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Revinate Tries Half-Hearted Coronavirus Campaign

2020-04-20 by Phil Butler

Frankfurt

Revinate is the latest hospitality firm to plop down a limited coronavirus strategy information campaign, just when the industry needs help.

Tags: Ariela Kiradjian, booking, Booking.com, Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association, Cara Federici, COVID-19, Hospitality Industry Club, Madison Melle Agency, Marc Heyneker, Rani Croshal, Revinate, travel, TUI

Online Booking Platform taptrip Partners With TMC ATPI

2020-02-12 by Argophilia Travel News

taptrip

taptrip has entered into a new partnership with the leading corporate travel and events business and pioneers of technology, the ATPI Group.

Tags: ATPI, ATPI Group, booking, booking engines, booking platforms, hotel booking, startups, taptrip, TMC

RateHawk Launches in Greek, Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian

2019-08-27 by Aleksandr Shatskih

Rate Hawk

RateHawk.com has just introduced a fully localized version of its platform for the Greek, Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian markets.

Tags: B2B bookings, B2B hotel tech, booking, booking engines, booking portals, booking technology, European bookings, hotel tech, language support, RateHawk

RateGain Launches Smart Distribution

2019-05-28 by Argophilia Travel News

RateGain unveiled the Smart Distribution solution during HEDNA, Madrid. This game-changing product will revolutionize hotels distribution.

Tags: ADR, booking, Bookings, HEDNA, hotel bookings, hotel distribution, hotels technology, RateGain, Smart Distribution

Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Hotelier: Frank Reeves

2018-06-21 by Argophilia Travel News

Frank Reeves

The most confusing aspect of hotel technology these days is discerning real innovation from PR buzz. The need to market and sell products and services always skews the reality, but by taking technology (any technology) down into its basic form consumers can sift through the buzz to discover the real value. With this kind of consumer focus, we thought this great breakdown from Avvio might help sort some of the confusion. 

Tags: AI, artificial intelligence, Avvio, booking, booking tech, Frank Reeves, hotel tech, technology

Why Is Every Hotel Not Selling Rooms Via Bidroom?

2016-02-24 by Phil Butler

Bidroom landing page

When was the last time you really compared the prices you pay for hotels stays? If you are like most people, time is never on your side, and loyalty or brand awareness simply must play a role in your travel decision making processes. A Dutch startup a friend recommended, Bidroom addresses several problems caused by […]

Tags: Bidroom, booking, Expedia, hotel booking, hotel tech, hotels, Michael Ros, OTA's, rooms, startups

Sabre to Auction Off Lastminute

2014-08-18 by Phil Butler

Sabre Holdings is to sell Lastminute.com according to their announcement. The advisory firm of Houlihan Lokey will oversee the auction of the once profitable booking platform.

Tags: booking, booking sites, Houlihan Lokey, LastMinute, Sabre, Sabre holdings

Priceline Says Aloha! to OpenTable and Sayonara! to Competition

2014-06-16 by Phil Butler

William Shatner

Priceline buying restaurant reservation website OpenTable for $2.6 billion shows the expansion of the hospitality space growing ever more competitive. It was only a matter of time until restaurants became a bigger part of the tourism mix. If ever there were an “all in one” travel company emerging, Priceline may have just bid Sayonara! to its competition.

Tags: booking, buuteeq, hotel booking, OpenTable, OTA's, restaurant booking, William Shatner

Snap Traveller White Paper Reveals the Secrets of Influence Marketing for Hoteliers

2014-06-05 by Aleksandr Shatskih

To celebrate the relaunch of its official site, redesigned as a network to build solid relationships between hotels, journalists and bloggers, Snap Traveller released an authoritative report on influence marketing and its role in the hospitality industry.

Tags: bloggers, booking, channel and revenue management, hotel marketing, hotel news, hotels, marketing, media, rooms

European Travel Commission and Amadeus ink strategic partnership

2014-03-08 by Aleksandr Shatskih

Amadeus Logo

Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry, and the European Travel Commission (ETC) signed today a strategic partnership to promote Europe as a tourism destination.

