Hudson Crossing, LLC

Industry News

As the largest industry in the world, travel and its many segments are in a constant state of re-invention. We believe this re-invention occurs most rapidly and noticeably within the private equity and venture capital communities who are continually placing bets on the Next Big Thing. To keep current with this investment activity, we continually scour the web to aggregate the most important and relevant transactions in travel, and make them easy for you to find here.

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• Expedia profit up on stronger bookings
  ^{October 30, 2009}

  Expedia on Thursday said its quarterly profit rose on stronger bookings as economy-conscious travelers took advantage of fee cuts that bolstered demand. The results beat expectations and shares jumped 2.5 percent, or 65 cents, to $24.94 on Nasdaq.

• TripAdvisor acquires Kuxun
  ^{October 30, 2009}

  TripAdvisor is buying Kuxun.cn, a Chinese flight and hotel search engine, as it taps into a burgeoning tourism market buoyed by China's resilient economy.

• Is $1bn a realistic figure for a Kayak IPO?
  ^{September 25, 2009}

  Suddenly, with the credit and stock markets thawing a bit, a slew of travel companies may be talking to investment bankers and testing the IPO waters.

• Nokia To Acquire UK Travel Startup Dopplr
  ^{September 23, 2009}

  Nokia has been on an acquisition tear lately, albeit mostly small deals (Plum, Cellity and Bit-Side all this year). A source close to the deal says that they’ve just made one more acquisition: boutique travel social network Dopplr, headquartered in London.

• Industry journalists launching Tnooz, a new, dynamic, global media brand for the travel industry.
  ^{September 21, 2009}

  New media brand for the travel industry launching called TNOZ which will tackle developments, small and large, related to travel technology. 

• Kayak eyeing IPO?
  ^{September 21, 2009}

  Kayak.com, which operates a popular price comparison service, is talking to investment bankers about the possibility of an initial public offering, and plans to spend $50 million on a splashy new offline marketing campaign later this year. 

• Hudson Crossing Congratulates Michael W. McCormick on New Industry Leadership Role and Appoints Tom Botts as Managing Partner
  ^{August 24, 2009}

  Mike McCormick named Executive Director of National Business Travel Association; Tom Botts named Hudson Crossing Managing Partner

• Travelocity Global Acquires India's Leading Hotel Distribution Network, Travelguru
  ^{August 18, 2009}

  In evidence of its commitment to growing its business around the world, Travelocity Global today announced that it has acquired India's leading online hotel distribution network, Travelguru.

• Republic takes Frontier after pilot impasse kills SWA deal
  ^{August 13, 2009}

  The inability of Southwest and Frontier pilots to work out seniority differences killed Southwest's $170 million bid to buy the Denver-based airline and lead it out of bankruptcy.

  Instead, Republic Airways Holdings won the right to buy Frontier for $108.8 million at Thursday's bankruptcy auction.

• Fly, Priceline. Fly!
  ^{August 11, 2009}

  You can't keep a good portal down. After priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN)delivered another better-than-expected quarterly report yesterday, its stock soared 14% higher on an otherwise down day.

• Southwest Airlines submits $170M bid for Frontier
  ^{August 10, 2009}

  Southwest Airlines has submitted a binding cash bid of more than $170 million to buy Frontier Airlines, Southwest revealed on Monday.

• Venture capital returns to the travel industry
  ^{August 06, 2009}

  After an initial slow down last year, the first half of this year saw at least 10 investments in travel companies. These investments ranged from companies providing online reviews, recommendations and bookings to rental management software.

• Orbitz posts net income of $10m in 2Q
  ^{August 06, 2009}

  Despite a weak economy and a dramatic change in the US fee landscape, online travel agency Orbitz WorldWide posted a second-quarter profit.

• Yapta.com raises $2 million
  ^{June 25, 2009}

  Online travel shopping service Yapta.com has closed a $2 million Series B investment round led by Voyager Capital.

