EyeforTravel: Online Travel Insights

Finalists of Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards Announced

2012-02-21T12:47:00.006Z

The online voting period for EyeforTravel's Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards has now closed and the finalists have been decided by the industry.
I'm excited to announce the 10 lucky finalists who will be presenting their pitches at the awards on March 5th.

Best Mobile App

Best Western 2 Go
TripAdvisor
Orbitz Worldwide
Worldmate

Best Mobile Website

Best Western 2 Go
Marina Bay Sands
Hotwire

Best Mobile Strategy

CarTrawler
InterContinental Hotel Group
TripAdvisor

They will have the chance to present their pitch to the following judges

Michael Becker, North America, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association
Tim Gunstone, MD, EyeforTravel Ltd
Ricky Heath,Travel & Transportation, AT&T
Glenn Gruber, AVP, Market Development, Travel Technologies, Ness Technologies

The awards will take place as part of EyeforTravel's Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco.

The program line-up can be found here - http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile/conference-agenda.php

There are limited places still available at the event. Email gina@eyefortravel.com for more details.

Nothing says "I Love You" more than a 2 for 1 Groupon Deal

2012-02-13T17:24:00.001Z

By Dr Rosie "Roses are Red" Akenhead

Today I read an article on www.nooga.com which makes a mildly bland statement: “non-traditional marketing campaigns engage consumers.” It then goes on to show a marketing campaign on one of the most traditional marketing days of the calendar year: Valentine’s Day. Call me a cynic- but I find it increasingly hard, especially in the travel industry, to see innovation in marketing around this time of year. For me, Valentine’s marketing is predictable across most retail and online industries- an awful lot of red, even more love hearts and a whole lot of 241 Pizza Expresses. Joy.

The travel industry always hits a mini peak around February 14^th. Weekends away, spas, theatre, dinner, flights to city destinations: all these travel picks are winners in the Valentine money spinning roulette. Lastminute.com’s second highest search term this week is for “valentine’s hotel”. Despite the population’s obliviousness to correct grammar, it would seem that it is not so much the destination, nor the price, but it is “the valentine” aspect which is the most essential part of the search. This is interesting because it gives travel marketers a new opportunity to exploit the changing market. Historically, Valentine’s marketing was all about upselling luxury: champagne, the Eiffel tower, and definitely Ladurée macaroons. In 2012, we see the deal phenomenon stand proud with Groupon offering up a “valentine’s shop”, this year with deals you couldn’t even shake a stick at, they’re that cheap. Deals which are fantastic, but not that romantic (definitely not if you know it was bought on Groupon, right?) Similarly, Hotels.com is straight on the bandwagon for Valentine’s marketing and the key theme all-round is DEALS. Cheap, save 50%, get XYZ free…

So, to conclude: the Valentine market is changing rapidly: it is about absolutely everything. It’s about deals, it’s about luxury, it’s about swagger, it’s about timeless classics, it’s about, “take your Mum instead,” or, “a weekend away with the girls.” However, most importantly, it’s about making sure you do something, anything, right or wrong, cheap or expensive, for Valentine’s Day, because it’s Valentine’s.

As a test, we’ve decided to run our own Valentine’s competition, where, if you register on Feb 14^th for TDS Europe 2012, 1 person in every 10 registrations we receive will get their pass COMPLETELY FREE!

It’s nothing to do with hearts, you will not see any red coloured twinkling birds on our website, and we promise no pictures of couples canoodling in a Jacuzzi in Dubai. What you will get, is 90 speakers, 36 conference sessions, and a couple of fab networking parties, and possibly your pass for free!

Buy your pass here https://secure.firstconf.com/travel/travel-distribution-summit-europe-2012/register.asp and if you tweet, use both hashtags #tdseurope #b2bvalentines

Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards Judges Announced!

2012-02-09T16:50:00.004Z

Investing valuable time and resources in mobile is a big decision and a much discussed theme in the industry right now. At a travel industry conference in London this week, a Google representative revealed that eBay makes over $2 billion a year in mobile revenues – not bad!

Travel lends itself to mobile easily and yet as an industry we’ve been fairly slow to adopt it. Many of the travel brands who have taken the mobile leap are now reaping the rewards.

The pitfalls however can be huge. Mobile investment is not cheap and it can fail. It’s important to ensure that the mobile strategy you take is right for your consumer base – and your brand.

EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel awards seeks to award the trailblazers in the mobile in travel space and will take place in San Francisco, March 5^th .

We’re pleased to announce the judges for the awards to be

Michael Becker, North American, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association
Ricky Heath, Travel & Transportation, AT & T
Glenn Gruber, AVP, Market Development, Travel Technologies, Ness Technologies
Tim Gunstone, MD, EyeforTravel Ltd

The awards will be chaired by John T. Peters, VP/GM Digital Strategy, Rand McNally.

Voting is currently taking place online to decide who the lucky 9 finalists who will present at the event to the panel of judges will be. Don’t forget to cast your vote for your favorite mobile initiative here.

For more information about the awards (held as part of EyeforTravel’s Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6) visit - http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile/

How Mobile and Social Media Are Influencing New Business Models in the Travel Space

2012-02-08T14:01:00.002Z

For some time now, we’ve been documenting how travel industry players have been using social media and more recently mobile, to communicate with their customers.

With technological change comes in innovation and in recent weeks, we've been exploring the new business models that are arising in the travel and hospitality space which have been facilitated by new mediums of communication.

In partnership with Josiah MacKenzie, ReviewPro, we have produced a case study detailing how New York’s Roger Smith Hotel is using social media and mobile technology to monetize their hotel space to up-sell, cross-sell and draw in the wider community.

Known for their innovative approach to social media, the hotel pioneered the concept of social hospitality which extends beyond just the visitors that stay in your hotel and into the wider community. This concept has enabled them to turn their property into a hub of creativity.

With this in mind they are now taking advantage of key developments in mobile to evolve their business model to focus on retail and e-commerce.

Find out more in the full case study which is free to download here.

Is Trust the New Battlefield For Success in Online Travel?

2012-02-01T14:47:00.000Z

Without trust capitalism fails. That’s quite a big statement but if you can’t measure how big a risk someone is, you can’t lend them money to start a business.

Since 2008, the established trust measurers have proved horribly faulty and the result is the worst recession since the 1930s. However a certain type of business is bucking the trend and gaining incredible levels of growth and most importantly market share. Interestingly, the companies that are succeeding are not relying on the old measurements of trust.

I am referring to the likes of Task Rabbit, Zopa and the Lending Club. They are the collaborative marketplaces that are linking complete strangers together to do something the human race has done forever, trade, barter and do business. There are many business models behind these marketplaces but the key is the use of mobile, social and payment technologies to engender trust. The results are people renting their cars, beds, money, sports good, skills and time to complete strangers.

It seems that the risks for all the participants are considerably lower than between big business and consumers. This can be best identified in social lending default rates. They are tiny compared to the default rates of credit card companies and even existing high street banks. Either Fight Club’s rule “Don’t steal if there is an identifiable victim” is being listened too or that the openness of the social networked world is driving the hujman race to be more trustworthy and more trusting.

The travel industry is very well represented in this space and after a brief examination of what's out there I would guess must make up nearly half of these emerging marketplaces. Gidsy, HouseTrip, AirBnb, Wimdu and even the granddaddy of them all Couchsurfing are great examples and it's time the travel indsurty took them seriously!

This is a fast growing business model. Rachel Botsman, a thought leader in this space, reports that Zopa, a peer-to-peer lending company has experienced 62% growth from 2010 -2011, Task Rabbit has taken 4.3 Billion dollars of transactions since it launched in 2008. Airbnb (which was valued at a billion dollars) grew by 1002% in a year and tonight more people will stay in Airbnb accommodation in New York than in a hotel…

The question is - what should you, as a online travel industry expert, do? Do you compete, copy or give up in the face of one of such a fast growing business model?

This will be debated at our April show in London. We have Wimdu, AirBnb, Gidsy and Housetrip speaking so come along and meet the innovators. www.eyefortravel.com/tds

How travel marketers calculate ROI on Social Media – and why the future is Mobile

2012-01-25T13:40:00.007Z

In partnership with our friends at SimpliFlying, we’ve developed an informative infographic looking at the burning issues that airlines and travel marketers in general will be looking to tackle over the next twelve months. Two questions in particular are addressed in this infographic:

In what direction does the industry see social media evolving?
What business goals travelers are driving and if they’re calculating ROI

Uncertainty still remains about how to measure ROI on social media – primarily because there are so many divergent ways that people approach measuring ROI. A favourite approach of ours is that of Barbara Pezzi, Fairmont Raffles International. A self-confessed analytics geek, Barbara offers detailed advice on how to add real meaning to the varying elements of social media campaigns. Importantly, she takes a holistic approach and does not attempt to analyse social media in isolation.

Barbara’s next presentation for EyeforTravel will take place at EyeforTravel’s upcoming Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6, San Francisco.

With regard to mobile, the infographic highlights the trend for travel consumers to use mobile at the pre-purchase stage to research their travel plans. Many also use mobile during their trip – providing a new and exciting window for innovative travel brands to further inform, engage and potentially up-sell during their trip.

Note: The findings in the infographic below are all sourced from Eyefortravel’s “Social Media and Mobile Strategies for the Travel Industry 2011″ report. The full report can downloaded here. You can use the discount code: SIMP100 to save $100!

Infographic: (click here to see the original, bigger size)

Vote For Your Favorite Mobile in Travel Initiative

2012-01-17T18:11:00.004Z

We believe that those travel brands who are taking the plunge and investing their valuable time and resources in mobile, paving the way for others to follow, should be rewarded.

EyeforTravel's Mobile Innovation in Travel awards seeks to do just that. The nominations stage has now closed and it's been fantastic to see such a wide variety of brands - all experimenting with mobile. We've read many insightful mobile case studies and it's great to see so much innovation in the industry!

