. Encouragement to travelers to book their flights and hotels early; Customization of agent Web site as a customer-friendly site; Significance of advertisement and promotion.

Focuses on the possible increase in bookings of Mexico Boutique Hotels (MXB) hotel members in 2006 according to its director general John Yuden. Actions taken by MXB as a response to the increase in demand for hotels; Plan of MXB to change the design of its Web site; Benefits of booking through MXB to travel agents.

Focuses on the positions in global destination system (GDS) displays being offered by Amadeus in partnership with TravelClick to hotels in Miami, Florida. Background on the partnership; Comparison between the Amadeus Instant Preference and Sabre Spotlight GDS displays; Benefits of the Amadeus Instant Preference to hotel-booking.

Offers news brief on the travel industry as of September 29, 2003. Purchase by nonprofit land-conservation organization Trust for Public Land of the site of the former Cypress Gardens theme park in Tallahassee, Florida; Plan of the Caribbean Tourism Organization to launch a hotel booking engine on its Web site; Decision of airline company Northwest to close its reservations center in Detroit, Michigan, in early December 2003.

Reports on the plans of several international hotel companies to launch an Internet reservations site for the Asia Pacific region. Significance of the plans; Reasons for targeting Asia for their expansions; Details on the hotel companies.

Reports on the conflict between California travel industry leaders and travel agent lobbying group over a bill that will remove hotel reservation service accessible through the state's Web site and toll-free numbers. Effect of the bill on the California Marketing Act; Statement issued by Susan Tanzman, Official of the California Coalition of Travel Organization (CCTO); Details on the leadership of CCTO.

Reports on the plans of a group of hotel companies to build a Web site that would act as centralized reservation platform for consumers. Basis of the plan; Comments from Bruce Wolff, vice president at Marriott; How the proposed site would differ from competitors.

The author discusses the trends in online hotel reservations associated with the increase in access to online or mobile travel tools. Topics include the shorter lead times in bookings, the increase in average daily average of hotel searches and the use of different sites to search for options before making a reservation.

The author discusses impact of bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand on the tourism there. Topics include Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International's postponment of its digital marketing conference from September-November 2015, unexpected rise in hotel bookings few days after the bomb attack and the views of Don Birch, then chief executive officer (CEO) of consultancy Abacus, on the increasing trend among people to move on from such incidents as soon as possible.

A letter to the editor is presented related to booking engines which might replace travel agencies in the future as it uses technologies like Big Data and real-time analysis to provide travel suggestions.

The article focuses on hotel bookings enabled by the electronic commerce company Amazon.com Inc. through its local site Amazon Destinations and online booking of hotels will rise in the U.S., according to the travel market research company Phocuswright Inc.

The article reviews Group Bidding Engine (GBE), an online service for information on hotel bookings from wholesale travel provider Tourico Holidays.

The article focuses on increase in luxury villa's booking in the U.S. for December holidays, views of Steve Lassman, vice-president of villa provider Villas of Distinction, on trends of holiday booking, and role of travel agents in reaching clients for booking.

Discusses the availability of hotel rooms for New Year's 1999 in New York City, New York. Increase in hotel rates; Efforts of hoteliers to attract guests; Rate offered by SoHo Grand hotel.

Reports that the King David hotel in Jerusalem and the Dan Tel Aviv hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel are now on the voice reservation service of Utell International. Other methods for bookings at the hotels; Features of the hotels; History of the hotels.

Reports that California's hotel reservations program has started, but without the travel agent referral system. How the booking system is offered to consumers; Details on the controversy about the system; Comments from state and industry officials.