• Hotel deals website raises $1 Million
  ^{May 06, 2009}

  DealBase.com, a next-generation hotel deals web site, announced it has closed Series A funding, totaling $1 million from prominent angel investors. The funding will be used to continue the development of the DealBase.com online service, including category expansion and the addition of international travel deals.

• Travel Intelligence raises 2.2 million
  ^{April 16, 2009}

  Travel Intelligence Group has secured 2.2 million pounds from private equity investors Saints Capital and Big Bang Ventures. The funding is to be used to further develop its technology platform, accelerate growth through acquisitions, develop the website and recruit high level team members where appropriate.

• LeisureLink Announces $6.2 Million Venture Round
  ^{March 25, 2009}

  LeisureLink, Inc, the leading distribution and revenue management platform for specialty lodging suppliers, today announced that it has closed the first tranche of a $6.2 million equity investment round. The investment was led by Mission Ventures and Clearstone Venture Partners, with additional participation from other insiders.

• Budapest's Joobili Seed Funded For Travel Search
  ^{March 25, 2009}

  Joobili.com raised an undisclosed seed investment from Esther Dyson (who likes to invest in Eastern Europe) as well as a local incubator called Hamu and Gyemant. The target market here is not for business travelers, rather it is for people who want to take a vacation and want some ideas. So type in your travel dates and you will get ideas based on sporting events, festivals, seasonal trends, etc.

• AdventureLink Acquires Key Competitor, Adventure Central
  ^{March 19, 2009}

  Continuing to forge ahead with a pattern of unprecedented growth, AdventureLink, Inc today announced the acquisition of its key competitor, Denver-based Adventure Central Inc., in an all-stock transaction. In addition, Allegis Capital, the largest investor in Adventure Central, has backed AdventureLink with an additional investment.

• AdventureLink Launches the World's Largest Online Booking System for Adventure Travel
  ^{February 12, 2009}

  AdventureLink, in partnership with VAX VacationAccess, has launched the world's first online booking system for Adventure Travel. The AdventureLink system provides booking capability for adventure travel opportunities in 164 countries. AdventureLink's first distribution partner, VAX VacationAccess, provides distribution to over 70,000 leisure travel agents across North America. AdventureLink's technology enables tour operators around the world to seamlessly and instantly connect to millions of trade and end customers far more efficiently than previously possible.

• TVtrip Raises Another $9M
  ^{February 02, 2009}

  Paris-based TVtriphas scored €7 million (nearly $9 million) in venture capital funding on top of its previous $4.8 million Series A round, bringing the total of capital invested in the company up to a healthy $13.8 million(excluding the undisclosed angel funding the company raised to get started). Previous investors Balderton Capital and Partech International participated in the second round and were joined by AGF Private Equity this time.

• OpenTable Files for IPO
  ^{January 30, 2009}

  OpenTable announced today that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. The shares of common stock to be sold in this offering are proposed to be sold by OpenTable and certain stockholders.

• tripwolf Closes Second Funding Round
  ^{January 24, 2009}

  NEW YORK, NY.  January 22, 2009—Online travel guide tripwolf announced a second round of funding. The MairDumont Group, Europe’s largest publisher of travel information, has invested for the second time in the Vienna-based web 2.0 start-up. By strengthening its commitment to tripwolf, the MairDumont group aims to play a leading role in the digital market as well.  “Travel and mobility online are part of our core business,” says Stephanie Mair-Huydts, Publisher. “Despite the financial crisis, we want to expand our position in the online market. tripwolf is the perfect extension of our current offerings.”

• Hudson Crossing Client TVtrip Featured in Travel and Leisure Magazine
  ^{January 15, 2009}

  Travel and Leisure magazine recently rated TVtrip, a Hudson Crossing client, as one of the best websites to compare hotels in a destination. TVtrip allows the traveler to preview all aspects of a hotel and compare it with its competitors. Short videos take you inside more than 8,000 properties, from the lobby to the bathroom of a master suite.