Whittling down the entrants has been tough but we have now announced the short list for the next stage of the awards process. Voting is now live and we encourage you to vote for your favorite initiative in each category. Make sure you vote before February 20th.

The 3 lucky finalists per category will be invited to present their present their pitch at the awards ceremony which will take place at EyeforTravel's Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, San Francisco, March 5-6.

Will Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces Impact Your Travel Sales in 2012?

2012-01-04T18:34:00.000Z

Peer-to-peer marketplaces are causing a quiet revolution that could change the way your travel products and created and sold - to the same extent that Ebay changed retail 15 years ago.

It's already a sizeable business model. This July, following investment in Air bnb, its estimated worth was US$1.3 billion. But it's not a one company wonder. Wimdu the German equivalent has 35,000 accommodation options on offer and their website says they are doubling their inventory every month.

It's also not just accommodation. Peer-to-peer marketplaces are spreading across the travel industry.

One of the earliest movers in this space was car hire. The UK’s Whipcar boasts over 1,000 cars for hire and the business model is being looked at seriously by innovative car companies such as Sixt. I mentioned technology enabled - if your mobile phone can open your hotel room it won’t be long before it can find and open and start cars sold through the peer-to-peer marketplace - making the system even more functional.

Gidsy is one of a host of marketplaces to find guides for all sorts of activities. While http://campinmygarden.com/ is just brilliant way for gardeners and campers to make money, connect and enjoy life.

The whole movement is inspired by austerity, environmentalism and the ever present human desire to connect. People are looking for new ways to make and save money. Many are rejecting consumerism and looking to enjoy what’s sustainably available. Indeed, one of the oldest and biggest sites www.couchsurfing.com does not make a penny. However we must not forget it's being driven by the desire to connect with other humans not a corporation or business.

These are a strong set of motives and the industry needs to look at them carefully. As ever, we are always looking to embrace the latest travel trends and Air bnb, Wimdu, HouseTrip and Gidsy are all speaking at the Travel Distribution Summit in London this April 17-18. For more information go to http://events.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-summit-europe/

A Reason to Be Hopeful in 2012

2011-12-21T13:37:00.000Z

The ongoing process of recognising that much in our Western Capitalist system is ill and needs mending does help focus the mind on priorities and reasons for doing what we do. For me, working in travel distribution and marketing is really about connections - my connection with great people all over the world, and the easier connection we can help facilitate for people who want to travel and explore different cultures, experience how others live and expand their horizons.

Dragon Head by Ai Weiwei

The search for connection is probably best exemplified in the quick and unprecedented expansion of the Asian tourism market over the past few years, led by China the Dragon. With 2012 being the year of the Dragon, we should expect this giant flying lizard motif to be displayed everywhere we look (So I am starting this trend now). With it comes another double digit growth of China's outbound tourism and a new waive of younger (and older) Chinese travelers who are no longer content to sit in coaches for 12 hours snapping famous sites from behind a tinted window. The confidence that comes with experience and growing disposable income is now translating into demand for more diverse and culturally insightful travel experiences. Access to information, thanks to the investment in excellent internet infrastructure in China, allows Chinese to research and plan independently of travel agents or guide books. They now take to travel forums to hear about other tourists' experiences, monitor destinations and brands on social media and add their own views and opinions online. They look for travel partners online and group together to negotiate discounts on travel accessories, flights and packages.

To understand how China's growing clout is dramatically affecting the tourism sector, we need to observe the changes that South East Asia has been going through over the last 5 years or so. China is now the top market for most SE Asian countries and the top spenders in most of the Asian countries (all the way to Australia and New Zealand too!). Products and services no longer need to be exclusively tailored to Americans or Europeans - they are now being customised to Chinese tastes and preferences. And Asia's experience will be replicated in North America in Europe in the near future (provided we don't shut the gates but actually invite visitors to spend their money here with easier visas and better, targeted marketing and promotion).

So, as I count over 6 years since ChinaContact launched to communicate the opportunity that the Chinese tourist market represents, I hope that you will take this contemplation period to think what is your strategy and action plan to be relevant for Chinese visitors. Contrary to what you may think, that is not the exclusive domain of multinationals or large wealthy countries with millions to spend on promotion. The internet levels the playing field to a great extent (bearing in mind the internet sites popular in China are indeed different to the sites we flock to in the West) and you can take advantage of that.

With this in mind, the Travel Distribution Summit Asia provides a golden opportunity. With major companies from Asia and international speakers including from China, this is an excellent education and networking event. The Summit this year will include dedicated discussions and workshops on China aimed at all levels of familiarisation with the market. So it is a great entry point but also a good step on the way to implementing your China and Asia strategy. I am planning to hold a market entry workshop focused on how to utilize online marketing and social media to build brand and grow revenues in China.

I will be presenting alongside 75+ other industry leaders from brands like Qunar.com, Google, Malaysian Airways, IHG, Air Asia X, Hilton, Expedia, Starwood, Lufthansa, Priceline, Facebook, Air New Zealand, Groupon, Shangri-La, Lufthansa and TripAdvisor to name just a few. You can see the full summit agenda and speaker line-up here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-summit-asia/agenda.shtml

Hope to see you there and have a great Dragon year.

Roy

Roy Graff is Managing Director of ChinaContact, a boutique market entry and business development service which offers insight, strategy, marketing and distribution in the Chinese market since 2005. Roy has been intimately involved with China's tourism industry since the year 2000 and spent 3 years in China developing the independent travel division of gta before returning to London to launch ChinaContact. He has assisted national and city tourism boards, hotel chains, tour operators and technology companies with their China strategy and execution. Roy speaks fluent business level Mandarin Chinese.

A New Look for eyefortravel.com

2011-12-13T16:15:00.001Z

After a long wait, I’m very excited to launch the new look www.eyefortravel.com site. Please let me/the team know your thoughts!

We’ve opted for a more intelligent layout for our news, reports and events that enables you to navigate the site by the topic you are interested in. Topic areas include:-

Mobile and Technology
Social Media and Marketing
Revenue and Data management
Distribution Strategies

You can also use the top right hand search bar to search for keywords related to the topic you are exploring.

There’s a never a dull moment in the travel industry and you never know what’s round the corner. One thing’s for sure, we’ll be here to provide the latest business intelligence you need to drive forward your business in 2012 and beyond!

Mobile Social Networking Is On the Rise

2011-11-30T12:10:00.001Z

Ever been bored on your commute to work and checked your favourite social networks on your phone? If so, you are not the only one.

The prolific rise of smartphones has led to more and more consumers accessing popular social networking sites on the move. It’s a key trend that’s only set to grow in popularity as access to smartphones and the necessary technology continue to improve.

A recent study by comScore found that in September 2011, more than 60 per cent of those surveyed posted status updates on their mobile devices.

Mobile social networking users also engaged with brands on their mobile devices, as 44.3 per cent reported reading posts from organisations, brands, or events, and a similar percentage (41.6 per cent) reported reading posts from public figures or celebrities.

This represents an interesting key shift in consumer behaviour. Social media users are more comfortable than ever before in sharing information about their lives, and also expect instantaneous access to information and purchasing no matter where they are in the world.

Travel brands in particular should also be aware the increasing trend to watch video via tablet and mobile platforms. A report by VideoMind Video Index found that, on average, tablet viewers watched videos nearly 30 per cent longer than when watching on their desktop — and were more than twice as likely to complete an entire video.

Video is known to increase conversions dramatically for travel brands. It would therefore be very worthwhile for travel brands to consider the importance of video when planning their mobile strategies.

Want to find out more? We’ll be discussing these key and more at EyeforTravel’s upcoming Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6, San Francisco. Click here for more info or feel free to email me – gina@eyefortravel.com .

Nominate your brand for the Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards

2011-11-21T10:03:00.002Z

Does your brand have an innovative mobile strategy? We all know that mobile is going to play a vital role in future travel customer communications yet our recent research found that only 38% of travel brands have a basic mobile friendly website.

At EyeforTravel, we believe that those brands who are investing their valuable time and resources to drive forward successful mobile strategies (and pave the path for others to follow) should be rewarded.

EyeforTravel’s inaugural Mobile Innovation in Travel awards will take place in San Francisco, March 5-6. The categories are :-

Best Mobile Travel App
Best Mobile Website
Best Mobile Strategy

Make sure you nominate your favorite brand online now (before December 30^th).

Good luck!

By Gina Baillie

Tablets Top Holiday Consumer Wish Lists

2011-11-16T14:56:00.002Z

When the iPad first launched in January 2010 I have to admit I was a little sceptical about the concept of the tablet. Why did we need them?

Less than 2 years later and they’re a must-have item. According to recent research by PriceGrabber posted on Mashable.com, 79% of consumers would rather receive a tablet than a laptop this holiday season.

Amazon, Nokia, Samsung, HP, Dell and more, all have launched their own often more affordable tablets allowing tablets to not just be for the higher income consumer.

There are well over 100,000 apps for the iPad but many brands have been slow to release apps for tablets for a number of reasons - namely cost and uncertainty of market reach. Like mobile apps, it’s no longer just a question of designing for one operating system. With Amazon’s Kindle taking tablet apps for Android mainstream, it would be foolish not to research the pros and cons of designing for other OS also.

But how are travel brands progressing with reaching the tablet user?

At EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit earlier this autumn in Amsterdam, Adam Goldstein, Co-Founder & CEO, Hipmunk shared his advice on apps. Hipmunk successfully launched their first iPad app earlier this year.

Adam suggested –

Not to do a tablet app by itself – the tablet market will not outgrow mobile
If you have a mobile website and a tablet app then not having a mobile app too would be a mistake
Don’t forget to regularly update your mobile and tablet apps – it may be a reoccurring expense but it’s worth it to continue consumer engagement and usage
Consider the marketing of your app – if done correctly having a tablet app can lead to free PR and increased brand awareness

Other points which travel brands should consider is the fact that tablets can handle more rich media than mobile apps. They are often used in the more ‘fun’ research and planning stages of the consumer travel lifecycle. This makes them a great platform to inspire and engage customers (I’ve found research on conversion to be too limited to comment at this stage).

