The Wall Street Journal report pretty much says it all: At $6.9 billion, Expedia is now worth 40% less than TripAdvisor, which is worth more than $11 billion.
How did TripAdvisor, a recent former subsidiary of Expedia, pull off such a gain when just a year and a half ago, it was an Expedia holding?
Hotelmarketing quite correctly reports that TripAdvisor, in its nimble ways, redesigned its website to show shoppers "more hotel options" side by side with its traveler reviews, "rather than referr
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Governor Diego Velázquez was so overawed by lush beauty of this fabulous part of Cuba that he decided to call it the Jardines del Rey (King’s Gardens) in honour of the Spanish monarch Ferdinand the Catholic. And this Spanish explorer could not have thought of a more suitable name for the chain of islands containing Cayo Coco, as they truly do reign supreme amongst the many stunning paradisiacal spots to be found on the spectacular island of Cuba, the largest of the Antilles.
The island of Cayo
With its strategic position overlooking the strait that parts the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, Gibraltar remains in British hands. For tourists, it also makes an almost unique journey back to the colonial times when Britain ruled the world, reports Erik Bergin.
After the British handed back Hong Kong to China in 1997, there’s not much left of the former glorious British Empire, that once ruled land and seas around the globe.But one British outpost remains, undisturbed by Spain’s opposition
Costa Rica se caracteriza por ser un país con un sentimiento muy arraigado a la religión. Muchas de sus costumbres y tradiciones tienen antecedentes en ella. Esto no excluye la libertad de culto, ya que en su territorio convive una gran diversidad de credos. Recientemente, en el 2012, las investigaciones de la Escuela de Estadística de la Universidad de Costa Rica demostraron que el 46% de la población sigue siendo católico. De seguido, un 23% se identifica como católico no practicante; el 22% p
Summer is here, and that means Sitges is in full swing for the season. Of the myriad little fishing-villages-turned-beach-resorts along Spain's Mediterranean coast, this is the one nearest and dearest to the heart of gay men and women across Europe and beyond. In Catalonia about 45 minutes south of Barcelona, Sitges (pronouced “SEAT-jess,” its fetching seaside church – pictured above -- an icon) now has a year-round population around 20,000, doesn't attract queers alone - in fact, they're great
As I travel around the Caribbean (and to some extent this is true in Latin America, too), I find nearly every island has some kind of homegrown hooch (often rum-based) that purports to be “medicinal” (and sometimes certainly tastes the part), often including revitalizing, curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. And if you visit the Dominican Republic, you may well come across the Dominican variation on this type of esteemed elixir.
The name mamajuana (Spanish for “Mama Jane”) is t
Hi, my name is Cara. My husband Ray and I have been in the casino business for most of our working careers. We have decided to show you the view from behind the table. We will pass on a few tips, so that superstition doesn’t ruin you game. Please let us know if they help you win the next time you visit a casino!
If you were a blackjack table visited by thousands of punters a year, you would hear the same five things repeated every day. Guess what, all five of them are misconceptions, mixed up w
Sit back for a moment and imagine yourself in your favorite vacation spot. Whether it’s at your local swimming hole kicking back in a lounger with the ultimate trashy novel or a dream excursion throughout Italy, you deserve some R&R. Here are some wines for wherever your adventures take you:
Butterfly Kiss Pinot Grigio 2011
Sourced from select California vineyards graced with sun-soaked afternoons and cool, fog-shrouded evenings, Pinot Grigio grapes used in this Butterfly Kiss showcase ripe sugar
William Wordsworth once said that the best way to view the mountains of England’s Lake District was from the surface of one of the lakes. Three of the sixteen lakes have large passenger boats cruising on them, so that view is still easily available to visitors.
When the railway first arrived at Windermere, there was already such a boat cruising on the lake of the same name … although it was some distance from the railway station. The railway actually terminated at a village called Birthwaite, bu
At the very bottom of Costa Rica, the placid blue waters of the Golfo Dulce shine like a mirror most days, reflecting occasional clouds and the immense cerulean sky. Its calm surface is broken by the odd small, local boat cruising along, but the most action is caused by dolphins frolicking or fishing, sea turtles swimming, fish jumping out of the water, and marine birds diving for those fish.