• Peluso Resigns from Travelocity
  ^{January 08, 2009}

  The online travel firm Travelocity is losing its chief executive, who led the Southlake-based company to a turnaround in profitability. She will be replaced by Hugh Jones, a former American Airlines executive who most recently worked as chief operating officer for Sabre Travel Network.

• Orbitz Names New CEO, Plans More Cost Cuts
  ^{January 08, 2009}

  Orbitz Worldwide named Barney Harford president and chief executive and said it will embark on another round of cost cutting, trimming $20 million to $25 million in annual expenses on top of the $20 million announced in November.

• WT Apps by Wheretraveler.com Rated Most Popular on Apple iPhone Web Apps
  ^{December 19, 2008}

  Morris Visitor Publications announced today WT Apps by Wheretraveler.com was recently rated as the Most Popular Web App for the Apple iPhone, and was also recently selected as the Staff Pick and Featured App by Apple.  WT Apps by Wheretraveler.com includes three bundled tools to enhance on-the-go traveling: Airport information includes security wait times, traffic delays and mapping information, language translation for 27 different languages, and real time world-wide currency conversion.

• Sabre Holdings Acquires EB2
  ^{December 18, 2008}

  Sabre Holdings has announced that it has acquired e-commerce company EB2 International of London. The company says the acquisition will accelerate its plans for the recently launched SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service (CSS), a tool which helps airlines generate additional revenues from customers. Sabre says the deal “will result in the industry’s most powerful internet booking engine with advanced pricing and shopping capabilities”.

• TravelHero Acquires WorldRes
  ^{December 15, 2008}

  TravelHero has acquired WorldRes, an Ireland-based travel planning and distribution company. Financial details weren't disclosed. With this acquisition, TravelHero gains strategic partnerships with thousands of additional independent and international brand lodging properties, stated Rob Lamb, president and CEO, TravelHero.

• Interactive Mobile @dvertising LLC Named Travel Industry's Most Innovative Application
  ^{November 21, 2008}

  Interactive Mobile @dvertising LLC was honored as the force behind the travel industry's most innovative application at The PhoCusWright Conference, held in Hollywood on November 17 - 20. Interactive Mobile @dvertising LLC's product, iM@ (pronounced "I'm at") is a geo-intelligent mobile content management platform providing travelers with on-demand access to destination-specific information on accommodation, transportation and entertainment.

• Sabre Travel Network, United Airlines Extend Distribution Agreement
  ^{November 20, 2008}

  "Sabre Travel Network announced today that United Airlines has signed a two-year extension of their current full-content agreement. Through the extension of the distribution agreement with Sabre Travel Network, all United published fares and inventory will be available for subscribers of the Sabre global distribution system (GDS), including online and offline travel agencies. This includes published fares that the airline sells through any third-party Web site and through its own Web site and reservation offices."

• Morris Visitor Publications Partners with Hudson Crossing to Launch Where Traveler Connect
  ^{November 18, 2008}

  Morris Visitor Publications announced today the beta availability of Where Traveler Connect, a new private-label product based upon the Wheretraveler.com destination content platform which has been in public beta since June 2008. Morris Visitor Publications has partnered with Hudson Crossing to launch Where Traveler Connect to the travel marketplace. In anticipation of the public launch in February 2009, Hudson Crossing will be signing up a limited set of launch partners.

• VibeAgent Raises $3 Million To Join Hotel Search Market
  ^{November 17, 2008}

  VibeAgent, the hotel search engine, announced today at the industry-leading PhoCusWright Travel Conference that it has raised $3 million in Series A investment capital to support its goal of becoming the world's leading hotel search engine.

• HomeAway Raises $250M
  ^{November 11, 2008}

  HomeAway Inc, an online marketplace for vacation rentals, said on Monday it has raised $250 million, an amount far higher than the average financing Internet companies get from venture capital investors. The Austin, Texas-based company, which has grown through acquisitions, said it will use the cash to buy more companies, pay off debt and launch a share repurchase program.

