Argophilia

Αργοφιλία: For the love of the journey.

travel companies

Carlson Names Veteran Trudy Rautio CEO

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Global hospitality firm Carlson has announced Trudy Rautio (at left) as the new president and CEO after Hubert Joly steps down. The move makes Rautio on the 5th head of the company in its 74 year history. The family owned business includes the brands Radisson Hotels, T.G.I Friday’s, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

Tourism Companies Get Customized Social Media Services

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Public relations agencies Mirror Communications and PRwave International have partnered to design customized social media packages for the tourism industry, aiming to help small and medium sized companies in this segment better tap in the potential of the community they target.

Should Google Buy Travelzoo?

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What could Google do with Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO)? This is the question some insiders may be asking if reports of the beleaguered travel deal company’s sale ring true. Having had shared plummet over 70 percent since last year, Travelzoo would seem ripe for the picking, but just who’s plucking online booking portals these days? Reuters has it the company is seeking advisers on a potential sell.

5 Luxury & Lifestyle Sites to Live for

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Surfing the web is a pass time for some, a job for others, but a necessity for finding anything good on the web. No matter what service one signs up for, which social network they cotton to, without Googling for some excellence or even relevance, a lot is missed. Argo Travel News tries to bring some surfing gems to you periodically. So here are some luxury sites you may not have skimmed across yet.

Thomas Cook Buys Time With Spain Divestiture

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Beleaguered Thomas Cook has unloaded gold and hotel business in Spain to help slash debt which has crippled their business of late. The 170 year old company will be selling their stake in Hoteles Y Clubs De Vacaciones for a reported £72 million. The news comes in advance of delayed Thomas Cook annual results which will almost certainly spur massive store closings and job losses.

OTA CEOs: Part II

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Yesterday we began a series on online travel agency CEOs, and a recent interview conducted by USA TODAY’s Veronica Gould Stoddart and Roger Yu. We analyzed a bit, some key decision makers’ mindset on the question of whether consumers want (will get) richer content from these industry giants during their travel searches. Expedia, Orbitz, TripAdvisor, parent Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline bosses all had their views there.

EuropeTravel Launches New Social Networking Travel Portal

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The unveiling of the dynamic new addition to the internet travel community was announced today, as the EuropeTravel.net portal finally went live. EuropeTravel is a unique social network community geared towards European travel, with the stated goal of bringing together travel companies, tour operators and travelers to engage in information sharing for all 55 European nations.

Tours4Fun and Hop2 Flight Search Partner

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In budget travel news, sightseeing tour company, Tours4Fun, announced a new partnership with Hop2 Travel for offering direct access for affordable flights. The Los Angeles based tour company will also add Hop2 offerings like car rentals, hotels, and even cruises for their clients. Argo takes a look at this news bit to evaluate some OTA corporate moves – is this news or not? Let’s see.

Thomas Cook Celebrates 170th Anniversary

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If you’ve ever wondered how travel companies like Thomas Cook got so prominent, last weeks 170th anniversary of their founders holidays should be a clue. Thomas Cook’s first hosted tour, a train ride with 500 demonstrators back in 1841, launched maybe the world’s most respected holiday travel company.

TripAdvisor Acquires Where I’ve Been

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TripAdvisor, the online world’s most popular travel website, has reportedly purchased Where I’ve Been, the once popular Facebook application. The map oriented platform allows users to display where they have visited or lived, and places they would like to visit. Once a “viral” application with something over a million monthly users, the app now sees only a fraction of that number.

Travel for Good Winners Picked by Travelocity

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Travelocity announced the four grand prize winners for their recent Travel for Good® program. Over the last six months Travelocity has been looking for stories of inspiration from volunteers around the world. The four winners will each receive a $5,000 grant for a so called “volunteer vacation” – where they can offer their services in some corner of the world.

Opodo Deal Worth Over Half a Billion

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Just about every news outlet in Europe is all a buzz about private equity firm Axa, and Permira headed for a deal to buy Amadeus’ Opodo. The OTA started in Germany in 2001, if the deal goes through as suggested, will be worth between $500 and $700 million. An unnamed source at Amadeus IT Holding SA told Reuters the sketch details of the negotiations.

HomeAway & the Business of Super Bowl Commercials

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With Super Bowl XLV headed to living rooms and sports bars everywhere this weekend, one highly anticipated aspect of that great event is, of course, the ever present commercials which often entertain more than the game itself. Remember the time when your parents rented that beach house for the Summer? HomeAway remembers.

Why the World Is Not Saying “Tripsay”

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When you see a development like Tripsay in the corner at the dance, you have to ask yourself; “Is everyone at this party stupod?” This Finnish travel development should have been either bought or adopted for any number of mainstream travel companies – but it wasn’t. Tripsay now intends to modularize their innovation so that mid sized players can compete with the likes of Expedia and TripAdvisor.