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Originally called Gogobot, neither Trip.com nor Ctrip would disclose the terms of the deal. The Palo Alto,-based startup had raised $39 million in funding, said the company. Expedia’s HomeAway, Redpoint and Battery Ventures were among the investors in the startup, which was founded in 2010. Travis Katz, CEO and founder of Trip.com, said, “The idea of this deal is for Skyscanner to marry in-destination reviews content in Trip.com’s arsenal to Skyscanner’s platform.” Skyscanner users would not be instant messaging each other or see a Facebook-like interface but would instead see a mix of objective facts about points of interest along with recommendations for travel ideas posted publicly. Skyscanner said it is also interested in incorporating the predictive intelligence-based technology Trip.com uses to choose which recommendations to surface to which user. The travel product marketplace said it aims to fit Trip.com content into its broader effort to become an “ultimate personal travel assistant” that creates a search experience that’s reflective of basic parts of the traveler’s experience by surfacing relevant results. Read Original Article |