• VFM Interactive Acquires Leonardo Media
  ^{November 05, 2008}

  The combined entity, VFM Leonardo Inc., will host over one million digital photographs, videos and 360? virtual tours for 80,000 hotels and resorts worldwide and distribute this content to all four Global Distribution Systems, Pegasus Solutions and more than 30,000 travel related websites.

• Uptake Raises $10M
  ^{September 17, 2008}

  Travel search and discovery engine UpTake Networks Inc. said Wednesday it raised more than $10 million in new funding. Palo Alto-based UpTake said the new round includes backing from Trinity Ventures and Shasta Ventures, both based in Menlo Park.

• SAS Buys IDeaS
  ^{August 04, 2008}

  BI (business intelligence) vendor SAS is buying IDeaS Revenue Optimization, maker of revenue-management software for the hospitality sector, a move that could serve to differentiate SAS from major competitors like SAP and IBM. Revenue management, common in the travel and hotel industries, involves maximizing profits by balancing prices with demand. The approach can be seen in airline reservation systems, where flights are often cheaper the longer in advance you book, and can get expensive when you buy at the last minute.

• American Express Buys 13 Percent Stake in Concur
  ^{July 28, 2008}

  American Express Co (AXP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) bought 6.4 million shares of management services provider Concur Technologies Inc (CNQR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for $251 million in cash, the companies said on Tuesday. The purchase of the newly issued stock gives the credit card company 13 percent of the outstanding common equity voting interest in Concur, at a price of $39.27 per share.

• Intel Capital invests $17M in Yatra.com, others
  ^{July 24, 2008}

  Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Capital, the venture capital arm of chipmaker Intel, has announced that it would invest $17 million into three Indian companies - which includes travel portal Yatra.com, events-oriented social networking portal BuzzInTown.com, and Emnet Samsara Media Pvt. Ltd., an out-of-home advertising firm focusing on the Indian public transportation market. How much has gone into each company is not not known yet.

• Expedia Acquires Venere
  ^{July 15, 2008}

  Expedia has entered into an agreement to acquire Italy-based Venere.com.The transaction will result in the addition of more than 10,000 incremental hotel properties in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to Expedia's global hotel offering.

• Sabre Acquires BidStork
  ^{July 15, 2008}

  Sabre has acquired the California-based hotel RFP firm BidStork. BidStork was launched in 2006 and is a web-based application which helps create, deliver and manager hotel requests for proposals (RFPs). Corporate buyers can use the system to source and map hotels, deliver the RFP, hold online negotiations and create an online hotel directory. It is used by a number of large companies including Google, Wal-Mart, Nike and Accenture and handled 40,000 RFPs in 2007 but the firm still has only seven employees.

• WestJet and Southwest Airlines Announce Agreement
  ^{July 08, 2008}

  WestJet (Toronto:WJA.TO - News) today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding to build a distribution and codeshare agreement with U.S. based Southwest Airlines. This memorandum of understanding is the first step that will see both airlines, by late 2009, have the ability to commence codeshare flights across both networks.

• Kango Becomes UpTake, Raises $3.95M
  ^{July 03, 2008}

  We covered Palo Alto's Three All Inc. (aka Kango, now UTake) back last August. The startup plans to help families to plan kid-friendly trips. Users get data like the ratio of kids to care-givers. how many kids on average are in a group, activities, hours, etc.

• TripAdvisor Acquires VirtualTourist
  ^{July 02, 2008}

  TripAdvisor has acquired VirtualTourist.com, a pioneer in user-generated travel content since 1999, and OneTime.com, a travel booking comparison site. Including VirtualTourist and OneTime, the TripAdvisor Media Network now attracts nearly 32 million unique monthly visitors. “VirtualTourist pioneered the concept of an online travel community, and with the help of over a million enthusiastic members, has created a fantastic travel site,” said Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. "I'm thrilled to have such great companies join our media network, and I look forward to working with the teams to help grow the sites and the community."

