TouristIntel

News Update - December 5, 2011

2011-12-05T14:55:00.001Z

Finding ways to choose the right mobile measurement infrastructure...
IN-DEPTH: Measuring mobile has historically been very hard to do given the fragmentation of devices, operating systems, and carrier restrictions. The majority of these hurdles have been eliminated over recent years with the advent of the smartphone and mobile application...

Mobile commerce sales to grow to $6.7b this year in the US...
eMarketer estimates mobile commerce sales will reach $6.7 billion this year in the US—a tiny fraction of overall retail sales but a 91.4 percent increase over 2010. Next year, sales will rise another 73.1 percent to $11.6 billion. M-commerce sales...

Starwood ties up with Chinese location-based social mobile app...
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has formed a partnership with Chinese location-based social mobile app, Jiepang, in order to offer Chinese Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) members check-in rewards. China continues to be a major source of new loyalty travellers for Starwood...

Facebook acquires Gowalla: report...
Facebook has reportedly acquired Gowalla, according to a CNNMoney report. The report attributed the development to “a source close to Gowalla” and mentioned that most of Gowalla’s employees will move to Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto. The team will work...

Barrhead Travel launches new rewards smartcard...
Scotland-based-travel agency Barrhead Travel has launched a new rewards smartcard. The card will offer a five percent cashback reward for any travel booking made, with additional discounts offered to existing sQuid account holders. The scheme will initially be piloted in...

UK’s CAA seeks advise on Thomas Cook’s financial problems: report...
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority has reportedly hired US turnaround and restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal to advise it over Thomas Cook. According to a report filed by the Sunday Telegraph, the Authority has taken this decision over concerns surrounding...

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News Update - December 2, 2011

2011-12-02T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

“2012 seems to be unfolding as a year with a lot of uncertainty”...
IN-DEPTH: Uncertainty is once again creeping into market forecasts and turmoil in markets, customer sets and distribution channels is likely to happen in a number of ways. Revenue management systems and processes will need to be nimble to adapt as...

European Travel Commission targets travellers from China, launches portal...
Brussels-based European Travel Commission (ETC), a non-profit organisation focused on marketing and promoting tourism to Europe from long-haul markets, and European Commission (EC) have announced the launch of Travel Destination Europe and the portal in China. This launch marks the...

Rich and seamless mobile shopping experiences drive mobile purchases: survey...
A survey, reviewing how consumers respond to a bad shopping experience on their Internet-connected mobile device, has revealed that 62 percent abandon the site on their mobile device and return to the site at a later date using a computer....

Thomas Cook Signature targets youth/budget traveller market...
Thomas Cook Signature has partnered with YHA Australia to offer budget accommodation throughout its UK’s high street travel retail network. With this move, the company is targeting youth/budget traveller market for the first time. The pact allow Thomas Cook, Co-op...

Direct mail most preferred for receipt of brand communications: study...
A study in the US has indicated that despite direct mail’s reputation for being “old school” or expensive, it is the top choice of U.S. and Canadian consumers for the receipt of brand communications. According to Epsilon Targeting’s 2011 Channel...

YouTube unveils new website design...
YouTube has introduced a new homepage and “Channel” design in order to make it easier for viewers to find and watch content. The company’s improved Channel design focuses on what matters most: helping users find great videos. The team has...

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News Update - December 1, 2011

2011-12-01T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Marriott International’s mobile app now available in five languages...
Marriott International is now offering its mobile app for iPhone, iPod touch, and Android devices in Chinese, Spanish, German and French. First introduced in English three months ago, the app has already been downloaded more than 500,000 times. The company...

Google to enhance the airport experience with indoor map navigation...
Google has shared that now Google Maps for Android enables users to figure out where they are and see where they might want to go when they’re indoors. The development has emerged as the company announced the next generation of...

Orbitz’s contest to let “fans” nominate favourite do-gooder on Facebook...
Online travel company Orbitz has initiated its Gift It Forward Facebook contest, letting its Facebook fans to nominate others for the good things they've done. The contest allows Orbitz Facebook fans to nominate a deserving neighbour, co-worker, family member, or...

Amadeus to help revenue managers dynamically monitor market trends...
Amadeus has added a new feature in Market Pricing to its hotel Revenue Management solution. The Market Pricing component gives hoteliers an insight into competitor rates, sourced from the major web rate shoppers. The new offering combines publicly available rate...

TripCase to integrate with agency systems and policies...
Sabre Holdings has stated that TripCase will be the first consumer mobile and web solution that integrates with the systems and policies used by travel agencies, travel management companies, and corporations. Southlake, Texas-based Sabre has enhanced TripCase to offer travellers...

How private charter flights become increasingly affordable during chaos...
Online private jet booking network, PrivateFly.com, reported a 74 percent increase in European flight searches for 30 November, versus data for the previous Wednesday, as a result of the public sector strike action. The company highlighted trends around private aviation...

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News Update - November 30, 2011

2011-11-30T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

AMR and American Airlines file for Chapter 11 Reorganisation...
American Airlines has shared that its parent company, AMR Corporation, and certain United States-based subsidiaries have voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 reorganisation under United States law. The company has filed voluntary petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern...

Thomas W. Horton named chairman and CEO of AMR Corporation and AA...
The Board of Directors of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines (AA), has named Thomas W. Horton chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Horton is to succeed Gerard Arpey, who this week informed the Board of...

New flight search engine to let users maximise the value of their miles...
Superfly, a new flight search engine that combines flight information with individual consumer data and preferences, has been launched. Rather than focusing solely on presenting the cheapest flight, Superfly says it helps individual consumers identify the options with the greatest...

Pennsylvania Tourism Office signs exclusive deal with Foursquare...
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office has signed an exclusive deal with Foursquare that allows users to obtain “PA Lock & Keystone” badges by “checking-in” with their mobile devices at Pennsylvania restaurants, museums, retail shops, historic landmarks, state parks, wineries and other...

LBS revenues in Europe to reach €435 million by 2016...
Mobile location-based service (LBS) revenues in Europe are being tipped to grow from €205 million in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4 percent to reach €435 million in 2016. According to a new research report by...

Venere.com launches mobile site...
European online accommodation specialist Venere.com has launched its mobile site. The company has dedicated an entire section to Venere.com deals with seasonal promotions, 24-48 hour sales and destination specific offers with prices starting from €30. The company highlighted that its...

First airline co-brand card featuring EMV chip-with-signature technology unveiled...
Chase Card Services, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and British Airways recently shared that EMV chip-with-signature technology is now available on the British Airways Visa Card. Cardmembers can now use the British Airways Card at any chip-enabled, point-of-sale...

