WebProNews

Florida Sues Expedia And Orbitz Over Taxes

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said today his office has sued online travel companies Expedia and Orbitz for failing to pay the right amount of taxes on hotel room rentals. The lawsuit states that while the companies have been collecting these taxes from consumers all along, they have only been paying a portion of the taxes to the state and keeping the rest as profit.  Florida says the practice denies it of millions of dollars every year in tax revenue.

Facebook Connect Gets Nod From Orbitz

It looks like Facebook's made still more progress in terms of dealing with important companies.  Following earlier news about 1-800-Flowers.com, it turns out that the social network has become a friend of Orbitz.

Orbitz Launches New Hotel Price Display

Online travel company Orbitz announced Wednesday that it will change the way it displays hotel pricing on its Web site. Orbitz has introduced "Total Price" hotel search results which now show base rate, taxes & fees per night upfront on the initial search results page.

Orbitz Partners With MSN On Travel Services

Orbitz Worldwide has announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Microsoft to be the online travel agency for MSN.com's travel portal in the U.S. and the UK.Orbitz.com replaces the Microsoft founded Expedia in the U.S. and affiliate ebookers.com will serve the MSN UK site.Orbitz says the deal could attract 3.5 million visitors per month to Orbitz through MSN Travel. Orbitz did not offer data on how many visitors it could bring to its ebookers site.

In-Flight Wi-Fi Not A Must For Business Travelers

With more airlines testing Wi-Fi and other communication technologies more than half (56%) of business travelers say they don't feel the need to be connected while flying according to an Orbitz For Business Traveler Survey.

Sound and Mobile Web Ads

Most websites need financial support if they are to provide services to website visitors. That is particularly tough for cell phones, which access the mobile web, since small screens do not leave much room for advertising. If you feel that a major slice of mobile Web activity will be via sound technology, then there is an additional challenge. Who wants to wait patiently listening through a sound advertisement until they get to the information they were seeking?

Traveloctiy Tweaks Hotel Review Tool

Travelocity has launched a new hotel review tool that provides users with more relevant results for their own personal tastes and interests.

Majority of Vacationers Plan Trips Online

A report published by eMarketer shows that 58% of vacation planners are planning their trips online. Conversely, only 23% of respondents made use of travel agents in their holiday plans.

Google Travel Rumor On The Road

Google is still advertising for vertical market account executives and strategists in Chicago, but the travel position has triggered the "Google enters travel sector" talk.

ESPN, Orbitz Team On Sports Travel

The worldwide sports leader and the online travel site have a website in development that will literally make it easier to follow a favorite team around during the season.