• British Airways Acquires l'Avion
  ^{July 02, 2008}

  British Airways (BAY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to buy small French business airline l'Avion for 68 million euros (52 million pounds) and it will become part of its new OpenSkies unit, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday. OpenSkies started on June 19 a Paris Orly to New York JFK connection with a Boeing 757 while l'Avion operates two Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 757 planes between Orly and New York Newark.

• TravelGuru Sells Majority Stake to Expedia for $17M
  ^{June 30, 2008}

  In a significant development, the world’s leading travel portal Expedia has acquired a majority stake in India’s top online hotels aggregator TravelGuru for $17 million. The deal values TravelGuru and Desiya.com (which was acquired by the former in December last year) at about $30 million.

• Red Lion Hotels Receives Takeover Bid
  ^{June 30, 2008}

  Red Lion Hotels Corp. said Monday it has received an unsolicited takeover bid from shareholder Columbia Pacific Opportunity Fund LP. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, Columbia Pacific has offered to buy the hotel operator for $9.50 per share in cash, a 35 percent premium over the stock's Friday closing price of $7.05. The deal is valued at $173.2 million, based on 18.2 million Red Lion shares outstanding as of April 30.

• British Airways Subsidiary Launches Transatlantic Service
  ^{June 19, 2008}

  At a time when many of the world's airlines are cutting back due to rising fuel costs, British Airways announced Thursday that OpenSkies, its new subsidiary airline, will begin a scheduled service between Paris and New York. OpenSkies is the first airline created specifically to take advantage of the EU U.S. Open Skies aviation agreement that enables carriers to fly between any destinations in U.S. and EU.

• Cityspace Announces Kizoom Acquisition
  ^{May 19, 2008}

  Kizoom today announces that it has been acquired by Cityspace, leading provider of Urban Digital Networks. Since it began in 1996, Cityspace has been constantly evolving the services it offers in order to take advantage of technological advances, and to reflect society's changing needs.

• Rearden Commerce Secures $100M Round of Funding
  ^{May 06, 2008}

  Rearden Commerce today announced it has received an additional $100 million in funding from previous investors American Express, Foundation Capital and Oak Investment Partners. Also part of the funding is new investor JPMorgan Chase, which is working with Rearden to develop a new Web-based customer loyalty platform for the Chase consumer credit card division.

• VFM Interactive Raises $13.5M
  ^{May 06, 2008}

  VFM Interactive Inc., the leading online video and rich media producer and distributor for the hotel and travel industry, today announced the completion of a $13.5 million financing to support its ongoing expansion. Lake Capital, a private equity firm that invests exclusively in service-based companies, led the investment which also included investments from existing shareholders JLA Ventures and Centiva Capital. VFM plans to use the financing and the strategic resources that Lake Capital brings to expand into complementary travel-related verticals and accelerate its growth in North America and overseas.

• Former Expedia CEO Joins Board of Directors of PickPackGo
  ^{May 05, 2008}

  PickPackGo, (www.pickpackgo.com), an award-winning website for travelers to easily find, compare and rent vacation homes, today announced that Erik Blachford, formerly President and CEO of Expedia, Inc. and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp's travel division, IAC Travel, has joined the PickPackGo Board of Directors.

• Cleartrip Gets Record Round of Funding
  ^{April 23, 2008}

  Cleartrip, India's leading online travel agency received $18.5 million, making this the largest round of venture funding in 2008 according to India Venture Capital Report. The company has raised a total of $30.2 million over the past three years.

• Travel Ad Network Raises $15 Million in First Round Funding
  ^{April 21, 2008}

  TAN is an exclusive online advertising salesforce for over 50 travel planning and booking sites. TAN represents Kayak, RandMcNally, LonelyPlanet, CheapFlights, and RoughGuides. They key here is that TAN insists on and gets exclusive inventory. Headquartered in New York, TAN has raised $15M in a first round of venture funding. The funding comes from Rho Ventures, Village Ventures and others.

• Microsoft Acquires Farecast in $75 Million Deal
  ^{April 18, 2008}

  Responding to a Seattle P-I inquiry Thursday, Microsoft issued a statement welcoming the Seattle online travel search startup to the “Microsoft family.” “Farecast has been a partner of ours on MSN Travel and we look forward to working closely with the Farecast team to incorporate and apply its technology in new and interesting ways,” the statement said.