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News Update - November 28, 2011

2011-11-28T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Developing mobile apps for time-poor and frequent travellers...
IN-DEPTH: The very essence of travel is being on the move, so enthusiastic and high-frequency travellers are the perfect and receptive audience to sophisticated, and visually inspiring mobile communication, says online private jet hire platform PrivateFly.com’s sales and marketing director...

Tablets and mobile devices changing the way people engage with video online...
A report has found that, on average, tablet viewers watched videos nearly 30 percent longer than when watching on their desktop — and were more than twice as likely to complete an entire video. According to the VideoMind Video Index...

Thomas Cook signs new £200m bank facility...
Thomas Cook Group has stated that it has reached agreement with its banking group to provide it with a new facility that significantly improves the “robustness” of the group’s financial position. The group’s banks, led by Barclays, HSBC, RBS and...

Australian Foreign Minister acknowledges the usefulness of Twitter...
The Australian government has underlined the utility of Twitter as it attempts to make the best use of technology to help Australian travellers wherever they are in the world. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who launched the newest phase of the...

Spanish screenscraper websites stop displaying Ryanair’s prices...
Ryanair has stated that its new security feature has persuaded Edreams and Bravofly to stop displaying the airline’s prices and seats. Referring to the improved Internet security provided by the reCAPTCHA feature on the Ryanair.com website, the airline stated that...

Travelodge attempts to capitalise on UK’s supermarkets expansion plans...
Budget hotel chain Travelodge is aggressively looking at the UK’s supermarkets expansion plans. The group says it is currently developing or is in talks with virtually every supermarket brand in Britain. Travelodge has accelerated it new opening’s programme by capitalising...

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News Update - November 25, 2011

2011-11-25T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Asia-Pacific’s mobile connections prowess continues to rise...
Global mobile subscriptions will reach over six billion by the end of this year and the Asia-Pacific region will account for more than half of the worldwide figure in 2011, according to ABI Research. The company shared that Asia-Pacific added...

The City of Sydney’s iPhone App to let users capture a 12-sec video...
The City of Sydney has launched a new iPhone App to encourage people to capture a 12-second video from their 2011 New Year’s Eve celebrations for inclusion in a short film to mark Australia’s biggest event of the year. The...

New mobile app to eradicate communication barriers en route to hotel...
A new hotel search mobile app that lets users search for hotels and play the directions to the hotel and the nearest airport in the local language of the hotel, for the benefit of taxi drivers and other native speakers,...

Cheapflights Media’s CTO Chris Martin joins board...
Cheapflights Media has strengthened its board with the appointments of current chief technology officer (CTO) Chris Martin and chief financial officer (CFO) Alan Martin. Martin joined the company as CTO in January 2007 and initially led a programme of heavy...

40pc of mobile social networking users engage with brands: report...
It has emerged that several social networking brands posted significant gains for their mobile audiences over the past year as comScore released an overview of mobile social media usage across the five European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the...

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News Update - November 24, 2011

2011-11-24T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

“Consumers are savvy enough to know that not all social commerce content is equal”...
IN-DEPTH: Travel companies that control their social commerce content themselves will find their return is ultimately limited, says Richard Anson, founder and CEO, Reevoo By Ritesh Gupta Travel companies are increasingly opening avenues on their websites for their guests to...

Twigmore launches its travel networking tool on Facebook...
New York City-based Twigmore has launched what is being described as the first travel network on Facebook. The tool’s objective is to let users tap into their friend network to find real people on the ground wherever they travel. The...

Allowing travellers to create similar experiences they watch on TV...
Travel lifestyle brand Travel Channel is gearing up to offer its viewers unique opportunities to book trips and itineraries inspired by the network’s travel programming. Travel Channel has finalised a multi-platform partnership with Rand McNally’sTripology.com business to connect its audience...

eBay predicts major spike in mobile shopping...
eBay has stated that mobile shopping is mainstream now, and the company expects this holiday to be the largest mobile shopping season ever. Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile, has highlighted that shoppers are in the driver’s seat, with...

Air NZ aims to turn its loyalty card into “ultimate travel companion”...
Air New Zealand is taking an initiative to transform its loyalty card into a “travel companion”. The airline’s Airpoints membership card is now loaded with new features. More than 700,000 New Zealanders are set to receive it over the next...

U.S. Department of Transportation fines Spirit Airlines $50,000...
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined Spirit Airlines $50,000 for violating federal aviation laws and the Department’s rules prohibiting deceptive price advertising in air travel. The Department stated that it is imperative for consumers to know the full...

Virgin Australia group closer to becoming one integrated airline...
Virgin Australia group of airlines is set to realise its strategic vision of becoming one integrated airline and providing a seamless travel experience for guests across its global airline network. The group is to make transition to ticketed operations by...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 23, 2011

2011-11-23T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Thomas Cook in discussions with its principal lending banks...
Thomas Cook Group says it is in discussions with its principal lending banks with regard to its facilities during the seasonal low period of cash in the business. The company is in discussions as a result of deterioration of trading...

A&K’s new service promises smoothest airport transition...
Luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) has introduced its new airport concierge service that will see passengers treated like VIP’s. The company, which highlighted that it is banking on its 50 years of travel expertise, says its new offering...

Christophe Peymirat to lead EMEA and APAC operations of Egencia...
Travel management company Egencia has appointed Christophe Peymirat as senior vice president Egencia EMEA & APAC, following the departure of Christophe Pingard. Peymirat, who joined Egencia at the start of the organisation in 2000, will now lead both EMEA and...

Australian group buying retailer launches travel site for deals...
Australian group buying retailer, OurDeal, has launched a dedicated travel site for domestic and international holiday deals. The new site, OurDeal Escape, is being spearheaded by Sam Linder, who recently joined OurDeal as head of travel. Lindner was previously the...

Encouraging signs for Britain’s tourism sector...
Few days after receiving £27 million injection of funding, national tourism agency VisitBritain has witnessed another encouraging sign for Britain’s tourism sector. According to the agency, international visitor numbers and spending in the UK have risen in September. As per...

Location-aware platform developer set to release its public API...
HipGeo, a developer of a location-aware website and smartphone apps that automatically create a record of the places users go, has announced the release of its public Application Programming Interface (API) and location widgets. The HipGeo API will be open...

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News Update - November 22, 2011

2011-11-22T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Qantas’ campaign on Twitter results in negative publicity...
Only a few days ago Qantas chose to come up with special offers for its most loyal customers to thank them for their support throughout the recent period of industrial action. But this week the airline has again found itself...