What’s also interesting is the opportunity for travel brands to use tablets in other innovative ways. For example, more and more travel brands are using tablets during the actual travel experience.

British Airways recently piloted a scheme to give cabin crew iPads to handle passenger management in-flight, allow crew to identify where each customer is sitting, their Executive Club status and any special meal requirements, and also to give them a “greater understanding” of previous travel arrangements.

In the hospitality space, Design Hotels’ Eccleston Square hotel in London was the first hotel to have an iPad in every room. The iPads are used to control the room temperature, lights and curtain control, in-room dining orders, restaurant booking, spa reservations, housekeeping, as well as information about the hotel and the local area.

With other hotels and travel brands looking to follow suit, I think we can safely say the tablet is here to stay!

If you’re a travel brand who has had a successful experience of working with tablets then let me know! Email gina@eyefortravel.com

By Gina Baillie

Taking the Guesswork Out of Social Media and Mobile Strategies

2011-11-09T16:18:00.003Z

I recently conducted a survey of over 500 APAC travel brands to find out what’s keeping social and mobile marketers up at night. The findings show that despite 68% of companies claiming to have deployed mobile and social media initiatives, more than half admit that they are unsure how to ‘define, achieve and measure success’

Despite recognising the benefits and potential of both of these enfants terribles in the online travel industry, marketers were frustrated by a lack of practical know-how, fear of failure and the diaspora of social and mobile channels, platforms and analytical tools to gauge success.

One respondent hits the nail right on the head:

‘For all its potential, social media keeps me up at night… It feels a little bit like jumping in at the deep-end without arm-bands and being expected to swim like Michael Phelps ’

And yet, some brands are making good gains and even ROI through such experimentation;

‘Airlines have already started driving distribution through social media - be it Delta selling tickets through Facebook or jetBlue clearing distressed inventory through flash-sales on @jetBlueCheeps. To sustain the growth in the number of fans and activity, airlines need to dedicate significant resources and execute well on the strategy, to make social media work for the business," says Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying, a leading airline brand strategy firm.

It’s a similar story with mobile; 85% of respondents claimed that mobile is an essential strategic consideration in 2012, but in stark contrast only 24% had clear-cut strategic roadmaps and budgets in place. Lack of resources and knowing where to invest (apps, HTML5, Android vs. iOS, smartphone or Tablet?) were the most cited obstacles.

Whilst these results are perhaps unsurprising, what they do reveal is a fundamental gap in know-how and best practice. Companies realize the importance and potential benefits but are unsure how to deploy and execute ‘successful’ social and mobile campaigns.

So I’ve teamed up with leading industry experts from Malaysia Airlines, SimpliFlying and Abacus and will be conducting a free webinar on Wednesday the 23^rd November to address precisely these challenges.

This 45 minute webinar; Drive Real Engagement and ROI from your Mobile & Social Strategies, will serve as a practical ‘how-to’ manual to launch and ensure successful mobile and social media campaigns for your travel brand.

The Webinar is completely free to join or download – Find out more and book your place here!

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/842292606

Use the hastag #tdsasia on Twitter.

Best,

Marco Saio

7 Key Mobile Take-Aways from EyeforTravel Amsterdam

2011-10-26T18:50:00.000+01:00

Mobile featured prominently at EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media Strategies for Travel conference earlier this month in Amsterdam.

Here are my 7 key take-aways from the mobile sessions featured –

1) Get a mobile friendly website – it’s predicted that by 2015 there will be more searches via mobile than via PCs. In the last quarter a 59% of travel brands said they did not allocate any budget to mobile. That’s a pretty worrying statistic! It’s not that hard to make a website mobile friendly yet not enough travel brands are doing so. Let’s hope it’s an essential part of all travel company’s e-commerce plans for 2012!

2) Don’t jump on the mobile app bandwagon without careful thought - it’s essential to understand what you want to achieve from having a mobile app before developing one. Apps can be a money pit, needing constant updates and consumer engagement tactics to keep customers using it. They also need strong marketing strategies to make them work. Developing an app should therefore be seen as a long term commitment. Christelle Chan from Hotels.com said they see it as a way for them to retain valuable customers. Apps also serve a different purpose to a mobile website (read on for more details)

3) Consider where your customers are engaging via mobile – Hotels.com found that those browsing their mobile website tended be in more of a rush (they were often on a trip or, for example, stranded in the ash cloud) than those browsing through their apps (who were often on the train or at using the app at their leisure)

4) Invest in marketing your mobile products – all of the speakers at the event emphasized that it’s of paramount importance of marketing your mobile products effectively. Budget needs to set aside for effective mobile marketing. Adam Goldstein from Hipmunk highlighted the value of the free PR gained through launching their apps but not all companies can achieve this. According to David Gelabert from Melia Hotels, 80% of branded apps fail to achieve 1,000 downloads. Indeed, Hotels.com found nothing happened until they started marketing their app. App store ratings count and awareness and downloads must be encouraged on a country by country basis.

5) Mobile redefines the search space – The no.1 place for consumers to search online in Europe is through Google. In the mobile space this is different. App stores for example act like search engines. The number of downloads of your app matters. Marketing efforts must also be tailored to the target countries. App reviews should be encouraged.

6) Don’t underestimate the value of the tablet –Laptops and desktops are likely, in some cases, to be replaced in the home by tablets. Media consumption is therefore inevitably set to increase via the tablet. This provides an ideal opportunity for travel brands to reach customers at the inspirational stage. Tablet users have more disposable income and a higher propensity to travel (but of course they are not everyone’s target audience!).

7) Consider the multi-platform user experience – customers are increasingly likely to experience your brand across different platforms. Simple things like ensuring that customer accounts are synchronised across multiple platforms can help to improve the customer experience of your brand

Don’t forget that you can stay up-to-date with mobile – follow @eyefortravel on Twitter for updates from across the industry!

By Gina Baillie

Mumbai Rocks… but the world does not know it

2011-10-19T13:59:00.001+01:00

I am just back from one of my favourite cities, Mumbai. I spent last week running our information packed (and ever so slightly stressful) Indian conference and expo. The show examines how the huge Indian travel market is adopting to web, mobile and social media. As ever in Mumbai, last minute surprises abounded but the debates were incredibly informative. The potential facing the company that can tap this market is huge.

Several comments from Azran Osman Rani the CEO of AirAsia X did grab my attention.

First, alliances are doomed due to inherent costs and the proliferation of on-line tools that by pass the goods. In addition Building brand equity for your airline customers is vital. As alliances cut out brands, alliances will die. He also mentioned that what LCCS save on distribution costs they spend on brand.

Second, and in relation to the Indian market he can sell flights to Indians going back and forth but has a huge problem creating India as a destination. An “Overwhelming percentage of passenger mix are people from India. Normally when we fly to Japan, Australia or Europe we start with 60 -70% passenger mix from Malaysia and Asia.” Day 1 for Air Asia our customers were from Delhi and Mumbai. To demonstrate the problem Mr Osman recalled how they had “5000 free seats from Delhi and Mumbai for Malaysians and only sold 3800.” Normally for any other destination such an offer would sell out in 2 hours.

As yet there seems little demand for visitors from Mr Osman’s Asian hub. Now KL is hardly the top of most travellers wish lists but as Mr Osman pointed out it’s the exciting islands and pulsating cities all around it that make it special.

Having spent just one week in Mumbai I know the rest of Asia is missing out but how the Indian travel companies and tourist board can counter this will be a major challenge. One thing I know for sure is that the battle for the Asian traveller will be won and lost on-line and I am sure we will hear more at our next Indian summit in July again in Mumbai. Please note we have brought it forward by a few months!

By Tim Gunstone

5 Key Social Media Take Aways From EyeforTravel Amsterdam

2011-10-14T12:10:00.000+01:00

I’ve just returned from EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit in Amsterdam. Here’s a quick summary of my key 5 social media take-aways.

1) Effective engagement is everything

Engagement was definitely the word of the event. Learn to understand what your customers are interested in and then engage with them in a way that is more likely to prompt a response. Natasja Fortuin from the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions found that simply changing the way they spoke to their Facebook fans lead to far higher engagement.

For example –

Instead of an ‘announcement style’ -

‘The official opening of Keukenhof 2011 is in exactly one month from tomorrow!’

They tried asking questions –

‘The official opening of Keukenhof 2011 is starting with the dedication of the Vincent Van Gogh tulip. If you could dedicate a tulip to anyone, who would it be?’

The second post received a much greater response.

2) Make it as easy as possible for your customers to share with their peers that they like your brand

Shashank from SimpliFlying shared an interesting case study of a Uruguayan airline called Pluna who adds a tweet option to the step between entering their booking details and receiving full confirmation details. At this stage, whilst waiting for their confirmation, the customer is asked if they would like to tweet the fact they have booked their trip. The pre-populated tweet contains the fact they are flying Pluna to a certain destination. People love to brag about their travel plans. Simple – but effective.

3) Measuring the ROI of social media is possible

Barbara Pezzi from Fairmont Raffle hotels shared detailed tips on how to measure social media ROI. Many brands fail at the first hurdle. They dabble with social media with no idea what they are trying to achieve. Setting KPIs is possible. For example, is it important for your brand to increase bookings from loyalty members? Do you want to service the customer? Do you want to gain PR?

Stay clear of using formulas to measure the precise monetary value of a Facebook fan or Twitter follower - it’s meaningless.

Use as many free measurement tools as possible. Google analytics is vital. Other useful free tools include simplymeasured.com, socialmention.com, twentyfeet.com, peoplebrowsr.com, pagelever.com, tweetstats.com and many more!