• TripIt Receives $5.1 million Investment
  ^{April 18, 2008}

  The investment will be used to expand development, marketing and support for the rapidly growing number of travelers who rely on TripIt. TripIt is an online travel organizer and social network to help people manage their travel plans and stay in touch with fellow travelers, colleagues and family. In its first six months, TripIt has been honored at the TechCrunch40, Web2.0 Summit LaunchPad, and Under The Radar conferences, is currently a 2008 Webby Award Nominee, and has been praised by a range of media including the Associated Press, CNN, Economist, FOX, New York Times, Sunday Times (UK), and Wall Street Journal.

• Travelport GDS Acquires Software Assets from G2 SwitchWorks
  ^{April 07, 2008}

  Travelport GDS has entered into an agreement with G2 SwitchWorks Corp. under which it has acquired certain software assets and intellectual property to be used in the development of a future Travelport agent desktop solution. The agreement includes G2 SwitchWorks' Kestrel point-of-sale application, the G2 web service core and a number of associated software development tools. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Expedia's Smarter Travel Media Acquires Airfarewatchdog.com
  ^{April 02, 2008}

  Smarter Travel Media, LLC, part of the TripAdvisor Media Network and an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE), today announced it has acquired Airfarewatchdog(TM), www.airfarewatchdog.com, a leading source of airfare sales. Airfarewatchdog.com(TM) evaluates and aggregates the best airfare deals from across the web on all airlines, including those that sell their fares only on their own web sites. Airfarewatchdog will operate as an independent site and is based in New York City.

• Expedia acquires CarRentals.com
  ^{March 17, 2008}

  The online travel company shared that under this new agreement, CarRentals.com will continue to operate in its current form and will report as a business unit directly into discount travel brand Hotwire. "CarRentals.com complements the success of the Hotwire rental car offering and further enables us to bring choice and value to budget-conscious consumers," said Eric Grosse, General Manager, Hotwire.com.

• isango! Receives $8m Boost from Venture Capitalists
  ^{March 17, 2008}

  isango! (www.isango.com), a leading provider of travel experiences on the internet has received $8m in investment to fund its next stage of growth. The funding round, which is the first institutional round for the company, was led by SPARK Ventures, which is known for previous investment success with LastMinute.com, PriceRunner and other internet-based businesses. Spark Ventures contributed $4m; Beringea, manager of the top performing ProVen VCTs, contributed $2.5m and the remaining $1.5 million came from existing shareholders.

• TurnHere Secures $7.5M in Venture Capital Funding from Venrock and Hearst Interactive Media
  ^{March 10, 2008}

  Online video publisher TurnHere Inc. will use $7.5 million in venture funding from Venrock and Hearst Interactive Media to build its marketing and sales staff while finishing key features of its Web-based video production platform. The private Emeryville company expects to double its 2007 revenue, which the Business Times estimates to be between $2 million and $10 million, based on reported 2007 sales of about 3,000 videos at a price of several hundred to several thousand dollars each.

• EveryScape Secures $7 Million in Series B Venture Financing
  ^{March 05, 2008}

  EveryScape, Inc., creator of "The Real World Online," has secured $7 million in Series B venture capital financing. Led by new investor Dace Ventures, the Series B round also includes existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Fisher New England, Draper Atlantic and LaunchPad Venture Group. EveryScape will use the financing to grow its sales force, accelerate new city launches and fuel new community features.

• Cleartrip Travel Receives Third Round of Funding From Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  ^{February 28, 2008}

  Mumbai-based Cleartrip Travel Services Pvt. Ltd has reportedly received a third round of funding of $18.5 million, which brings the total investment in the Mumbai-based travel company to $30.2 million. According to livemint.com, venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson India Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd (DFJ) led the round with a $10 million investment. DFJ was joined by the Mahindra Group and all the four firms that had previously invested in Cleartrip.