Expedia increases its investment in eLong...
Chinese social networking company Renren has sold its investment in Chinese online travel site eLong to Expedia for $72.4 million, or $23 per ADS. The deal values eLong’s American depositary shares at about $23, a 65 percent premium to its...

New experiential packaging product launched...
San Diego, California-based aRes Travel has launched a new experiential packaging product that promises to redefine what constitutes a package for a traveller. According to aRes Travel (Advanced Reservations Systems), a provider of online travel and tourism technology solutions, its...

HotelClub appoints new commercial director...
Accommodation booking website HotelClub has appointed Chaminda Ranasinghe as its commercial director. Ranasinghe will lead the commercial team to maximise conversion and revenue globally. Ranasinghe will be responsible for driving the organisation’s strategic commercial direction which includes hotel inventory strategy,...

Brands have been quick to embrace Google+: study...
Around 61 percent of the world’s top 100 brands had pages on Google+ less than a week after the search company allowed them, according to an analysis. According to BrightEdge, the decision to go ahead with building presence on Google+...

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News Update - November 21, 2011

2011-11-21T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Securing room night bookings by encouraging spur of the moment trips...
IN-DEPTH: Travel in many ways represents the killer app for mobile commerce. Savvy consumers want to lock in the best deals and ticket prices, no matter where they are. By Ritesh Gupta The mobile hotel booking category is witnessing new...

Rising to the challenge of ever-increasing customer expectations...
IN-DEPTH: By making the most of the data and information available about their customers, travel companies have a unique opportunity to deliver truly differentiated experiences and make travel not just more convenient, but more enjoyable, too. By Ritesh Gupta Various...

Travelocity to connect travellers with user-generated content...
Online travel company Travelocity has decided to introduce new tools on its site as part of its efforts to help consumers make more confident hotel booking decisions. The company says its new offering, Questions, which is being described as the...

Expedia’s ad sales arm focuses on social media integration capabilities...
Online travel company Expedia, which has been focusing on building a powerful online community where consumers can share their travel experiences, is set to take such efforts to the next level by strengthening its social media integration capabilities. The company...

TripAdvisor strengthens holiday rental property listings...
TripAdvisor is set to exceed 200,000 holiday rental property listings following partnership deals with several holiday rental websites. TripAdvisor has formed holiday rental inventory partnerships with the following companies: Interhome, which is based in Switzerland, is a provider of holiday...

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News Update - November 18, 2011

2011-11-18T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Making the most of dynamic pricing to fill rooms at the most profitable price...
IN-DEPTH: Understanding customers’ needs, behaviour, location, and individual price sensitivity are key to any pricing strategy and related tactics By Ritesh Gupta The hotel industry has witnessed the emergence of price optimisation tools that incorporate real-time competitive rates with a...

Accor attempts to reinvent the hotel room experience...
Accor’s mid-scale hotel brand Novotel unveiled a new type of room this week that “makes a clean break with traditional hotel thinking by redefining the use of space and adding cutting edge technologies and amenities”. The room of the future...

Call to scrap Air Passenger Duty‎ gets stronger...
Four leading airline chief executives - Carolyn McCall from easyJet, Willie Walsh from IAG the parent company of British Airways , Michael O’Leary from Ryanair and Steve Ridgway from Virgin Atlantic – are calling on George Osborne to axe Air...

HotelTonight plans to reach 35 markets by end of 2011...
Last-minute mobile hotel bookings specialist HotelTonight is in the process of finalising its $9.1 million funding round, according to documents filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to a report filed by gigaom.com, the company has raised $8.65 million...

Finnair prepares itself for delivering personalised online experience...
Finnair, the national flag carrier and largest airline in Finland, has taken an initiative to tailor its customers’ online experience. The airline has chosen Amadeus Dynamic Website Manager for this initiative. According to Amadeus, its offering is uniquely underlined by...

Orbitz to partner with AOL Travel...
Online travel company Orbitz Worldwide has signed a multi-year agreement for Orbitz.com to be the primary travel booking partner for AOL Travel. Following the launch of the partnership in January 2012, visitors to AOL Travel will be able to book...

Pricing pressure will remain strong: survey...
A survey, featuring over 5000 consumers in the US, has indicated that travellers are both "emotionally and financially exhausted". According to Atmosphere Research Group’s US Online Leisure Travel Benchmark Survey, most travellers expect to spend about the same amount in...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 17, 2011

2011-11-17T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Adjusting to a new era of deep customer engagement as a travel marketer...
IN-DEPTH: Most of the travel companies are planning to increase their overall digital marketing spend in 2012. Even as the travel industry is seeing increased value in digital marketing initiatives, there is a need to consider integrating digital beyond campaigns...

ebookers ties up with SilverRail, to sell rail tickets...
Online travel agency ebookers has formed a partnership with SilverRail Technologies to offer domestic and international rail journeys. The service is due to go live on all 12 ebookers’ European websites in 2012. ebookers will have access to all of...

Amadeus unveils new travel app for flights...
Amadeus has released a new travel app that features its Master Pricer fare engine to deliver the best airfares directly to a user’s mobile device. The free Travel Seeker mobile app, released for both the iPhone and Android, lets users...

Frommer’s Travel to offer customised travel guides...
Frommer’s Travel has tied up with HP to offer on-demand custom travel guides in an effort to simplify the travel planning process. For the new offering, to be called Frommer’s Remix by HP, travellers can now visit www.frommersremix.com to create...

HRS launches its personalised hotel search app for TV...
Hotel portal HRS says it has worked on its web-based TV app that allows owners of the new Grundig LED TVs to search for HRS’s inventory of 250,000 hotels. HRS customers can now access online services with Smart-Inter@ctive TVs from...

New beach destination site launched...
Beach.com, a website that aims to simplify the consumer quest for beach information, has been launched. The beach destination site is offering localised beach content online for over 500 beach destinations worldwide, including a customised search path, hotels and resorts,...

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News Update - November 16, 2011

2011-11-16T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Trippy secures $1.75 million seed funding...
Trippy, an offering which is being described as the first web and mobile app entirely designed to let your friends help plan your trip, has raised $1.75M in seed funding. Co-leading the round are Sequoia Capital and True Ventures. Also...

New foursquare site lays huge emphasis on discovery...
foursquare.com has introduced a new version of its website, laying “huge emphasis on discovery”. One of the main features now is a big map on the top, which shows everything interesting nearby – your friends, places that are trending (in...

Half of consumers don’t want to be bothered in social networks: global report...
Businesses are wasting time and money trying to reach people online without realising many resent big brands invading their social networks, according to findings from a global study initiated by TNS. TNS’s Digital Life study, which is about how more...

