Booking.com targets China, U.S. growth: CEO

By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – After its rapid ride to dominance in online travel in Europe over the past decade, Booking.com is seeking to expand in China and the U.S., its CEO said in an interview. Darren Huston, who heads both Booking.com and its U.S. parent company Priceline Group, said Booking.com is targeting a 20 percent increase in bookings going through its website in the third quarter and still has years of growth ahead.

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Exclusive: Uber checks connections between hacker and Lyft

By Dan Levine and Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Eight months after disclosing a major data breach, ride service Uber [UBER.UL] is focusing its legal efforts on learning more about an internet address that it has persuaded a court could lead to identifying the hacker. In February, Uber revealed that as many as 50,000 of its drivers' names and license numbers had been improperly downloaded, and the company filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court in an attempt to unmask the perpetrator. Uber's court papers claim that an unidentified person using a Comcast IP address had access to a security key used in the breach.

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Expedia shares soar on strong bookings despite strong U.S. dollar

Expedia Inc on Thursday reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ expectations as it earned more money from travel bookings in and outside the United States, despite foreign currencies falling relative to the U.S. dollar.

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Online travel agency Expedia to buy rival Orbitz for $1.38 billion

Expedia Inc said it would buy Orbitz Worldwide for about $1.38 billion in cash, its third acquisition in four months, to take on larger rival Priceline Group Inc in a burgeoning online travel industry. Orbitz's shares shot up 20 percent to $11.63 in morning trading, short of Expedia's offer of $12 per share. Expedia's shares rose nearly 13 percent to $88.50.

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