• Indian Travel Search Engine Receives First Round of Funding From BAF Spectrum
  ^{February 22, 2008}

  Travel search engine iXiGO.com has received an undisclosed sum of first-round financing from BAF Spectrum Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based investment firm. The investment will fund iXiGO's marketing plans and its strategy to scale-up searchable travel content. William Klippgen, Executive Director at BAF Spectrum, is joining iXiGO's board of directors.

• Thomas Cook Buys Hotels4U
  ^{February 15, 2008}

  Thomas Cook has bolstered its independent travel operation by acquiring Hotels4U.com, the UK's largest independent bed bank that sells exclusively over the internet. The acquisition is the first since the travel group was formed through a merger with MyTravel and listed last summer as part of its response to the growth of demand by consumers for personalised online holidays. Hotels4U provides accommodation and resort transfers for more than 500,000 people a year - mostly through travel agents who use it to create tailor-made packages. Its access to 30,000 hotels around the world will be made available to Thomas Cook's online customers, and launched in other markets starting with Germany.

• TripAdvisor to Buy Holiday Watchdog
  ^{February 14, 2008}

  TripAdvisor LLC, a unit of online travel company Expedia Inc., said Thursday it purchased Holiday Watchdog, a U.K. travel Web site, for an undisclosed sum. TripAdvisor Chief Executive and founder Steve Kaufer said in a statement that the Web site is a good complement to TripAdvisor Media Network's existing content and helps strengthen its market position. Holiday Watchdog will continue to run as an independent site and will be operated out of TripAdvisor's London office.

• Wotif Holdings Acquires Asia Web Direct
  ^{February 05, 2008}

  Wotif.com Holdings Limited (Wotif.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire all the issued shares in Asia Web Direct (HK) Limited. Completion of the acquisition is conditional upon satisfactory due diligence investigations and is expected to occur before the end of March 2008. Asia Web Direct has hotel inventory from in excess of 4,000 hotels within South East Asia. The Asia Web Direct Group, which has operated since 1993, has provided online instant accommodation booking services, online tours booking services and online travel information through a network of more than 100 travel portals and destination websites (such as Phuket.com and Bangkok.com websites) and via its LateStays.com booking website (a 28-day accommodation booking service) and the SmartStays.com website (which operates a year-round booking service).

• Venere.com Acquires Worldby.com
  ^{February 04, 2008}

  Venere.com has acquired the Italian online hotel booking agency Worldby.com from FINB S.A. and from the company's management team, whose members will continue in their current roles; it is foreseen that the two companies, while leveraging important technology and commercial synergies, will continue to manage independently their accommodation supply partners.

• Metaweb Technologies Raises $42.5M Led by Goldman Sachs
  ^{January 15, 2008}

  Metaweb Technologies Inc., a company creating a new infrastructure for sharing data and building applications on the Web, said Tuesday it received $42.5 million in a second round of funding. The round was led by New York-based Goldman Sachs Co. (NYSE:GS).

• News Digital takes stake in Bezurk.com
  ^{January 15, 2008}

  NEWS Digital Media, News Limited's digital business, has acquired a stake in Asia Pacific travel search engine Bezurk.com.NDM declined to reveal the size of the stake, but a spokesperson said it was a "significant minority interest". Headquartered in Singapore, Berzurk.com is News Digital's first investment offshore. Bezurk.com is one of the fastest-growing online travel aggregators on the internet, delivering travellers based in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand with comparisons for flights, hotels and tours.

• Priceline.com Acquires Asian Online Hotel Reservation Service Agoda Company
  ^{January 04, 2008}

  Priceline announced today that it has acquired Bangkok- and Singapore-based Agoda Company, an online travel company specializing in hotel discount bookings throughout Asia, in a transaction that includes an initial cash payment and a multi-year, performance-based earn-out. Priceline.com said it intends to retain Agoda's current management team, ho will continue to manage Agoda's operations independently as part of priceline.com's international business.