Offering personalised travel guide based on friends’ experiences...
The list of new ventures that are focusing on improving the trip planning process by shaping up holidays based on friends’ content and recommendations continues to get longer. A new venture, Jetpac, which is focusing on creating personalised travel tips...

Adapting to Google’s “most-impactful algorithmic change to date”...
The online travel industry is rapidly evolving with the demands of today’s travellers. Travel marketers should expect that when potential guests visit their website, they may be landing on various pages based on their searches and are often coming loaded...

“The renaissance of rail is truly underway”...
A pan-European rail passenger survey has highlighted that the opportunity for rail is clear as 77 percent of those surveyed would choose to catch an international high speed train instead of taking another means of transport, if the cost is...

Android OS accounted for 52.5pc of smartphone sales in Q3...
The Android OS accounted for 52.5 percent of smartphone sales to end users in the third quarter of 2011, more than doubling its market share from the third quarter of 2010, according to Gartner. Android benefited from more mass-market offerings,...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 15, 2011

2011-11-15T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Speakers sought for the travel Distribution Summit Europe...
The world largest gathering of online travel executives is set to place this April 18-19 in the Business Design Centre in London. We are currently looking for speakers. If you represent a travel Intermediary or travel supplier and are working...

Sending a custom vacation request video to boss...
JetBlue Airways’ vacation package offering, JetBlue Getaways, has come up with an interactive Facebook application, Getaways Granter. The company has taken this initiative post a survey (conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of JetBlue) which indicated that 57 percent of...

easyJet renews deal with Amadeus, eyes more business travellers...
easyJet has signed a new and enhanced deal with Amadeus. The airline has taken this initiative in order to capture a bigger share of the managed corporate travel market. easyJet was among the first few low cost airlines to make...

How users interact with search results from Google Places listing...
A study has highlighted that making sure Google Places listing is being used to its fullest extent can make a real difference. Mediative’s latest study, Eye Tracking and Click Mapping Google Places, examined how people interact with search results from...

“Social media influence might be less important than we think”...
A study featuring over 2100 adults in the UK has indicated that only eight percent of online adults who have taken a holiday in the past year, have discussed their holidays or read other people’s advice and recommendations on Facebook....

easyJet set to trial allocated seating...
easyJet is to trial allocated seating on selected routes from Spring 2012. Currently, easyJet operates an unreserved system whereby passengers simply choose which seats to occupy when they board the aircraft with those having purchased speedy boarding or travelling with...

Integrating the transactional and social phases of group travel planning process...
Boston-based start-up Groupize.com has introduced its small group hotel booking engine. The company has described its offering as the “first transactional and social website for booking group hotel rooms”. As of February 2012, Groupize.com will offer the only fully automated...

Propensity to act on location-based info via mobile is substantial: study...
Use of mobile technology by business travellers continues to increase, opening the door for increased business traveller interaction, according to a new study. According to a study, sponsored by Rearden Commerce, 75 percent of business travellers access the Internet via...

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News Update - November 14, 2011

2011-11-14T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Taking the association with mobile apps to the next level...
IN-DEPTH: Mobile is going to revolutionise travel, says Ben Kazez, who founded Mobiata in November 2008. Being constantly connected to a device that lets you plan and book your trip in advance and then gives you real-time information and suggestions...

Optimising information management to prepare “big data” for business analytics...
IN-DEPTH: Growing enterprise data volumes threaten to overwhelm organisations lacking a broad data management plan, according to SAS. A new survey has indicated that organisations with formal data management strategies derive more value from data assets and outperform competitors. The...

`Think Insights with Google’ highlights five stages of travel...
Google’s information and resource hub for marketers, Think Insights with Google, is out of beta. As part of its insights section, the site has highlighted five stages of travel – dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing and sharing. The site says more...

Consumers frustrated with mobile Internet speeds: eBay...
eBay.co.uk has submitted to Government its Mobile Manifesto which sets out what the industry and policymakers need to do to support the UK’s mobile powered economy. (The Manifesto can be viewed at www.ebay-mobilemediacentre.mobi on your mobile phone). The launch of...

Extra Holidays by Wyndham seeks best tiny hotel room story...
Extra Holidays by Wyndham, which specialises in providing deluxe vacation accommodations, has officially launched its first Facebook contest: The Curse of the Tiny Hotel Room. The best tiny hotel room story submitted via the contest wins a five-night stay in...

Most Travel Brands Admit Confusion over Social, Mobile and Search Strategies...
A recent EyeforTravel survey of over 500 APAC travel brands shows 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’...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 11, 2011

2011-11-11T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Collecting data from all over the web and using algorithms to produce travel guides...
IN-DEPTH: Start-up Triposo is working on delivering smart suggestions: suggestions that take the time of day, the weather and the location into account. And the company will slowly optimise its suggestions based on one’s personal preferences, says Richard Osinga, CEO...

Evaluating top trends in search engine marketing...
Search is continuing to evolve. The factors that impact search results have changed drastically. The best search results are not just the ones which have the right content and meta-tags and relevant links pointing back to them. Hoteliers also need...

Loews Hotels unveils its location aware-mobile website...
Loews Hotels has launched its mobile website, www.loewshotels.com/m, featuring location aware capabilities. The mobile website serves automatically on all mobile devices, has a touch-screen friendly design, is fully optimised for mobile searches, enables reservations through the Loews Hotels’ mobile booking...

MapmyIndia launches location-based places app...
MapmyIndia, a specialist in digital maps, navigation and location-based services, has launched a free location-based places app for Blackberry, Android and iPhone. The ShowNearby app, launched in collaboration with Singapore-based ShowNearby, allows users to search and discover all places of...

Room 77 launches hotel shopping and booking capabilities...
Room 77 has launched hotel shopping and booking capabilities and introduced what is being described as the industry’s first Room Concierge service. In addition to reservation options, the site is now offering travellers access to a complimentary Room Concierge for...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 10, 2011

2011-11-10T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Return on investment for search on mobile devices climbing rapidly ...
IN-DEPTH: Mobile spend is 6.5 percent of all search spend, up 2.7 times from a year ago in the US. Advertisers can’t simply transfer a search campaign to mobile. Travel marketers need to understand how consumer behaviour differs when it...

Uptake combines its library of vacation experiences with Facebook data...
Uptake has launched Travel Q&A, a new social travel service that helps consumers create their ideal vacation with trusted recommendations from their Facebook friends and the most relevant information from across the web. Using its patent-pending “Destination Mining” technology, Uptake’s...