Tags: Amadeus, booking, European Travel Commission, OTA's, tech, UTC

Campanile Hotel Paris Bastille – Change the way you stay!

2013-11-23 by Aleksandr Shatskih

Campanile Hotel Paris Bastille, part of Louvre Hotels Group, the largest hotel chain in France and the 2nd major player on the European market, devised a new vision of comfort and modern convenience for its guests. Close to the historic center of Paris, with the Place de la Bastille in particular just 500 m away, […]

Tags: booking, Campanile Hotel Paris Bastille, france, France hotels, Louvre Hotels Group, Paris

Amadeus Mobile Messenger Brought to Life

2012-10-23 by Aleksandr Shatskih

Amadeus travel distribution systems

Leading technology partner Amadeus has has just announced signing a partnership with US mobile technology provider Charter Solutions International.

Tags: booking, distribution channels, GDS, mobile booking, OTA's, TMS, travel alliance

WIHP’s DirectPack & Trivago – Direct Bookings Imminent?

2012-10-02 by Phil Butler

trivago

World Independent Hotels Promotion (WIHP) has just announced a sweet partnership with leading meta comparison site Trivago, one which could end up being a sort of strategic masterpiece. Testing their so called DirectPack ad platform with Trivago, WIHP’s test hotels achieved a 10x ROI with no sweat, according to WIHP’s Marketing experts. The implications of this news may not be readily obvious, we suggest you read on.

Tags: booking, booking engine, DirectPack, Global Hotel Exchange, hotel marketing, marketing, marketing tools, OTA's, ROI, Room Key, treovi, TripAdvisor, Trivago

Digital Marketing System buuteeq Looking Up

2012-08-19 by Phil Butler

Web, mobile, social

News from budding marketing marvel buuteeq suggests their dital marketing system (DMS) for independent hotels is gaining momentum. Powering online reservartions online, on mobile, and via social media, the startup launched back in 2011 is now engaging hoteliers across 15 countries.

Tags: booking, booking engine, buuteeq, Convert, distribution, DMS, Grafetee, hotel marketing, marketing, mobile bookings, OTA, Robert Scoble, Stay.com, Teovi, WIHP Hotels

Lifestyle Hotels & Other Booking Filters

2012-07-24 by Phil Butler

Hotel Augarten

Are you looking for something or someone to filter your digital world? Argo Travel News takes a look at another travel accommodation filtering channel, Lifestyle Hotels, with mentions of a few others. If ever there were a need for good suggestion engines, the travel space is in dire need. How do you decide where to go, where to stay, what to do? Let’s look at regional players in travel booking.

Tags: ads, billboard effect, booking, destination filters, editing, France travel, hotel filter, human filtering, human filters, Italy hotels, Italy travel, Lago di Garda, Lefay Resort & SPA, marketing, OTA's, PR, resorts, startups, Stay.com, Thomas Holzleithner, Toscolano River, Vinivi, Waggener Edstrom, WHIP Convert, WIHP, WIHP Hotels

Treovi To Revolutionize the Online Hotel Industry

2012-06-13 by Aleksandr Shatskih

Treovi Hotel bookings

Revolutionizing the online hotel industry, Treovi reservation service recently announced their main objective of excluding all existing online commissions and founding an equitable collaboration between hotels and their customers. Now this is news.

Tags: booking, Expedia, free booking, free reservation service, GHX, Global Hotel Exchange, guest booking, guests, hotel booking, hotel industry, hotels, online hotels, online travel booking, OTA's, Roomkey, Tnooz, travel sites, treovi

US Mobile Travel Bookings to Top $8 Billion

2012-02-27 by Aleksandr Shatskih

Philip Wolf founder and Chairman of PhoCusWright

Everyone in the business of travel distribution knows mobile is the most influential sector of the booking segment. A new report from the world’s leading travel authority, PhoCusWright, tells of mobile’s value upcoming. According to the research company bookings via mobile will exceed $8 billion in 2013 in the US alone.

