Google is shelling out $700 million to acquire Cambridge,
Mass.-based flight information software company ITA Software to develop new
online airfare search capabilities. Though the companies didn't specify what
Google plans to build with ITA Software or when it expects to unveil new tools,
Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt said, "What we're going to do is
build new flight search tools that focus on end users, and those search tools
will basically allow you to search for flights, compare flight options and
prices—all that kind of stuff—and get you very quickly to a site where you can
then buy a ticket. The idea here is that we're going to improve the way flight
information is organized, which is a big engineering challenge, and something
that people will generally enjoy seeing addressed over the many years we hope
to be doing this." Google was more specific in what it plans not to do,
claiming it has no intention to distribute airfares or sell travel inventory
and is unlikely to process air transactions.
U.S. State Department
To Hike Passport, Visa Fees
The U.S. State Department on July 13 will raise the price
for visas, passports and other consular services—some by more than $300—to
reflect what the department determined is the true cost to provide such
services. For an adult passport, the State Department will begin charging
$110—$35 more than the current price—plus a $25 execution fee, which is not
retained by the department. Meanwhile, the cost for some visas will jump by an
even greater amount. For example, an employment-based immigrant visa will cost
$720 under the new pricing scheme, compared with the previous $355. Following a
study from the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs in June 2009, the
department "established the true cost of providing these consular
services, which by law must be recovered through collection of fees," the
State Department said.
U.S. Hotel Rates To
Begin Ascent This Summer
Average daily rates at U.S. hotels this summer will rise
slightly compared with last, according to an updated summer forecast released
by Smith Travel Research in June. The firm now projects that rates from June to
August will be up 0.1 percent compared with the same period last year. The
highest rate growth will be in August, projected to be up 0.8 percent. STR also
upped its expectations for occupancy and revenue per available room, projecting
a 4.5 percent year-over-year increase in RevPAR during the summer and a 4.3
percent increase in occupancy. Last month's forecast projected flat RevPAR
levels and a 2.2 percent increase in occupancy.
NYU's Hanson: Hotels
Cutting Capital Spending This Year
The U.S. lodging industry this year will spend less on
renovations and amenities than it did in 2009, and industry capital expenditure
levels are nearly half of where they were in 2008, according to analysis
released in June by NYU Tisch Center divisional dean Bjorn Hanson. Hanson
forecasts that capital expenditures levels will be $3 billion this year, more
than 9 percent lower than the $3.3 billion spent in 2009 and 45 percent lower
than the record $5.5 billion spent in 2008. Despite recent upticks in demand,
Hanson said occupancy will remain below 60 percent this year—which has happened
in only four periods in the past 80 years—meaning hotels will have less of a
profit margin to spend on room improvements.
This story originally
appeared in the July 12, 2010, issue of Business Travel News.