4) Video is big

YouTube is the world’s 2^nd largest search engine. Video lends itself to travel products and services and can be a great way to highlight the best things about your product at a low cost. Danny Barrasso from Hilton shared a number of ‘homemade’ style affordable videos including this one from the staff at their property near the site of ground zero in NYC - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMEzothVaEg

KLM also saw nearly 1.5 million page views from this video which was made at Schiphol airport which serves to emphasize the marketing message that KLM they have more leg room on flights - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NPF0A_vGC4

5) User reviews are here to stay

The number of review sites continues to grow and user reviews will continue to remain a deciding factor in the consumers purchasing decision process. Making it as easy as possible for customers to see reviews which are as relevant to them as possible is important. Brands such as TrustYou aggregate together the reviews from different review sites into your own travel site allowing consumers to read them without leaving the your website.

Can’t wait until the next EyeforTravel Social Media event which will be in San Francisco!

By Gina Baillie

Google Tightens the Screw on OTA’s: How Can They Fight back?

2011-10-11T18:07:00.002+01:00

By Marco Saio, Global Director Of Research, EyeforTravel

Google’s recent spate of new product launches and acquisitions has undoubtedly raised many an eyebrow and pulse amongst travel’s old guard intermediaries this summer. Most concerning is the incredible functionality, transparency and ease-of-use of Google’s Hotel Finder and Flight Search which enable users to refine, sort and compare travel searches like never before.

Google’s intentions toward the online travel vertical were made plain after its $700 Million acquisition of ITA Software, giving Google unprecedented access to flight data and advanced search technology which was swiftly put to use.

A recent Experian Hitwise travel search study revealed that neither of Google’s search products have broken into the top 50 highest traffic travel websites in the U.S since launching this summer. The top 10 paints a very rosy picture for OTA’s and meta-search engines, but how long before we see a significant re-shuffle?

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Expedia	www.expedia.com	12.54%	1
2	priceline.com	www.priceline.com	10.11%	2
3	Orbitz	www.orbitz.com	7.41%	3
4	Travelocity	www.travelocity.com	6.35%	5
5	CheapOair	www.cheapoair.com	5.61%	7
6	Hotwire	www.hotwire.com	5.19%	6
7	Yahoo! Travel	travel.yahoo.com	5.07%	4
8	Bing Travel	www.bing.com/travel	4.14%	-
9	Kayak	www.kayak.com	4.01%

Google Flight Search came in at # 391.

At a recent EyeforTravel summit Google’s head of Travel claimed that no OTA’s were deliberately ignored, but it’s easy to see how both search products stand to create a lucrative OTA advertising platform for Google in which the highest bidder will likely secure the consumer.

So what can OTA’s do to hold their ground and protect market share?

1. Pump more money into their brand.com marketing campaigns, entrench their brand and services with customers to cement loyalty and increase switching costs. See Expedia’s current multi-million $ TV advertising campaign across Europe.

2. Invest more in technology to drive greater speed of search, price transparency and enhanced user experience use to attract, delight and retain loyal customers. See Hipmunk’s inspired flight search by ‘agony/ecstasy’ or Hotel Tonight for its beautifully simple booking system.

3. Focus more on great value package deals and loyalty reward schemes to satisfy today’s time starved, budget conscious and hyper-savvy traveller – Areas where both Google’s products cannot compete… Yet.

4. Forge strategic partnerships and alliances with suppliers à la Air Asia – Expedia tie-up .Co-opting in this manner enables rivals to join forces and competencies to create a long-term competitive advantage.

5. Enter the social/flash buying melée to give existing customers greater value and ‘win’ (read bribe) new customers. Prime examples of this are the Expedia-Groupon Getaways and Priceline’s recent Tonight-Only Deals . However with both Google Offers and Facebook deals in Beta, the race for mindshare and adoption is on.

Interestingly, following on from Google’s acquisition on Zagat, Kayak today announced a partnership with Frommer’s and Budget Travel in which user reviews and comments are aggregated and displayed alongside search results.

All these parries and counters clearly demonstrate how high Google has raised the stakes in the travel search game, and how seriously intermediaries are taking the threat to their long uncontested business models. Who will win out in the battle for mind and market share?

Fighter Jets at The Ready: An Industry Overview on Google Flights

2011-10-06T17:03:00.000+01:00

It would be wrong to let another week go by without a blog post on the Google Flights search shenanigans. I’ve been busy researching for next year’s TDS Europe Summit in London, and there’s no doubt that this is the number one topic on everyone’s lips.

We’ve been curious since the ITA acquisition that Google would be experimenting with meta-search and here is the product (along with Google Hotels too, which only differs because it doesn’t just promote the direct channel, also OTAs). Both have only launched in the US and haven’t been widely advertised, but regardless it is certainly one of 2011’s most interesting developments.

The Flights function may encourage the consumer to book direct through the supplier, which begs the question, should the intermediaries (and also the meta-search sites of course) be prepared for Google travel domination? Intermediaries seem relatively un-nervous (from my conversations so far) but of course watchful eyes are upon the “elephant in the room.” Perhaps this is because Google Flights (and subsequently Google Hotels) won’t be offering a full range of products or services in the same way, and also Google has openly spoken about their pledge to never sell travel directly.

Google has (and still is) distributing and advertising for meta-search sites, but will they be pushing Google Flights from now on above all else? What will happen to paid keywords and paid advertising space via Google? A lot of my industry contacts have been asking these questions with genuine concern. Skyscanner has a particularly good grip on the European market with a large, solid fan base for consumers and business partners alike. So, what is Google Flights offering that Skyscanner doesn’t? Certainly nothing superior (in my humble opinion) other than time. What do I mean? Well- with the majority of people globally now using Google as their designated homepage (although Facebook is on the up and up too), Google Flights has the lazy factor. Type in that you need a flight from Los Angeles to New York, and there you go, it’s all listed after just one click. But- is that enough?

We’ll all wait with anticipation for more developments! It would be fantastic to hear any thoughts on this topic. Drop them to me via email- rosie@eyefortravel.com or tweet me at @rosieakenhead

Win a Free Ticket to EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit Next Week!

2011-10-04T12:02:00.000+01:00

EyeforTravel is giving away one free pass for one lucky person to attend EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit next week (10-11 October) in Amsterdam.

The 2 day conference sees top online marketing, mobile and social media gurus from across Europe convene for an info-packed programme of learning and networking. Highlights include –

Balance Key New Marketing Trends With Limited Time & Resources – Hear from Hilton, Sabre Hospitality Solutions
Flash Sales – Debate the Value of Publishing, Last Minute Sell and Group Buying Sites – Hear from Groupon, LivingSocial, Travel Exclusive, Jetsetter
Mobile: Understand What Key Issues You Need to Master to Start Profiting From Mobile – Hear from Hipmunk, Sixt Rent-a-Car, Melia Hotels
Connecting the Dots – How to Ensure a Consistent Marketing Message Across All Consumer Touch Points – Hear from IHG, Design Hotels, Wyndham, Expedia Media Solutions
Get One Step Closer to That Elusive ROI – Step Up Your Social Media Tracking & Analytics & Determine What Success Means For Your Business – Hear from Fairmont Raffles Hotels, Valencia Tourism Board
Search: Understand A Changed Online Travel Search Landscape – Hear from Octopus Travel, Low Cost Travel Group, Responsible Travel
You can read the full event programme here

Want to be at the show? To enter the competition (which is only open for the next 48 hours), simply tweet in 140 characters why you want to be at the event. You must include the event hashtag #smtravel11 in order to be considered.

Is there a particular session you just can’t face missing out on? Is it the fantastic networking opportunities at the event? Is it the chance to be at the final of the Social Media Awards for Excellence?

Take a look at the ‘Useful Information’ section of the event website – you’ll see that there are lots of reasons why so many top travel gurus will be there!

Entries must be made between 12pm GMT Tuesday 4^th October and 12pm GMT Thursday 6^th October. The winner will be drawn from the list of those who have entered the competition and announced via this blog on Thursday afternoon.

*If you would like to be guaranteed a place at the conference then please note that there are now only limited places available at the summit. To be guaranteed a space then it is recommended that you sign up through registering online or emailing gina@eyefortravel.com Should you be drawn as the winner of the competition, your pass will then be given to you free of charge (the same applies to those who have already registered for the event).

Good luck!

Amazon announces new tablet - Kindle Fire

2011-09-28T16:01:00.004+01:00

I've just been following the latest updates from Mashable live from the Amazon Tablet event. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos just announced the launch of the Amazon Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire. The Kindle Touch is an e-reader with touch capabilities available for just $99 or $149 with 3G. The Kindle Fire tablet seeks to be a rival to the iPad and is available for $199 (in the US only) .

This new affordable tablet is set to be popular especially given the huge distribution power of Amazon. The tablet will run a modified version of the Google android operating system.

EyeforTravel have been following the rise of the tablet of recent months. No longer a passing fad, tablets are revolutionising the way consumer engage with brands online. The tablet platform allows for a far more inspiring, fun and engaging platform - which provides a fantastic opportunity for travel brands.

Adam Goldstein, CEO, Hipmunk will be sharing key insights into their tablet (iPad) app design at EyeforTravel's upcoming Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit, Amsterdam, 10-11 October.

I'm also very excited about the coverage regarding tablets that we have lined up for EyeforTravel's new Mobile Strategies for Travel show in San Francisco, February 27-28!

Stay tuned for more updates.

By Gina Baillie

Congratulations to Hotel Tonight - winner of EFT's Innovation Awards

2011-09-23T17:27:00.000+01:00

I've just returned from a fun filled trip to Vegas for EyeforTravel's Travel Distribution Summit, N. America. With nearly 600 attendees, all keen to meet, network and discuss the latest trends in online travel it was a great 2 days!

As part of the event, we hosted the EyeforTravel Innovation Awards during which 6 companies battled it out to win the award for the most innovative travel product.

The nominees were -

Roger Wong, Director of Product & Marketing, Room 77
Brian Harniman, President, BusinessTravel.com and former VP Marketing, Kayak
Chris Patridge, Chief Backbid Hotelier, Backbid.com
Travis Katz, CEO, Gogobot.com
Adam Goldstein, CEO, Hipmunk
Sam Shank, CEO, Hoteltonight.com

The nominees all shared the same passion that is common among travel entrepreneurs - the willingness to make the travel research and booking experience less complex and more fun.

