In leftover tech news for travel, several bits of merit come into view today. From Carlson Wagonlit’s $20 million acquisition of WorldMate to Stayz buying YesBookit, the digital space is lively this week.
Carlson Wagonlit & WorldMate
An old favorite for many travelers, WorldMate has been acquired by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) for a reported price tag of $20 million. WorldMate was so thrilled by the deal they took up much of their site’s front page announcing the deal. WorldMate, for those unfamiliar, is one of the first business to phone itenerary solutions, a respected means of being smarter for travel. iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows Phone, the solution pretty much works with everything. Carlson Wagonlit evidently decided to buy into the mobile trend rather than build. A smart move really.
BidTravel
Africa’s largest travel group, BidTravel, penned a deal with Travelport for continued access to the Galileo GDS. The deal also included BidTravel getting other technologies Travelport offers including Travelport Universal Desktop™. The deal means BidTravel travel management’s African brands will have access to Travelport’s air, hotel and car rental network too.
rome2rio
Some smart Microsoft x’s get their very innovative travel startup, rome2rio, back on track with an enthralling tax rebate story. Rome2rio co-founders Michael Cameron and Bernie Tschirren are now applying an Australian tax loophole to enhance their funding dollar for Australian dollar. ZDNEt covers former Microsoft engineering types trying to do good in the travel space here. As for the startup, it is quite brilliant actually. We have covered so called “door to door” travel initiatives before, but this one is the nicest by far so far. The images below illustrates what rome2rio does for “at least” showing users options for travel.
Not rome2rio, Trier to Istanbul options in our case
Virgin Holdidays
News from Virgin Holidays tells of a deal to help this season’s holiday travelers. Virgin will deploy Amadeus technology to offer better service to clients. According to the news, Virgin Holidays will “migrate” their online and call center reservations to their new travel technology partner Amadeus. Just the other day Virgin announced their 007 Skyfall deals to Shanghai, as well as special Goldfinger and other Bond getaways.
Stayz
Last but no least, Stayz Group has purchased booking and payment solution YesBookit to help manage portfolios of holiday houses and apartments. YesBookit currently serves some 170 clients managing over 14,000 properties. Integration is the key to this deal apparently, YesBookit easily works with rental websites like Home Away and Starz. The move is evidently designed to add value and position relative to Home Away and other competitors. Stayz, already a powerful holiday booking site on its own, could be intent on expanding past the shores of Australia on this one.