Making the most of social networking and SEO to increase online visibility...
The launch of Google+ Brand Pages is being termed as the next evolutionary step in social search. As Google rolls out Google+ Pages worldwide and allows brands to create profile pages, it is being highlighted that businesses now have an...

“Calls convert more purchases than online ads for holidays”...
Commission Junction, a division of ValueClick, has launched a new PayPerCall programme with online travel agency Directline Holidays. The PayPerCall programme will provide affiliates with a unique telephone number to display across any form of media as the call to...

Octopus focuses on authenticated reviews...
Social commerce company Reevoo has signed a deal with Octopus, part of the Kuoni Group, to provide authenticated reviews of cities and hotels offered as destinations by Octopus. Reevoo highlighted that travel review sites have been the subject of allegations...

“October nor'easter demonstrates the value that mobile brings”...
Online travel company priceline.com has asserted that incidents like the October nor'easter demonstrate the value that mobile devices and apps can bring to the travel industry and to travel consumers. According to the company, after a freak October nor'easter left...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 9, 2011

2011-11-09T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

TripAdvisor focuses on delivering quality customer care for accommodation owners...
TripAdvisor has decided to expand its customer care division with the appointment of Sue Worth in the newly created position of Customer Care Manager, EMEA. Sue’s role includes leading a new European customer care unit dedicated to supporting the hospitality...

Facebook contest encourages travellers to explore their European heritage...
Visiteurope.com has launched its new social media campaign and contest entitled, Follow Your Roots: Visit Europe. Hosted on visiteurope.com’s official Facebook page, the contest invites fans to explore their European roots by sharing a family photo and description of the...

Acknowledging the rising influence of smartphones as a travel marketer ...
44 percent of US travellers plan on using their mobile phone or smartphone more as a travel resource during trips in 2012, according to TripAdvisor’s annual travel trends survey of more than 2,700 US travellers. Some of the findings from...

Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL join hands for display advertising...
Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL have announced agreements in order to improve the process of buying and selling premium online display inventory. The agreements will allow ad networks operated by Yahoo!, Microsoft, and AOL to offer each other’s premium non-reserved online...

CheapOair’s new TVC emphasises on hassle free travel planning...
Online travel agency CheapOair has unveiled a new television advertising campaign. The campaign showcases how CheapOair takes the hassle out of travel planning, highlighting how the site is easy to navigate, provides fast search results and offers the guaranteed lowest...

AFI to offer a snapshot of future airfares worldwide...
Airfare shopping solution provider Vayant Travel Technologies has announced the release of Airfare Intelligence (AFI). AFI is a snapshot of future airfares worldwide, according to the company. Boyan Manev, director of product marketing, Vayant said AFI takes the customer specific...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 8, 2011

2011-11-08T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

How are airlines impacting Google’s vertical search offerings for OTAs...
Online travel agencies have been assessing the potential impact of meta-search initiatives by Google and other search engines upon which they rely for a significant amount of traffic. Looking at how Google has approached the testing phase of vertical search...

Priceline Group appoints Paul J. Hennessy as Booking.com’s CMO...
The Priceline Group has shared that Paul J. Hennessy, currently chief distribution officer of priceline.com, has been promoted to chief marketing officer of Booking.com, effective immediately. Hennessy will be responsible for all aspects of the Booking.com marketing mix, including online...

£1m campaign to inspire Brits to take a cottage break in England...
VisitEngland, the national tourist board for England, and holiday rental agency cottages4you have formed a partnership to promote cottage holidays in England. The two entities are to jointly launch a £1million multimedia marketing campaign on Boxing Day. The multimedia campaign...

pocketvillage works on new website design...
pocketvillage, a meta-search engine that aggregates travel experiences, activities and tours, has announced its re-launch. Founded by five German entrepreneurs, pocketvillage first went online in March this year. Now the company has come up with a new website design. Available...

Qantas comes up with Free Flight Offer to win passengers’ confidence ...
At a time when the industry is talking about how Qantas is going to win back the trust of passengers and rebuild its brand, the airline has come up with an initiative to convey that one can “can now book...

Google to introduce new ad placements on search...
Google, which has been working on improving the design and experience of Google Search, is introducing new ad placements. (Placements are locations on the Google Display Network where an ad can appear. A placement can be an entire website, a...

Hotelbeds gears up for expansion in the Americas and Asia...
Tui Travel’s Hotelbeds expects its sales to rise by 25 percent this year. The company reported total transaction values of €982 million last year. The company is planning to expand its operations in the Americas and Asia, reported Reuters. It...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 7, 2011

2011-11-07T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Understanding vital issues related to website optimisation as a travel retailer...
IN-DEPTH: A marketer’s goal should be able to understand their market segments and be able to anticipate their shopping behaviour in order to capitalise by meeting their needs. By Ritesh Gupta Most PC web travel bookers today are savvy, know...

Understanding challenges associated with delivery of multichannel customer experience...
A study, which looks at what the most successful multichannel companies are doing differently, has found that ‘mature’ companies have overcome technical challenges and are using a much wider range of data sources than other companies to understand the customer...

Android usage has tripled in one year: TripIt...
Mobile travel organiser TripIt has shared that overall mobile usage has doubled - and Android usage has tripled - in one year among its users. In addition, 20 percent of travellers now use TripIt exclusively on their smartphones. The company...

Gen Yers have the highest uptake of smartphones: study...
A study focusing on how technology behaviours vary across generations has indicated that younger generations are more active on social networks; however, of those Boomers who are using social media, a similar percentage has a Facebook account or a LinkedIn...

Triposo launches World Travel Guide app...
Triposo, a start-up focused on building free, interactive travel guides for mobile devices, has launched its World Travel Guide app for iOS. About the new app, the company stated that it brings complete and up to date travel information for...

Google releases app for its daily deals offering...
Google has released its new Google Offers mobile app that allows users to discover, buy and redeem deals on the go. The free app will notify users about all the offers as per their interests. One can purchase offers in...

iPhone app to help travellers navigate through unpredictable flight changes...
A mobile app that helps air travellers navigate through unpredictable flight changes has been launched by Bump Networks. The iPhone app, called Air Advocate, is designed for inexperienced travellers who aren’t quite sure what to do in the event of...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 4, 2011

2011-11-04T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Gogobot completes $15m funding round...
Menlo Park, California-based social travel site Gogobot has completed a $15 million round of funding led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Battery Ventures and Michael Arrington’s CrunchFund. Gogobot will use this new financing to expand its global footprint through...

US airlines collected $1.5b from fees in Q2...
US airlines collected $1.5 billion from baggage fees and reservation change fees in the second quarter of 2011, according to the airline financial data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The largest network, low-cost...

