Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Google introduces new 'holiday planning' service

Google has quietly entered the online travel booking space with the launch of 'Trips', a one-stop-shop for booking flights, hotels and tour packages, it has emerged.

"Travel planning is complicated. The number of tools and amount of information you need to sift through when deciding where to go, where to stay and what flight to take can be time consuming and overwhelming. That’s why today, we’re simplifying the way we help travellers plan trips with Google across devices," said Richard Holden, vice president, Product Management, Travel.

The search engine giant is combining its travel-related products — the mobile Google Trips app, Google Flights, Google hotels search, and more — under a singular landing page called Trips (https://www.google.com/travel).

"Last year, we simplified trip planning by making navigation between Google Flights, Hotels, and Trips easier on smartphones. We’re now rolling this out on desktop as well," he said.

'Trips' allows browsers to search for flights, hotels and packages, as well as explore possible destinations, all on a single landing page. It automatically maps out a half day or a full day with suggestions for things to see and do.

"As you plan a trip, your research and reservations will be organised for you in Trips. Moreover, recent searches, saved places and flights you’re tracking are added automatically to your trips when you’re signed into your Google Account," Holden said.

At this stage, the company is not pushing ahead with sales of flights and holidays (direct bookings) but instead continuing its metasearch model, where users click through to book rooms and airfares provided by advertisers.

According to Holden, in the next few months, trips —including reservations for things like hotels and restaurants — will be accessible in Google Maps, too. - TradeArabia News Service