mediajunk

I attended the eSymposium organised by Tourism Ireland today.

One of the speakers was Steve Hafner, CEO of Kayak, a meta-search engine for flights.

Already popular in the U.S., travel meta-search engines aren't so well-known this side of the Atlantic. Hafner seemed to suggest that this was due partly to the general internet innovation lag between the U.S. and Europe, and partly because Europe's complex network of airlines (and, presumably, its cultural and language heterogeneity).

In any case, Kayak is launching its European equivalent any day now, we were told.

The big question for me is: will Ryanair be one of the airlines searched? Another site that claims to be a European meta-search engine for flights is Opopo. However, since it doesn't include Ryanair flights, it is unlikely to become popular with those searching for bargains (i.e. most of us).