There were some fascinating presentations by all those involved. Hipmunk's innovative approach to turning travel search completely on its head to include practical, neat features certainly turned some heads but it Hotel Tonight who outshone the competition to take the award.

HotelTonight was founded in December 2010 to provide easy mobile booking of same-day distressed hotel inventory. The app offers customers the chance to save up to 70% on the cost of a hotel room through booking last minute via the Hotel Tonight app. For hotels, the platform offers a great way to fill hotel rooms that wouldn't normally have been sold.

Their CEO & Co-Founder, Sam Shank, previously CEO of Dealbase.com and prior to that CEO, TravelPost.com, was at the show to collect the award (photos to follow shortly).

EyeforTravel will be sharing more information about the award winners Hotel Tonight and their latest projects shortly. In the meantime, congratulations to the Hotel Tonight team!

Infographic: How are travel brands using Social Media to achieve ROI?

2011-09-15T16:15:00.000+01:00

As Social Media becomes a higher priority for travel brands, and as more and more evidence to support it’s effectiveness and influence comes to light, questions about the elusive ROI on social media efforts is often bought up.

Earlier this year, we set out to ask these questions and collect hard data from the leading travel brands who had launched social media efforts as part of the research for our Social Media and Mobile research report. The result was a very interesting compilation of case studies and first-hand account of how marketers were looking to creatively leverage social media in their overall, integrated marketing effort.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, in a recent survey carried out, 61% of the respondents said that they were looking to increase their social media spend in the near future.

Using this data, and along with recent research by Simpliflying, we’ve put together an interesting infographic that underlines the trends in the travel industry, specifically in the airline industry.

(click here for a larger view)

In case you missed it, we also released an interestingr infographic about the key trends in Mobile in Travel in August.

Are Travel Players Investing Enough in Mobile?

2011-09-14T17:46:00.001+01:00

Research shows the smaller travel companies are not experimenting enough with mobile and video content. I am not quite sure how (having read the business news) but there seems to a real sense of bravado and hope in the travel industry right now. Maybe it’s just that the team in EyeforTravel is so stretched with all our Autumn shows in Amsterdam, London, Las Vegas Mumbai and Prague. They are booking far better than in 2010 and it suggests the industry is investing in new products, new trends and fighting to grow.

Along with all our Conferences we are surveying the industry right now to update our Travel Distribution and marketing Barometer report. This Spring we identified that it was only the biggest travel companies (those with a marketing budget of over US$10 million) that were really investing in the mobile and video content.

The trend showed that those investing in social media and mobile increases in line with larger marketing budgets. Yet it was not an entirely neat trend. 30% of the largest companies, don’t have a mobile website yet these larger companies also registered the highest growth from mobile web traffic.

It will be fascinating to see if this trend continues. With mobile browsing growing so fast, it will be a very important medium through which to engage customers. The question is - can the smaller travel players afford it?

By Tim Gunstone

Don’t miss your chance to vote for your favourite social media airline, airport and hotel campaign!

2011-09-06T18:03:00.002+01:00

EyeforTravel has partnered with SimpliFlying to host this year’s awards in Social Media excellence at EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit, 10^th October, Amsterdam.

I for one am very excited about this as it’s the first step on a long road to acknowledging the excellent job many individuals are doing when it comes to innovating in the travel social media space.

Social media is most certainly a space fraught with difficulties. From internal issues such as gaining management buy-in to the fact that social media opens up a whole host of issues to overcome such as managing consumer backlashes, fake reviews, and a potential lack of control over what is said about your brand.

Social media does however also offers very exciting opportunities for travel brands to excel in areas brand awareness, customer service and customer engagement and we think those who have achieved this deserve to be recognised!

We do however acknowledge that there are many brands in the travel industry which are demonstrating excellence in social media who may not have been fortunate to be nominated by our poll this year. Don’t panic - there’s always next year! Feel free to email me your suggestions – gina@eyefortravel.com

For details on the nominees and to vote, please visit this link.

The final 3 nominees in each category will present their case studies at EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit in Amsterdam. The awards will be presented 10^th October.

LinkedIn Social Buying- Winner Announced!

2011-08-30T17:11:00.000+01:00

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our first ever linkedin "competition", where we asked participants to voice their opinions on social buying and flash sales and how they work for travel. To see the thread, go to http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1690387

Our winning entry.... drumroll..... was from Dawn Muir, Marketing and Communications Manager at Carter Observatory. We felt her response was honest, balanced and had some really good "takeaway tips!" Congratulations Dawn, a free pass to TDS America in Vegas is all yours! Please email rosie@eyefortravel.com to set this up.

Here's Dawn's answer:

Interesting topic and very current ass a number of these group buying sites are springing up all over NZ. As a recently re-opened, mid sized, visitor attraction with a limited marketing budget we were keen to a) raise the awareness of our local market and to b) create ambassadors who could then share good word of mouth for us an c) nurture our local audience that account for approx 30% of our business. We ran two comapaigns with two different companies over an 8 month period. The first sold 2,500 half price vouchers with 95% of these being purchased by locals. This worked very well for us. We ran a second campaign not too long afterwards with a variable price offer, this didn't work quite as well for us.

Our take outs:

1. Don't do it too often or you'll condition your market to waiting for a low price - we're after yield as well as numbers. We won't do more than 2 a year - if we do that many.

2. Use a simple price point offer, don't be too clever.

3. Consider it a promotional campaign requiring some investment - rather than just a discount offer - it needs to be part of your wider promotional efforts

4. Wait a bit - I expect there will be some attrition of companies offering these opportunities - some have been around a bit longer and have good back end mechanics for measuruing, etc

5. Choose your company wisely - they often have a bigger company behind them that has some strong links to areas such as airlines, or media outlets - they can help your business depending on where you want to be

6. Maximise and leverage your efforts through your own social media activity - it creates more noise for your business

Understanding Key Trends in Mobile in Travel

2011-08-23T13:47:00.000+01:00

For quite some time now the travel industry has been keeping a keen eye on developments in mobile technology. The opportunities to engage travelers on the move go hand in hand. How to go about engaging consumers and facilitating booking via mobile though has not been quite so obvious!

For a multitude of reasons, mobile has been slower to come into practice than first thought. For the past decade each year promised to be the ‘year of mobile’ and each year came and went and we’d only taken a few steps. In 2010 and throughout 2011 we have seen mobile developments gain pace. Finally the technology, brand know-how and consumers’ willingness to engage are all aligned and we are seeing some really exciting and profitable developments in this space!

EyeforTravel’s new Social Media & Mobile in Travel report which was released in July, details some interesting new research into key trends in mobile and travel. It includes case studies from across the travel space and details a step by step guide to measuring ROI.

click here for a larger preview

Social media data is key to produce profitable travel products

2011-08-17T13:23:00.000+01:00

62% of travel product developers say social media and in particular Facebook is a vital source of data when building new products

Early findings for a report that we release this November indicate that social media is no longer just for marketing and customer service. Well over half the travel companies so far surveyed show that they social media is vital to assess the demand for new travel products.

37% say that Facebook is the best network for product development but with Twitter performing so badly in the survey it does indicate more focussed social communities are also proving highly valuable. As well as the free data from social media sites, Google is another incredibly useful data source with over 21% rating data from Google is vital for their product development.

The travel industry spends millions each year on developing products and services. The survey reveals the industry needs guidance over which sources of data are truly valuable. 28% of those polled say its lack of knowledge on the data sources that is holding their product development back.

The full report findings will be delivered at the Product Development Strategies for the Travel Industry Conference taking place on London the week before World Travel Market in London.

Over 100 top route planners, product developers, purchasers and investors will attend to debate what strategies are best for delivering long lasting profitable products and particularly focus on the evolving sources of data and data management that the industry is starting to integrate into the product development process.

The event agenda and list of top speakers c an be found here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/profitable-product-development/

If you are a travel supplier or intermediary we need your input. Please take 10 minutes to fill in the survey here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/profitable-product-development/survey.asp

If you have any questions about the research or the event please call me, Tim Gunstone on +44 (0) 207 375 7557

Social Buying Doesn't Work for Travel: Discuss!

2011-08-15T14:58:00.003+01:00

Bit of a controversial statement, we know! We've recently posted this statement on our flagship linkedin group - Social Media in Travel- and we want to hear your views.

We are trying to gauge opinions and experiences from different sectors of the online travel industry on the social buying phenomenon. The trend is exerting a growing influence on the way we market, price, and distribute travel products, but do revenue managers share the same perspective as the sales guys and the marketers? And what of travel suppliers vs. intermediaries? Whatever your role, business type or industry sector, we want to hear your thoughts and accounts of whether social buying/flash sales represents a new era in the evolution online retail, or just fool’s gold?

The best entry on our linkedin group [as chosen by the EyeforTravel team] will win a complimentary all access pass to the upcoming EyeforTravel TDS North America Summit where this very same topic will be debated vigorously by industry giants such as LivingSocial, Las Vegas Sands, Facebook, Jetsetter, Kimpton Hotels, ResortQuest Whistler and many more.

If you aren't already a member- go to http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1690387 and then click on "manager's choice" on the top right corner to find the debate.

The winner will be announced a week on Friday (26th August).

Good luck, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts!

The EFT Team

And the winner is.......

2011-08-08T11:45:00.001+01:00

The winner of EyeforTravel's competition to win a free Diamond pass to EyeforTravel's Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit, 10-11 October in Amsterdam is....

...@prose&co aka Kate Moeller http://twitter.com/#!/proseandco

Congratulations Kate!

The winner was drawn from a hat which included all the twitter handles of those who entered the Twitter competition. Kate will receive a copy of EyeforTravel's new Social Media & Mobile in Travel report and full access to the 2 day summit in Amsterdam.

