Home > > Kayak moves into restaurant search, makes a u-turn on activities

Kayak moves into restaurant search, makes a u-turn on activities

04/19/2016| 12:34:17 PM| 中文

Kayak has confirmed it will soon be launching products for travellers looking for places to eat, and tours and activities. The things-to-do channel will launch with a number of supply partners including Viator and GetYourGuide.

Kayak has confirmed it will soon be launching products for travellers looking for places to eat, and tours and activities.

The things-to-do channel will launch with a number of supply partners including Viator andGetYourGuide.

Bosses hope to get the service up and running “in the coming weeks”, an official says.

Restaurant search is still waiting for confirmation of its supply partners.

Both of the new channels will be introduced on a regional basis, but the activities section is expected to be available to almost half of the brand’s local websites at its launch.

Chief technology officer Giorgos Zacharia says:

“The ability to search for restaurants and activities on Kayak gives our users a more comprehensive experience and the ability to tackle more aspects of their trip planning and management in one place.”

The integration of restaurant search into the Kayak business does not come as a particular surprise given that OpenTable is part of the Priceline Group family brands, so integrating and understanding the complex and diverse world of eateries could be a lot easy to take on.

But trying to tackle the equally complex and diverse world of tours and activities does indicate a certain change in thinking from Kayak’s top brass.

In fact, CEO and co-founder Steve Hafner said in early-2015 that there “wasn’t a consumer need for it”.

This was said in the context of metasearch users generally being early in the purchase funnel, and things-to-do and attractions are an element of a trip being that are bought either in-destination or at the last minute before departure, often weeks or maybe months after transportation and accommodation are organised.

But with mobile now a major play in the travel sector, with users using their devices in-resort, such a u-turn makes sense – not least with two high profile product providers in the shape of Viator and GetYourGuide being available to play off of one another.

Until the summer of 2014, when TripAdvisor bought Viator for $200 million, both would feature on the site as suppliers of prices for a large number of activities and tours.

Skyscanner, Kayak’s global arch rival in the metasearch business, currently features only flights, hotel and car rental channels.

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TAGS: Kayak | metasearch
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