At the beginning of 2009, we predicted that there would be consolidation in the online travel industry.
It has been announced today that, Trade Me has acquired the assets of Vianet International. This means that Trade Me will now run the entire booking operation for Travelbug and the Vianet retailer network.
Trade Me has said that: "in the short term, this will make no difference to the daily operation of the Vianet system. Bookings and payments will be processed as normal."
It will be interesting to see if a more focused in-house model will have a positive affect on Travelbug's on-line success.