For more information about the report visit http://bit.ly/oDVXch

To see the exciting programme line up for the summit in Amsterdam visit - http://bit.ly/aScDTO

Many thanks to those who entered. There were some great social media in travel campaigns cited and it just goes to show how innovative travel brands are reaping the rewards of social media!

Win a Free Diamond Pass to EyeforTravel's Online Marketing & Social Media Summit, Amsterdam!

2011-07-25T16:08:00.004+01:00

This is your chance to win a free Diamond pass worth €2395 to EyeforTravel's Online Marketing & Social Media in Travel Summit! The pass includes full access to the 2 day conference along with a copy of EyeforTravel's newly released Social Media & Mobile in Travel 2011 report (worth €1140).

The event will take place in Amsterdam, 10-11 October and sees leading travel brands convene for 2 days of learning, networking and brainstorming of ideas. Speakers include KLM, Deutsche Bahn, IHG, Melia Hotels, Fairmont Raffles, Google, Starwood, Hilton, LivingSocial, Design Hotels and many more.

How do you win this amazing prize? Simply tweet what your favourite social media in travel*campaign has been and why. For example, was it KLM's 'surprise gift' campaign? Lufthansa's 'MySkyStatus'? Or maybe The Roger Smith hotel's innovative use of social media to fill hotel rooms?

All tweets must include the event hashtag #smtravel11 in order to be entered into the competition. Tweets must be no longer than 140 characters. The competition closes Friday 5th August at midday GMT. The winner will be selected at random and announced on this blog in the afternoon of Friday 5th August.

What should you do now? Make sure you follow @eyefortravel to hear if you've won and then get tweeting! (Don't forget to include the event hashtag)

Good luck!

The EyeforTravel Team

* By travel we refer to airline, hotel, other accommodation provider, train, car hire, cruise, OTA, GDS, resort, theme park, destination organisation, tourist board, national park

Are We Seeing A Shift Away From PPC in Favour of Social Media?

2011-07-22T16:12:00.001+01:00

(By Tim Gunstone)

Search has dominated travel marketing for years now. In a recent EyeforTravel survey (Eyefortravel’s Travel Distribution & Marketing Barometer), 62% of respondents had seen an increase in organic search listings in the last 3 months (Q2, 2011). However the study went on to find that 50% of airlines, 33% of hotels and 39% of tour operators surveyed plan to decrease their spend on paid search engine listings in the next quarter.

Where will their spend being going instead? 65% of the travel marketers surveyed are planning to increase their spend social media.

Groupon has had a hard time in the travel press but as one very educated travel marketer whispered to me whilst Groupon was taking at our Distribution Summit it’s the traffic not the amount you sell that makes social commerce campaigns work. Apparently, a recent campaign drove so much traffic to his site that was far more targeted and profitable than through PPC ever did. Long ago lost faith in Google’s claim to be honest information broker and are fed up with being driven to spending more and more on PPC.

The Google attitude that only a monopoly can enjoy may soon change!

Practice What You Preach- Twitter Competition for #eftamerica- The Results!

2011-07-11T18:03:00.000+01:00

We've had some outstanding entries into our "practice what you preach" Twitter competition. We asked our followers to tweet for a free silver pass to The Travel Distribution Summit North America using quotes and stories associated with the "only in vegas" theme....

With a TERRIBLY strict judging panel (uh-hum, namedly myself, Marco and various other members of the EyeforTravel squad) we have now made a list of our very favourite tweets. Thanks to all who entered, and please see below for the announcement of our WINNER!

The finalists:

@CravenTravels Gambling was invented as a tax on people who are bad at mathematics. Only in Vegas #eftamerica

@MMcCreesh Only in Vegas will you find a storm trooper and Darth hanging out on the street corner - http://t.co/ev6v6N5 - #eftamerica

@MMcCreesh Only in Vegas does the hotel #Bellagio have more rooms than the number of residents in a town that shares its name - #eftamerica #tourism

@HHotelConsult Only in #Vegas are there guests who literally believe they're in Paris, New York & Venice, all in 1 day. #eftamerica #Beauregard #Simulacram

@jgabbott "Las Vegas: all the amenities of modern society in a habitat unfit to grow a tomato" #eftamerica

@AreMorch #eftamerica Only in Vegas - What Happens In Vegas now gets viral on Twitter - wonder if I can multiply wins on slot machine with retweets?

Now for the first drumroll please....

Our runner up post has to go to @MmcCreesh for this one- it might be a re-tweet but purely for finding it, we thought it deserved some airplay:

@MMcCreesh Only in Vegas! - #eftamerica RT @jennmc: ive decided im going to vegas and getting married.. cyah y’all in a week kay bye

Second drumroll please....

So that means that our winner of the 2011 #eftamerica tweet competition is..... @CravenTravels, because this aptly sums up EVERYTHING about Vegas. We're looking forward to seeing you there, contact rosie@eyefortravel.com to firm up your free silver pass!!

The winning tweet: @CravenTravels Only in Vegas... does money really talk...it says, "Goodbye..." #eftamerica

What’s hot in online travel marketing right now?

2011-06-29T11:33:00.003+01:00

By Gina Baillie
June saw leading marketing, e-commerce, social media and sales execs from across the States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean convene for EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing Strategies for Travel conference in Miami.

There were some interesting lessons learnt about what’s hot in online travel marketing.

Flash Sales

The debate about whether to work with flash sale sites really hotted up. Using a new live polling feature we found out that 53% of the audience had worked with a flash sale site. However, 60% found there overall experience to be negative and not to be repeated, 20% found the experience positive and but would not repeat it and the remaining 20% found the experience positive and would definitely repeat it. Interesting!

The flash sales sites represented (Travelzoo, SniqueAway, Ideeli, Hautelook, Jetsetter) all put forward some very strong arguments to work with them. All have substantial databases, primarily of affluent travellers. Both Shirley from Travelzoo and Heather from Jetsetter highlighted the ability of each of their brands to know what their database wants and to reach them (for example by email) in the way that generates the optimal response.

Mobile

Philip J Grote from comScore highlighted that 48% of new phones bought in the US are smartphones. Thanks to new flexible pricing tariffs without contracts, they are becoming more accessible to all. He emphasized that travel suppliers currently dominate the mobile advertising landscape – OTAs have yet to catch up (however Expedia is doing very well in terms of traffic to their app and mobile site.)

Providing fuel for the on-going great app debate, Philip cited that consumers spend more time using mobile apps rather than browsing the mobile websites (81% versus 47%). Indeed, John T. Peters from Rand McNally quoted that the average iPhone user spends about 40 minutes per day using apps (appsfire).

Social Media

Good news - It’s possible to measure social media ROI! No, really it is! Barbara Pezzi from Fairmont Raffles directed the audience through how to use Google analytics and other tools to add meaning and significance to the effort put into social media (in far too much detail to share here unfortunately!).

Jennifer Stafford from HomeAway shared her top 10 social media mistakes. Here are my top 3 favourites –

1) Not setting social media program versus campaign goals – Program goals should drive tactics

2) Talking at your audience - Your audience wants to know they are being heard and wants you to talk WITH them

3) Not having a social media crisis plan – what is your plan of action when a disgruntled customer uses social media to broadcast your social media mistakes?

Re-visit Human Behaviour

Leonard Brody from Examiner.com gave an insightful presentation about the importance as marketers, of re-visiting human behaviour. In the last 15 years human behaviour has radically changed and for the first time ever, vast groups of people can readily interact quickly and easily with other vast groups of people.

Did you know that the average westerner spends two thirds of their day interacting virtually with people via the web? Leonard highlighted the need for travel marketers to consider the fact that customers now have two identities: 1) their virtual self, 2) their physical self. Consumers act differently online as their virtual self in comparison to how they act offline or face-to-face.

As a marketer this is an important consideration. What are the characteristics of the virtual self? Consumers in a virtual space are more trusting. They share information more readily. They are likely to build relationships more readily but many relationships are weaker ties. Education, wealth, and age can all be interpreted by a person’s social graph.

Lastly, Leonard added - why is Steve Jobbs so successful? Because he has made a business out of studying human behaviour and then building products/services around such behaviours. It has certainly worked for him!

I think the travel industry needs to take note as It's all too easy to get bogged down with the tactical side of marketing. Without a clear understanding of who you are communicating with, opportunities in the travel industry risk being overlooked by travel marketers.

Practice What You Preach- Twitter Competition!

2011-06-28T15:07:00.000+01:00

We think we've learnt lots from our social media conferences. So we're launching a Twitter competition for a free silver pass to our next event, TDS North America.

The event is to be held on September 19-20 in Las Vegas. In line with the conference location, we're asking our followers and friends to tweet their best "only in vegas" story or quote:

Some examples: "only in vegas would you find a man made beach next to the pool"
: "only in vegas can you get take an indoor gondola just for the sake of it"
: "only in vegas could you marry your colleague and divorce within 24 hours"

Be as outrageous and as fun as you can be and don't forget to use our event hashtag #eftamerica else we won't count it! For more information on the event and what you'd be winning, you can see www.eyefortravel.com/tdsusa

Best of luck, we'll be announcing the winner in the forthcoming weeks!

Confronting the Social Buying Dilemma!

2011-06-09T16:34:00.002+01:00

By - Marco Saio - Industry Analyst!

The Expedia-Groupon partnership has finally stirred me to acknowledge and poke an inquisitive stick at the new 900 lb gorilla in online travel: the social buying phenomenon.

During this period of strained supplier-OTA relations and Google search domination, the concept of group/social/daily/ buying (insert buzzword bingo here) further adds another interesting and disruptive dimension to the online distribution power struggle.

The group buying trend is flourishing very rapidly, this is unquestionable, the question though is how will this affect new business models for travel suppliers and now OTAs?.

Let’s dig deeper and consider the potential benefits and risks facing suppliers using basic scenarios. The four biggest group buying companies for travel deals are; Groupon, LivingSocial, Coupons Inc and Gilt Group.

