Comments on: The Triumverate of Travel

By: Open Travel Alliance and the Future of Travel Distribution | Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:07:18 +0000

[...] many in travel, distribution would be considered the lifeblood of the industry. The triumverate of travel, or the BIG THREE of distribution, would tend to agree. These companies, born from the days when [...]

By: different skirts, but the same identity behind « S@veOurSm:)e “travel 2.0:Madagascar-internet-tourisme”

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:34:41 +0000

[...] different skirts, but the same identity behind I’ve stumbled upon an “old” (June 2007) article from Stephen Joyce’s blog identifying the major GDS players that he calls “the triumverate of… [...]

By: So what would a Google + Expedia Look Like? | Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:22:54 +0000

[...] has bought Expedia and they are now the same company. Since I posted my article titled “The Triumverate of Travel” , the landscape has changed a little bit. So, let’s examine first of all what Google [...]

By: TechHippie26

TechHippie26 — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:00:00 +0000

If you ask me, the future of travel, and in this case Travel 2.0, is basically along the path that Sidestep already started with their application on Facebook. I think that was one of the smartest things they could have done, especially with the huge surge of social networking popularity. Another company called Netvibes is said to be doing something that’s like Tripadvisor meets Sidestep, but it’s still on invite beta so I haven’t been able to fully evaluate it. But I think right now, that’s where the future is headed for travel. I think it’s smart too.

By: Tim Hughes

Tim Hughes — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:13:00 +0000

Stephen - great blog. Couple of updates for you.

Cendant as a company has been split into four groups. The parts that own the online retailers is now called Travelport. Brands are as you say though Lodging.com has been shutdown (redirects to Orbitz) and there a couple of other brands like asia-hotels and Away.com. Avis and Budget are now an independent public company (Avis Budget Group Inc) and Wyndham Worldwide is another separate company.

Interactive has similarly been split. Expedia is now a separate company with Ticketmaster, citysearch, evite (and others including Ask.com) in another vehicle.

Turning to Travelocity, it is worth noting that Site59 is going through a rebrand to Lastminute.com and they own Zuji.com in Asia.

You are absolutely correct that there is a big three globally but should not discount Priceline - often called the almost number four. They lag big three (about a third the turnover of the smallest of the three) but have scale - and are particularly successful in European through their brand Booking.com (incorporating Activehotels).