This time of year, the Gulf gets even busier with visiting migrating Humpback Whales. The “inner sea” of
Any fan of motion pictures has a favorite film director. Recently, I was able to view an exhibit of one of the true masters of cinematography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA. A tribute to the works of one of the cinematic geniuses of all time, the perfectionist, Stanley Kubrick. More than 1,000 objects on display in “Stanley Kubrick” — a massive exhibition devoted to the legendary filmmaker.
Anyone who has seen a Kubrick flick must admire the filmmakers attention to every last d
Cruize Cast Blog: A Cruise Podcast Full Blog with More Pictures
When looking at the cost of a cruise in the Mediterranean, one of the largest expenses is shore excursions. Most people assume that since they are in a foreign country, it makes sense to pay the high price for cruise sponsored excursions. While these excursions do provide the traveler the guarantee that the ship will not leave without them as well as a licensed guide, many ports are so easy to tour on your own that the DIY option
Euskadi huele a campo verde. Y en medio de ese color se encuentran sus tres capitales de provincia: Vitoria, Bilbao y San Sebastián. por
La primera, la menos conocida aunque sea la capital de la región, es una delicia. Calificada como una de las ciudades españolas más habitables por calidad de vida, zonas verdes y filosofía ecológica, Vitoria no defrauda. Sería un error pasar de ella, porque sorprende y engancha con su arquitectura medieval.
Los palacetes renacentistas se suceden ante nuestr
Seeking the perfect travel website is a bit like seeking the Holy Grail. A long, usually fruitless endeavor.
But if the perfect travel website is ever built, we're pretty sure "they will come."
And maybe the website that Fi designed is it.
For now, at best, most if not all travel web sites are pretty "ho hum," especially airline and hotel websites. At worse, they are an insult to easy access and intuitive interaction.
Or as as Hotelmarketing acerbically points out, travel websites pretty much
Three images are especially iconic when it comes to Turkey: the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, the library at Ephesus, and the whirling dervishes of Konya. But despite all the time I’ve spent in this country, until I visited the dervishes’ annual festival last December, I didn’t truly know what they were all about. “Konya offers a unique opportunity to learn about the Sufi philosophy and the significance of the dance in the place where it all originated,” my Turkish friend
Mountain bikers around the world: There's a new adventure race happening in August in Costa Rica – the 100-mile Rincón de la Vieja Challenge.
The mountain bike endurance race is set for Aug. 24, 2013, starting off from Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste. The 100-mile race is the first of its kind in Costa Rica and Latin America, and according to race promoters, is the only race in the world to circumnavigate an active volcano.
Located in Costa Rica's northern Pa
Tourism is to a great extent a world of marketing. In reality there are three major parts to the tourism product 1) the product itself, 2) the way the product is presented by both the provider (marketing) and perceived by the customer (reputation), and 3) the product delivery or service that is given as part of the product experience. Often tourism professionals become so enthralled with one part of this triangle that they forget one or two of the other sides of the triangle. This triangle ho
Being one of the oldest cities in the southern Brazilian state of Paranã, Morretes is a most charming colonial town, tucked away in one of the largest and best preserved areas of Atlantic rainforest of south Brazil.
Oldest building in Morretes. Today it is a restaurant where you can enjoy the local cuisine...
Just like the rest of Brazil, the region where Morretes was founded in 1721, was initially inhabited by indigenous tribes, like the Guarani and the Carijó, who eventually had to give way
The birth of empathy between siblings is a beautiful thing to witness. One of the many unexpected joys of living abroad is watching the way such a powerful experience changes your children. For the better. Kids who travel together, learn to rely on each other in a deeper way than life in suburban America demands.
When we left for Italy, Katie and Matt were fifteen and eleven. At that time they were attending different schools, played different sports, had different sets of friends, and had de
Oklahoma´s capital (pop. around 681,000) is a place that exudes charm, character, a dash of sorrow, and overall a spirit that inspires visitors to live their lives more meaningfully. There´s the proverbial something for everyone here, and I recently spent three fascinating days it all - and like others who came before me and those who will follow… my soul was changed forever.
Arriving at the easy breezy Will Rogers Airport I picked up my luggage in record time and headed off to the