Utopian Scenario 1

A small independent hotel wishes to harness the raw marketing power of Groupon (10 million active subscribers worldwide) or LivingSocial (email list of 26 million worldwide) to reach a huge new audience and sell distressed inventory during low season or after launching. This form of marketing is both targeted (local to the city they are based in) and performance based (the advert is free). You only pay when the customer comes through the door for the discount, and in addition, Groupon offers a minimum number of buyers guarantee to make it worth your while. The message is simple and compelling: Here's a cool, great value deal for you and some friends to take advantage of, if used before a certain date (deals are usually 50% off for hotels but both Groupon and LivingSocial claim up to 90% discounts for other deals).

At a recent EyeforTravel conference LivingSocial revealed that they had sold over 180,000 room nights in the 18 weeks since launch – That’s over 1000 room nights per property. So if that hotel were to invest its limited marketing budget in such an initiative instead of throwing money at Google ad words and local print advertising, it’s not unreasonable to imagine a gain of 1/10 of the above number or 100 room nights – This would more than compensate for the 50% compromise on best rate for rooms that in all probability would have remained vacant. What are the results? A dramatic spike in hotel RevPAR, unprecedented brand exposure and a reasonable return of repeat business with first-time customers who presumably enjoyed the experience and taking their loved one/family/friends somewhere new for a very wallet-friendly price. I have used Groupon several times and have to admit there is a certain smug satisfaction gained by finding a fantastic deal by doing next to nothing – one email a day delivered to your email (private, of course), the majority of which are not usually things that you would do, but that’s the whole point.

Sceptical Scenario 2

A hotel wants to capitalize on a big local event (think the royal wedding) or merely sell the 15% distressed inventory that they have historically never managed to shift in that month. They strike a similar deal with a high-traffic social buying website, but the hotel is better-known, more upscale and has a far greater number of rooms (and inquisitive shareholders). Another European website that shall remain anonymous recently boasted selling more than 600 room nights at a 4* property in Berlin – In 48 hours.

From a PR perspective, the concept is brilliant: Why not give local Berliners or weekend escape artists a chance to experience staying at a luxurious and historic hotel for an absolute bargain price? Better yet, why not twin the offer with a marketing campaign or competition on your Facebook page and then fan the flames further on Twitter and make the whole thing go viral- as well as gain 50% extra top-line revenue from new bookings?

Ignoring the potentially damaging effects of this initiative on direct traffic and brand image, let’s firstly focus on the issue from a Revenue Managers perspective. For any hotel not lucky enough to have a 85% occupancy, the 50% slash on best rate is far less palatable. Let’s imagine that room rates ordinarily hover at the €200 mark and that the average occupancy is a roughly 60% in a 1000 room hotel (forgive the oversimplification; maths class was never my favourite).

This would mean forsaking €100 per booking or a potential €40,000 in lost revenue during the deal window. At this point the endeavour seems more like a costly and short-sighted PR stunt than a sustainable distribution and marketing channel. The picture is equally bleak when you consider whether loyal customers who paid full fat notice and rightly take offense – if so this represents an exercise in cannibalizing your core customer base. And what of the 15% of new customers lured in? How many will be financially willing and available to return and pay full rates?

The true impact of social buying is impossible to determine without considering the following: The cold, hard ROI and cost-effectiveness of a deal once the intermediary has taken their cut. Commission rates remain shrouded in mystery and vary greatly by brand, location, volume released and product but the consensus is between 20-50% of the true product value, How much the deals will undercut your direct traffic and relationships with intermediaries – I.e. would Expedia/Orbitz/Sabre take issue with best price and price imparity?

The less tangible long-term impact on brand image and customer loyalty How deal aggregators such as Yipit and DealRadar will redefine the rules of the game; will we see price wars between leading group buying websites?

Keep an eye out for Facebook Deals , Google Offers and more OTA tie-ups like that of Expedia and Groupon Getaways The fact that all 3 have been launched in the past 2 weeks is a clear indication of the enormous, growing influence that group buying has on the traditional online distribution model.

I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who can share their experiences and unbiased learnings with group buying deals to contextualize this debate – Over to you!

EyeforTravel

Ryanair's cautious. Are oil prices or Facebook to blame?

2011-05-31T11:44:00.003+01:00

By - Tim Gunstone

Ryanair is cautious about future growth…it blames oil prices, I would like to know if customer mobile browsing habits or Facebook is also an issue?

The Irish Times on Wednesday last week told us “Despite plans to cut its winter capacity, and the hedging the airline has put in place, it expects its fuel bill will rise by €350 million in its 2012 financial year. As a result, net profit is expected to remain flat at about €400 million, a level that falls considerably below previous market expectations of €490 million.”

For the full story go to http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0524/1224297637594.html

Whilst I would be an idiot to say fuel prices don’t have a massive impact on airline profits, I would also argue that Ryanair is not just an airline, it’s also an advertising channel. After all, if you go through the company reports, Ryanair either loses or just covers costs from moving people around on a plane. Ryanair makes money by exploiting booking patterns in the online travel buying cycle. These patterns allows it to charge very high advertising rates to other suppliers looking to target it's passengers as they are planning their trip. Insurance companies, car hire and hotels use Ryanair as a place to advertise…and it is not cheap!

The findings from our social media, distribution and online marketing conferences is pretty clear. Facebook, Twitter (and niche social sites like runners world) offer a cost effective way to inspire and target travelling customers. Is this also a reason why the famously bullish Ryanair is feeling more cautious? In addition, buying a Ryanair flight on a smart phone is nigh on impossible, I have tried it.

At our Travel Distribution Summit in London earlier this month, Google’s Daniel Robb told us mobile searches for flights is growing at an incredible 141% year on year. None of this is benefiting Ryanair or it's vital advertisers. Will they adapt to the new consumer landscape that is increasingly social and mobile? Only time will tell.

EyeforTravel

Is the travel industry in rude health? Or just doing a Nero and watching their industry burn?

2011-05-25T10:53:00.001+01:00

By - Tim Gunstone

If the last 2 years have been hard for you as a travel professional, it’s been really hard for me as a publisher of travel conferences, news and research articles. In the hands of cost focussed (and I would say) short sighted CFOs, the industry limited their purchases of research, conferences and pretty much anything that helped you plan for a successful future ….this made life in EyeforTravel harder for a while.

But the first half of 2011 has seen a 100% turn around, dynamism and optimism is back and as a result all of our shows have grown. This belies my grim weekly reading of the Economist. So who is right, the seemingly dynamic travel industry? or the doom and gloom of the Economists?

Online travel: There’s no doubt about it, the online travel world is growing. At our recent summit in London, Google’s Daniel Robb predicted that online travel market will grow by a massive 20% from 2010 to 2012 and be worth US$313 Billion. Mobile is another key area for change, 15% of searches now come via a mobile and travel searches on a mobile device are seeing between 130% to 180% YOY growth rates. The search landscape is in the process of being revolutionised and Social Media is proving a worthwhile place for the travel industry to sell its products. No wonder my customers, web savvy travel executives, seem to be enjoying life - they are stealing market share.

But what of the industry as a whole? During the dramatic global recession of 2009, the European travel industry experienced a steep 10% decline in gross revenues, shaving some €26 billion off 2008 sales and ending the year at €232 billion. There has been some growth since but as flight prices go ever up and immigration officials get ever worse it’s very easy to become gloomy….but it is also incredibly exciting as new markets evolve and new customers emerge. Our show in Mumbai in October is hard to top if you want to meet upbeat travel executives and our Miami show in June has attracted far greater numbers from the Caribbean and Mexico than before, mostly from independent hotels. This is also true for the Eastern Europe market.

A shift towards new travel products in developed markets - it’s here we are seeing some great innovations. New methods of communication; innovative and effective ways to market to niche groups combined with the ever greater price transparency online has fuelled the growth of new travel products. Be it stay-a-home Glamping, house swaps or longer volunteer tourism holidays as well as lengthier bouts of independent travel. The products in travel are changing but the old ones are not going away.

So for now I am going to go with what my customers are saying and will expand the number of conferences and products we produce. I am looking to run a conference on travel product development in November.

Here is our latest free in depth report looking at what marketing and distribution channels are growing and which ones are shrinking. It covers all the global markets and splits into all the travel verticals. It can be downloaded at no charge here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-marketing-barometer/

EyeforTravel

User reviews – A missed opportunity for hotels?

2011-04-27T12:43:00.002+01:00

How to manage user reviews continues to be an issue that puzzles many hoteliers across the world. Should you reply to each review to show you are listening? Should you leave conversations about your hotel to continue uninterrupted? Should you encourage guests to post user reviews following their stay?

Although the answers to these questions may seem obvious to some, in my opinion hotels are still not getting it right.

I’ve recently been on holiday to Italy and stayed in a wide variety of places ranging from small B&Bs in the middle of the countryside to bustling beach resorts. I enjoyed each and every place I stayed and whilst some have since asked me to leave my comments online, most properties have not asked.

I feel that this is a missed opportunity. If asked, I would not only share my enjoyable experience of their property but would also provide constructive feedback. I'm a busy person and to be honest unless I’m prompted it’s far too easy to forget to go online and write anything.

Given that Google now integrates reviews into search results, surely an email from the owner of the small B&B in the countryside prompting me to post an online review will in turn help visitors find the place online and thus be worth their while? (The fear of a bad review still prevails but if a bad review is given then the owner can always respond with their view and use the feedback to make improvements).

I recently had a conversation with someone from the travel industry who felt that user reviews are decreasing in importance due to the sheer volume of reviews littering the internet. He felt they had become meaningless.

I subsequently posted a discussion on the Linkedin Social Media in Travel group asking their views and the overwhelming response was to the contrary. Keith Salwoski summarized the responses well by stating "You can't stop this train. Expect the tools to become more focused, feeding more relevant reviews to consumers from "people who are like me."