IHG brings back its Twitter exclusive Black Friday Offer...
InterContinental Hotels Group’s (IHG) Twitter-exclusive travel deal - the largest offered in the hotel industry for Black Friday – is back again to kick off the holiday travel season. The group says it is spreading holiday cheer early this year...

Group buying sites respond to the popularity of travel deals in Australia...
A new market report in Australia has indicated that multinational group buying sites are driving strong industry growth with LivingSocial and Groupon growing 75 percent and 118 percent in the third quarter, respectively. Travel deals now account for 24 percent...

Google announces usage limits to the Maps API...
Google has chosen to limit usage of its Maps application programming interface (API) starting next year. Starting January 1, 2012, Google will start charging for its Google Maps API service to third-party websites that load it more than 25000 times...

Bringing Internet users closer to hotels’ official website...
FastBooking has introduced a new offering for independent hotels and independent hotel groups in FastBooking Direct Link. According to FastBooking, a single click on the ‘check rates’ button brings Internet users from partner sites to a special page on the...

Travelport introduces ‘Lowest Public Rate’ hotel programme...
Travelport has recently launched a new hotel programme that gives Travelport GDS-connected travel agents guaranteed access to the lowest publicly available rates from a wide range of global hotel groups. The offering has been launched recently on both the Galileo...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 3, 2011

2011-11-03T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Android overtakes Apple in worldwide share of mobile app downloads...
IN-DEPTH: Global app downloads for year-end 2011 are expected to balloon to 29 billion, compared to only nine billion in 2010. Travel marketers acknowledge that the apps world can be managed as a unique channel. There is a need for...

“Don't just develop solutions for today's technology”...
IN-DEPTH: It has been observed that the mobile sites come out differently on different devices on various platforms, where it is learnt that it was not developed keeping in mind the features of multiple devices. Travel companies need to find...

Google’s new initiative to let brands improve their mobile web properties...
Google has come up with a new initiative to offer marketers specific tools and resources they need to make their websites more mobile-friendly. GoMo is a Google-led initiative dedicated to helping businesses “Go Mobile”. On the GoMo website, http://howtogomo.com, businesses...

New consumer booking platform to feature `market based pricing’...
A new worldwide trading platform has emerged. It will facilitate “transparent ‘market based pricing’ to consumers, while offering global reservation/marketing service at no cost to hotels struggling with economic instability”. Going live in January 2012 across internet, mobile and social...

Mobile optimised version of HotelTravel.com launched...
HotelTravel.com has launched its mobile website, m.HotelTravel.com. The site, according to the company, enhances the best features of the company’s website both in terms of design and functionality while offering on-the-move flexibility. HotelTravel.com’s full site has added massive amounts of...

TravelShark adds 80 new destination specific websites...
TravelShark has enhanced its presence in the Asia Pacific region and Europe with the acquisition of 80 new major-market, destination-specific websites. TravelShark’s newest domain acquisitions – all now live sites with new and enhanced TravelShark content – include BeijingHotels.com, SingaporeHotels.com...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 2, 2011

2011-11-02T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Overall satisfaction with hotel brands in Europe declines: study...
Guests increasingly expect hotels to offer Internet access that is consistently available and working properly, particularly since Internet access is becoming more widely available in non-hotel settings, such as restaurants and cafes. The industry, according to a study, has reached...

eDreams’ new game to let “fans” showcase their popularity among FB friends...
Online travel agency eDreams has launched a travel game on its Facebook Page in which players invite their friends to help them with their virtual luggage and try to win the race by adding kilograms to rival suitcases. The Barcelona,...

Tui UK starts high street retail rebranding of Thomson and First Choice...
Tui UK will re-brand its retail branding proposition by introducing “Thomson….. featuring First Choice” stores. The company will be investing £8 million in changing the look of all its high street retail stores over the course of the next two...

hotels.com’s HPI reports a continued rebound in business travel...
Prices in major business and convention cities, including New York, Chicago, London, Paris and Beijing, has increased year-over-year, indicating that business travel is rebounding, according to hotels.com. In common with most Western economies, global hotel prices continued their path of...

priceline’s new web page features Best Days To Fly calendar...
At the beginning of October, priceline.com reported that the national average for Thanksgiving airfares was $400, or four percent higher than 2010. Over the past four weeks, the average fare for Thanksgiving has risen slightly to $407, which is six...

Average round-trip domestic airfare this Thanksgiving is $375: Travelocity...
Online travel agency Travelocity’s Thanksgiving data shows that the average round-trip domestic airfare this Thanksgiving is $375, inclusive of tax, up six percent from last year. As Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday travel season rush is just weeks...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - November 1, 2011

2011-11-01T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

Hotels.com adopts more flexible expiration policy for its loyal guests ...
Online travel site hotels.com’s loyalty programme welcomerewards has implemented a more flexible expiration policy. The site has decided that as long as members engage in qualifying activity on the account every 12 months, they will be eligible to continue earning...

IHG works on global repositioning strategy for Crowne Plaza...
Terming Crowne Plaza as a top priority for the group, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has shared that it is gearing up to differentiate the brand from its competitors in a meaningful and relevant way. “This (Crowne Plaza) is the fourth...

SIA shares plans for its new long-haul budget carrier...
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) new long-haul budget carrier is to be named Scoot. Starting in mid-2012 with a fleet of four B777-200 aircraft purchased from parent company, SIA, Scoot will offer no-frills service on medium to long haul routes to and...

Google Offers ties up with zozi.com, focuses on unique local experiences...
As part of its plans to make it easier for users to find daily deals that suit their interests, Google Offers has tied up with 14 deal providers and is now delivering deals from a bunch of new categories including...

New mobile cruise site features real time pricing and booking capability...
Online travel retailer iCruise.com has launched its mobile cruise website, http://m.icruise.com. The mobile website features information on more than 20 cruise lines, 200 ships, and 12,000 itineraries. The new site provides real time cruise pricing and booking capability and offers...

Thomson creates Family Charter to put quality time at the heart of the family...
Thomson is creating a first ever Family Charter to put quality time back at the heart of the family – both at home and on holiday. The company is calling on parents and kids to identify the promises they should...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 31, 2011

2011-10-31T14:55:00.001Z

Source: m-travel.com ...

KLM attempts to make waiting for flight less boring...
KLM and a group of creative developers and designers have worked on a “fun AR (augmented reality) trivia game” in order to make waiting for flight less boring for its passengers. The game focuses on its passengers’ travel destination. The...

Placing the customer at the heart of revenue management...
Revenue management, with its roots in the airline industry, was traditionally based on capacity. However, by 2000, its application in the hotels sector was proving not to be as effective as hoped. Today, it is price management based on many...