Tags: booking, booking platforms, flight booking, hotel hooking, mobile bookings, mobile travel, online booking, PhoCusWright, smartphones

IAVRA: A Slick Way to Skin Villa Travel

2011-10-14 by Phil Butler

IAVRA branded villa pages

This is going to be a rave review about a new platform from the International Association of Villa Rental Agents (IAVRA), just to get you prepared. This new subscriber based database and tool set is a near perfect B2B conduit between travel agents etc. and Villa rental agents across the globe. The service not only makes searching, selecting, and renting villas efficient, but a bit of an aesthetically charged user experience on both ends of the exchange.

Tags: booking, booking innovations, hakia, no commission, Powerset, ReadWriteWeb, search engines, subscriber services, travel search, villa, villa rentals

Travelport and Poland’s Blue Sky Team Up

2011-05-18 by Phil Butler

Malbork Castle

In news from Poland’s Blue Sky Travel, the company and Travelport have just penned a deal for supporting Blue Sky’s offerings with Travelport’s global flight inventory.

Tags: Blue Sky Travel, booking, Eastern Europe travel, Euro 2012, Galileo, Jerzy Ruszkowski, online travel, Poland bookings, Poland hotels, Poland travel, Poland travel plans, travel news, travel plans, Travelport, Worldspan

GetThere.com Adds HTML5 Mobile Shop and Book Features

2011-04-13 by Aleksandr Shatskih

GetThere Mobile

GetThere announced yesterday that it has added some new features to its GetThere Mobile service.  The new web interface is built using HTML5, giving mobile users an app-like experience without actually having to download an app. With GetThere Mobile, mobile travel users can do the following: access flight information, including departure and arrival times call […]

Tags: booking, flight, GetThere, GetThere Mobil, hotels, HTML5, mobile app, reservations, smartphones, travel agency, web app

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Why We Embrace AI

At Argophilia, we believe in using every tool at our disposal to bring you the stories that matter. You may notice a certain precision in our data analysis, a specific flair in our visuals, or a rapid turnaround on complex topics. That is no accident—it is the result of our rampant use of artificial intelligence.

We use Gemini to help synthesize data, structure our reporting, and ensure our news remains as sharp as the reality we cover. When it comes to our imagery, we rely on the creative power of Midjourney and NightCafe, unless otherwise noted in our editorial credits.

We are not apologetic for this. In a fast-moving world, these tools allow us to focus on what really counts: investigating the issues, giving a voice to the marginalized, and maintaining the journalistic integrity you expect from us. We see AI not as a replacement for human judgment, but as an engine that amplifies our ability to inform, analyze, and tell the truth about our island and beyond.

We are writers and journalists first—but we are proud to be tech-enabled ones, too.

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Stories of Interest

The Six Pufferfish Species Found in Greek Waters

2026-07-08 By Mihaela Lica Butler

From the infamous Silver-cheeked Toadfish, whose powerful bite and deadly toxin have made headlines across the Mediterranean, to tiny deep-water species that most swimmers will never encounter, these invasive fish are now part of Greece’s marine life.

spearfishing diver AI illustration

Search Intensifies After Missing Spearfisher’s Gear Found Off Frangokastello

2026-07-08 By Manuel Santos

A Frontex thermal drone and multiple vessels search for a 65-year-old missing spearfisherman in Crete after his gear was found 5 nautical miles offshore.

Silver Nova pool deck

Luxury Cruise Ship Silver Nova Makes First Visit to Heraklion

2026-07-08 By Argophilia Travel News

Heraklion welcomed a new addition to its growing cruise portfolio this week as the luxury cruise ship Silver Nova made its first-ever visit to the Cretan capital. The maiden call was marked by the traditional plaque exchange ceremony aboard the vessel, attended by representatives of the Heraklion Port Authority, the Hellenic Coast Guard, and the […]

Chania market reopening 2026

Chania Municipal Market Targets September Reopening After Years of Restoration

2026-07-08 By Iorgos Pappas

Chania’s restored Municipal Market is expected to reopen in September, with shop owners beginning work on their premises during July.

Heraklion restaurants

Heraklion Restaurants See Plenty of Visitors but Less Spending This Summer

2026-07-08 By Victoria Udrea

Heraklion’s hospitality sector says visitor numbers remain strong, but cautious spending and rising costs are squeezing restaurant businesses.

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