A good example of how to make user reviews more relevant to the consumer comes from Booking.com, a site owned by Priceline and a leading provider of online hotel reservations. Visitors to the site can filter the reviews according to the profile of the person leaving the review (for example, family, mature couple, solo traveller etc). I think this is a great feature as I really only want to see reviews from like-minded people. Also, Booking.com always prompt users to leave a review post their stay which adds the assurance that the person has actually stayed there.

TripAdvisor also offers the profiling feature plus the ability to focus on reviews regarding keywords about the hotel such as ‘pool’, ‘internet’ ‘breakfast’. TripAdvisor is also focusing on reviews from your social network in order to add relevance (personally its unlikely/I don’t want to visit the same places as my friends as I like to try new experiences/trips but I get why this feature could be useful).

I would also like to see a feature that separates reviews by nationality. I hate to generalise but different cultures have different expectations when they travel. Booking.com marks the nationality of the reviewer but does not have the option to filter by nationality. Has anyone seen a site that does?

Lastly, Milestone Internet Marketing has some great tips for hotels on how hotels can manage and monitor user reviews. They also share some useful examples. Check out the full article here

EyeforTravel

Google’s acquisition of ITA Software is approved

2011-04-11T11:31:00.000+01:00

It’s been a dramatic weekend for the online travel industry as last Friday saw The US Justice Department approve Google Inc's purchase of ITA Software (but with stiff conditions).

The deal, which had been rumbling on for months, will have sizable implications for the online travel industry. It represents a huge shift by Google into vertical search, something which has long been feared by online travel brands.

Google said it was "excited" to get the deal approved, and would soon bring out a new travel search tool.

Stating on their blog ‘How cool would it be if you could type "flights to somewhere sunny for under $500 in May" into Google and get not just a set of links but also flight times, fares and a link to sites where you can actually buy tickets quickly and easily?’

Whilst they might be excited, many online travel brands including Kayak, Farelogix, Sabre and Expedia are not. Last autumn the site - FairSearch.org - was set up to fight the deal. They argue the deal will harm competition in the industry, limit innovation, and expand Google’s dominance in search overall.

FairSearch.org are however pleased by the announcement that antitrust laws will be enforced. They feel this enforcement action represents a significant milestone against anti-competitive behaviour.

The deal will most certainly affect search traffic – we’ll be discussing this (the good and the bad) in upcoming posts so stay tuned!

It’s important to note also that the deal will still be subject to further disputes. The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department are both contemplating an investigation into claims the internet search giant manipulates its results but there has been no decision made on which agency may take it up.

EyeforTravel

April Fools Winner Announced!

2011-04-08T17:52:00.000+01:00

The winner of the free pass was chosen this week after a joke-off on the twittersphere. We invited all our contacts to tell their best travel joke to win a free pass to The Travel Distribution Summit Europe this May. Elliot Pritchard of Travel Republic was the chosen one- with this joke:

"How many copywriters does it take to change a lightbulb? A: The dark is a wondrous place, full of mystery and intrigue"

We liked it. Runner up goes to Greg Abbott of DataArt for his excellent un-PC jokes. See #tds2011 on twitter to see them!

EyeforTravel

The Rise in Travel Deals in the Online Travel Space - Hotwire launch in the UK

2011-04-04T10:55:00.000+01:00

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with Clem Bason, President of Hotwire, the leading US discount travel website. He was visiting London for Hotwire’s launch into the UK market.

Owned by Expedia, Hotwire offers discount hotel deals in cities worldwide. Unlike flash sale sites such as the private sale site Jetsetter and group buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, the key difference with the Hotwire business model is that the customer does not see the name of the hotel when searching for discounted offers.

This enables the hotel to offer heavily discounted deals without fear of damaging their brand name. I feel that this is an important differentiator as many hotels partnering with flash sale sites don’t seem to be considering the damage to their brand. A cheap deal at a hairdresser’s might lure a customer back if they are impressed with the cut, but taking a hotel break for leisure is not something people have the luxury of doing that often – surely making them unlikely to go back and pay full rate? I see most flash sale buyers to be bargain hunters in search of that one time deal.

When quizzed on the competition from the sudden flood of flash sales sites offering travel deals, Clem did not see them as a trend that has longevity.

Lastminute.com already has a similar unnamed hotel discount offering to Hotwire for the UK market with their ‘Top Secret hotel’ option however Clem was not afraid to take on the competition highlighting that Hotwire offer a wider range of hotels that can be booked for a prolonged period and not just 1 or 2 nights.

Hotwire aim to encourage travellers to consider booking their hotel deals for longer periods which enables the hotelier to discount further. I think this is ideal for hotel bargain hunters. I personally love researching specific hotel details before booking a place to stay though!

Travel Ticker® which is part of the Hotwire offering has interesting behind the scenes functionality whereby the customer is offered deals that specifically relevant to their prior search behaviour on the site. Collecting such information on consumers and their preferences is certainly a key trend to watch in the online travel space and will be something we will be discussing in more deal over the coming weeks.

EyeforTravel

April Fool's Day

2011-03-31T17:40:00.000+01:00

In case you haven't realised yet, March has whizzed by and tomorrow is 1st April - otherwise known as April Fool's Day. I received a press release from an airline today detailing their April Fool to be released tomorrow. I have to say it wasn't all that funny. I wonder if anyone will be fooled and if the hoped for publicity will be achieved?

Whilst there may be a couple of pranks played on our team tomorrow we won't be trying to fool our customers. We are however looking for funny and entertaining travel jokes. Simply tweet your best travel joke and include the Twitter hashtag #tds2011 and you could win a free conference pass to EyeforTravel's European Travel Distribution Summit, 10-11 May, London. With 7 conference tracks and a large exhibition it looks set to be a great event. We'll be announcing the winner on this blog tomorrow evening so stay tuned!

EyeforTravel

“The Occasion Marketer” by Rosie Akenhead

2011-03-29T11:08:00.000+01:00

By Rosie Akenhead

You can’t blink in London at the moment without seeing Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s faces splashed all over tacky teacups, snowdomes, aprons and every other piece of tourist junk. It’s seems a fair statement that international tourists are perhaps the target audience for these sales (rather than us Brits). I’ve been contemplating for a while about how this would pan out for the travel industry and british tourism specifically. I have a specific interest in this topic as I live about ten minutes walk from Westminster Abbey. All my friends keep suggesting that I rent my apartment for a vast sum of money while William and Kate walk up the aisle. So I beg to ask the question- is this do-able? And, how are other travel companies preparing for and responding to the surge of interest in the royal wedding?

It makes sense to backtrack a little before throwing ourselves in the deep-end. We know that targeted “event” or “date” marketing works for travel. You only need to ask lastminute.com or Travelzoo about the increasing success of their Valentine break deals to ascertain that. Are “events” becoming more essential (or appealing) for the discening traveller? Is it more important now (with budget and time constraints) to have a REASON to holiday? A Valentine’s break in Venice? To see someone in concert in Moscow? To tie in a holiday with a business trip? A once in a lifetime royal wedding perhaps?

I think our industry marketers speak the answer on this one. How the royal wedding is being presented by travel and accomodation operators is a good indication. Some hotels in the vicinity already have their homepage reservation systems set to the royal wedding dates to facilitate easy booking, and rates start from a high £250 per night (there’s a few happy revenue managers in Westminster I’d bet). However, what are the other options surfacing besides expensive hotels in the area?

Well, the first port of call on google ads is Airbnb (favoured by Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall) which is a mix of Couchsurfer, a B&B retailer and TripAdvisor too. It serves to let locals list their spare room (or their whole flat) for free to travellers. Both hosts and the accomdation are rated and reviewed in the same way as most user-generated sites. Hosts choose their rates (loosely based on quality, location and neighbouring apartments costs) and then it’s up to the traveller to pick and choose a bedroom or apartment.

It’s an interesting idea and it seems perfect for the royal wedding holiday-maker, largely on the basis that Westminster is full (and I mean FULL) of flats and houses that aren’t used on the weekends (politicians and civil servants who leave the city to go to their country pads each weekend). Quite frankly, I’m impressed by AirBNB. I like that the guests are also rated which means they stand to lose out if they behave badly in your home.So- is this is a future trend? I wait with anticipation to see if this trend develops further as we become more and more fussy about what we want from our holiday break. Will I put my flat up for rent? Watch this space while I decide J

On a different level, VisitLondon aren’t missing a trick with their guides and suggestions for the big weekend. Topics include the places where Kate shops and hangs out. Slightly creepy but there must be a reason why Visitlondon has risen nearly to the top of the Google ranking for the search term “Royal Wedding London”.

Tripadvisor rightly has it covered too. So what with wedding fever in the air, how are the travel industry feeling about it? Namedly all of us are BORED of it. Kevin May of Tnooz certainly is. So are all of us at EyeforTravel.

However, besides all the tourist tat on the streets, expensive hotel rates and mindless wedding chat, I think we can conclude two things. Firstly, the royal wedding is (and was always going to be) essentially a good thing for travel: we’re seeing innovative new travel products brought to our attention which may well stick around for the Olympics next year. Secondly I think the royal wedding has reminded marketers of the elusive guest :“the event traveller”: namedly travelling for a purpose not so much for the sake of it. Re-evaluating how we look at these consumers and how we reach them is not a new topic: it’s an old one that needs to be re-looked at.

Comments welcome. I’m @rosieakenhead on twitter.

EyeforTravel

Welcome!

2011-03-23T11:48:00.000Z

Welcome to EyeforTravel's new blog!

At EyeforTravel we live and breathe online travel. Since 1997 when the company was founded by our MD, Tim Gunstone, we've followed each and every movement in the online travel space. This includes the painful shift offline to online (remember those who said the internet would never catch on?!) right through to the dramatic shift we are seeing towards mobile and social communications right now.

It's been a very interesting 14 years and there's certainly many more interesting years to come! We thought it would be worth sharing our views, research, and opinions to further help travel businesses drive forward online travel best practices.

Happy reading!