“65% of marketers aren't even measuring leads generated from social media...
Is the primary goal of your social media initiatives to generate more and more fans and followers? It shouldn’t be. While increasing your social media reach is a great thing to aspire to achieve, more fans and followers are really...

How big data will change the travel industry...
TIBCO Software, a provider of infrastructure software for companies to use on-premise or as part of cloud computing environments, has predicted how the ability to move large amounts of data, and the ability to process data in the cloud, will...

86pc of the UK Internet users visit a video site at least once a month...
UK Internet users spend 240 million hours every month watching online video content, according to Experian Hitwise’s latest analysis. In September 2011, the UK Internet population made over 785 million visits to online video websites - an increase of 36...

“Android about-face proves the value of Google scrutiny”...
The issue pertaining to Android users being harassed by the presence of apps that were locked into the phone and that were impossible to uninstall recently witnessed a movement. As per the information available, Google has confirmed that the Android...

Letting travellers explore destinations by mere shaking of their mobile phone...
KLM recently came up with a new app, TripShake, for iPhone and Android users as part of its plan to strengthen its multi-channel strategy. The app gives users a fun way to explore the many possibilities for their next trip....

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 28, 2011

2011-10-28T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Enterprise encourages fans to share positive customer service stories...
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is inviting its loyal customers to participate in its new “Thank You” Facebook contest by sharing stories and photos of positive customer service rental car experiences. The contest has been created in response to customers who contacted Enterprise...

Is Your Hotel SEO Strategy Google Panda-Compatible?...
10 Metrics to Help Gauge Your Site’s SEO Health Everyone knows that having a successful search engine optimisation strategy is crucial to your site’s overall success. But how do you know if your strategy is successful? The 2011 Google Panda...

Business travel prices expected to increase conservatively next year...
The combination of demand and effective travel supplier yield management is to likely push rates business travellers pay up across the board in 2012. The need for companies to invest in business travel as a means to support business growth,...

Many suppliers will implement slight to moderate price increases in 2012: Egencia...
Corporate travel experienced moderate growth throughout 2011 as companies continue to cautiously reinvest in this important aspect of their overall business, albeit with an ongoing focus on cost control and efficiency. This rebound in corporate travel is likely to continue...

Flipping the Funnel from Online Deduction to Discovery...
TravelShark, which this week formally rebranded its international series of hyper-local travel-planning books as rather, has stated that it is embracing the idea that “independent and exploratory locals and travellers alike would “rather” choose to experience a new city (or...

New version of Skyscanner Android app unveiled...
Travel search site Skyscanner has released the Version two of its ‘All flights, everywhere’ flight search app for Android. The new version of the app brings all the features and flexibility of the Skyscanner website to Android users. Inspiration and...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 27, 2011

2011-10-27T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“Time for OTAs and hoteliers to renew their vows”...
Like a lover scorned and dumped for a new mate, the hotel industry has long enjoyed reproaching its business partner - the OTA. In just the last 48 hours, I’ve read commentaries stating that OTAs are making hoteliers lazy, that...

Sharable content and search make the greatest impact online: study...
Marketers who create highly sharable online content -- video, audio and photos consumers want to share with friends and colleagues -- significantly boost their brand’s online presence and are more likely to increase sales, according to a new survey of...

gtrot to offer a personalised city discovery service based on friends’ social posts...
Social travel sharing/planning website gtrot.com has worked on a personalised city discovery service that instantly aggregates travel recommendations from friends’ social network updates into an interactive grid. Featuring friends’ photos and other visuals, the grid saves time by presenting all...

Google to introduce bid-per-call in AdWords...
Google is in the process of rolling out bid-per-call in AdWords to US and UK advertisers. This means those who consider phone calls as a valuable source for leads will now have an option to bid for phone calls alongside...

Companies to pay more for plane tickets and hotel rooms next year: report ...
Companies in North America (N.A.) and Asia Pacific (APAC) are expecting airfare and lodging rates to climb next year and bracing for these increases by upping their travel budgets, according to a report. Negotiations with airline and hotel suppliers for...

Input from family and friends most important in vacation destination selection...
A study has highlighted that there are clear differences in credibility ascribed by the different generational groups. Not only younger members consume media differently than their older counterparts, but message credibility also varies by medium across each of the major...

JetBlue’s Q3 results driven by strong revenue performance...
JetBlue Airways reported net income of $35 million in the third quarter. The airline continued to focus on revenue diversification during shoulder periods and aggressive cost management, helping it to mitigate the impact of escalating fuel prices. Dave Barger, JetBlue’s...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 26, 2011

2011-10-26T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Giving intermediaries an option to distribute travel products seamlessly through mobile channel...
Scale in the world of technology still matters. A small or medium sized hotel might want to think carefully about spending money developing and maintaining multiple versions of its own apps in multiple languages versus simply working with an OTA...

iPad and Tablet users click on more search ads: study...
A report has indicated that iPad and other tablet users tend to click on paid search ads at a higher rate than desktop or smartphone users. According to Marin Software’s Paid Search Quarterly Benchmarking Report, compared to desktops, paid search...

SAS launches site to spotlight inspiring travel destinations and offers...
Scandinavian Airlines has launched a site that allows users to create and share their “Imaginary Trip to Norway”. The campaign site, www.MyNorwayTrip.com, is a joint effort with Innovation Norway Americas. The airline highlighted that Norway is a somewhat unknown winter...

Integrating Google Calendar events and meetings into search results...
Travel search site Hipmunk has launched the ability for users to integrate their Google Calendar events and meetings into both flight and hotel search results. Hipmunk will now show users any meetings that conflict with a flight search result, and...

How to Generate Leads with Social Media...
You don’t have to use social media to generate leads for business, but why wouldn’t you? With more than 750 million global users on Facebook and 460,000 new Twitter accounts added each day, your current and potential customers very likely...

Should Your Hotel Be Using FourSquare: A Look at the Numbers...
In the last couple of months, Milestone Internet Marketing’s social media team has noticed more and more clients asking about FourSquare. A lot of these requests are probably spurred by the recent Foursquare announcement in August allowing businesses to have...

Assessing the current state of corporate travel budgets and plans...
As the economy continues to loom uncertain, corporate travel managers are poised to take action to rein in costs if necessary, according to a study. AirPlus, which surveyed 152 corporate travel managers at the beginning of September about the state...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 25, 2011

2011-10-25T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Bazaarvoice to power reviews on Starwood’s websites...
Recognising that in the digital information age travellers research hotels differently, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has chosen to allow its guests to contribute ratings and reviews directly on its hotel websites. Starwood’s ratings and reviews are being powered by...

JetBlue Getaways introduces ‘Concierge on Call’ programme...
JetBlue Getaways has introduced its complimentary concierge programme, ‘Concierge on Call’, in partnership with Mondial Assistance USA. The service will offer round-the-clock complimentary JetBlue Concierge services to all customers purchasing a Getaways vacation package at www.jetblue.com/vacations. This new Concierge benefit...

US mobile social media audience grows 37 percent in 12 months...
A study on mobile social media usage has indicated that 72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, an increase of 37 percent in the past year. comScore’s study also provided new...

isango! forays into theatre break business...
Travel experiences specialist isango! recently launched a new theatre break business: Just London Theatre Breaks. The new show-and-hotel package website, justlondontheatrebreaks.com, takes the isango! offering beyond just stand alone activities, towards a more holistic experiential package, stated the company. It...

JetBlue Getaways, Google Offers offer vacation package deals...
JetBlue Getaways recently became the first vacation programme to partner with Google Offers. For only $30, customers were offered a $300 discount towards any vacation package of three or more nights for a minimum of two people if booked by...

Is Cruise Set to Ride the Mobile Wave?...
With Apple 4s sales off to a strong start in the wake of the Steve Jobs era, use of mobile will only grow. The travel industry, like every other, needs to understand how mobile use can best drive interest and...

“Social marketing success demands planning, time, persistence and control”...
If you own or manage a hotel or resort and you have not accepted the importance of social media marketing as an integral part of your marketing strategy, it’s time you do. Social media marketing is not tomorrow, it is...

Web analytics is the most valued information source if you are creating travel products...
The data and information the travel industry is using to create new travel products is changing fast. In a recent survey for the Product development in Travel Report it was found that a whole range of new data sources were...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 24, 2011

2011-10-24T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Starwood to let guests share opinions about their travels...
Starwood Hotels and Resorts has introduced a new feature that will allow guests to share “unbiased” opinions about their travels at any of its more than 1,000 properties worldwide. These reviews are going to be made available only on SPG.com...

Estonian Air to launch a new social loyalty programme...
Estonian Air is to launch a new social loyalty programme for its customers and fans later this month. The airline, which intends to reward customers for not only flying the airline but also for being strong advocates online, stated that...

Priceline unveils iPad-supported version of its Tonight-Only Deals service...
Online travel company Priceline.com has announced the availability of an iPad-supported version of its Tonight-Only Deals service. Travellers who download the free app with the new Tonight-Only Deals service will have access to a selection of 3-star and 4-star hotel...

Social online booking service for private accommodation launched in Russia...
TravelRent.com says it has become the first social online booking service in the Russian market for short-term private accommodation. The company announced its launch last week. Fast Lane Ventures, the leading developer of Russian internet companies, is acting as an...

Letting a traveller “share animated trips” with friends ...
Los Angeles-based HipGeo, a developer of a location-aware platform that records and displays the places users go and how they get there, has launched a new “Trips” feature. The company says now users can use their iPhones to take pictures...

Are Group Deal Sites a Flash in the Pan?...
If you are one of the 115 million subscribers of Groupon’s daily deals email, you expect that every morning when you awake you can grab your coffee and see what offers are available in your area. You may have also...

Instantly understanding how visitors flow across pages on a website...
Google recently unveiled the release of “Flow Visualization” in Google Analytics, a tool that allows one to analyse site insights graphically, and instantly understand how visitors flow across pages on a site. “Visitors Flow” and “Goal Flow” are being rolled...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 21, 2011

2011-10-21T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Figuring out ways to capitalise on data mining for actionable business intelligence...
IN-DEPTH: The industry is still at an early point in the development and accessibility of data sources, and understanding how to turn that quickly into actionable business intelligence, according to Tom Coulthurst, Sabre Hospitality Solutions’ Director of Product Marketing By...

Are Facebook and Travel a Good Match?...
Analysis: Travel brands have a long way to go to realise Facebook’s full potential and so far there’s no clear winner, according to Compete. Facebook recently announced major but controversial changes aimed at increasing stickiness to maximise ad revenues. Effects...

TUI Travel appoints Johan Lundgren as its deputy chief executive...
Johan Lundgren is taking up the newly created position of deputy chief executive, TUI Travel with immediate effect. Lundgren is currently managing director of TUI Travel’s Northern Region within its Mainstream Sector and a PLC Board Director. Responsibility Following Lundgren’s...

Virgin America appoints Luanne Calvert as its VP of marketing...
California-based Virgin America has appointed Luanne Calvert as its vice president of marketing. Calvert comes in place of Porter Gale who departed the company earlier in 2011 to pursue other opportunities. Calvert will lead the airline’s Brand and Online Marketing,...

Travelport and Hilton Worldwide sign agreement...
Travelport and Hilton Worldwide have signed a long-term full content and technology services agreement. The agreement includes the distribution of full availability, rates, rules and property information from Hilton Worldwide and its global brands, representing 3,750 properties and 615,000 rooms...

SilverRail works on multi-country cross-operator rail ticketing...
SilverRail has taken a major step towards an integrated global rail search and booking system, bringing together additional European and North American rail operators. The company shared that its rail search and ticketing platform SilverCore has integrated multiple rail connections...

STR names newBrandAnalytics as its social media BI partner...
STR has named newBrandAnalytics as its social media analytics partner. The companies are to launch a joint venture targeting the hospitality industry. It will integrate newBrandAnaltyics’ flagship product Social Guest Satisfaction and revenue performance. Amanda Hite, president of STR, said,...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 20, 2011

2011-10-20T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Travel Industry innovators are focussing on the core travel product...
After years of unbundling and dynamic packaging, the latest research now shows the travel industry innovators are again focussing on the expansion of core products as opposed to ancillary products. In a recent survey of top travel industry product developers,...

Understanding the significance of simplicity while developing a mobile app...
IN-DEPTH: Building on mobile is a far greater challenge than that of any other channel or platform because one only has the smallest amount of time to surprise and delight customers as soon as they glance at their phones, says...

HipWay secures $2.75 million in angel funding...
Russian online travel company HipWay has announced the completion of its Angel Round -- adding an additional $2 million to the company’s previous $750k financial backing and bringing its projected revenues for 2012 into the $30-$35 million range. HipWay says...

Airline ancillary revenue soars to $32.5 billion this year...
Airline ancillary revenue has soared to $32.5 billion worldwide in 2011. The Amadeus worldwide estimate of ancillary revenue has revealed a $9.9 billion increase of 43.8 percent. Amadeus highlighted that The International Air Transport Association slashed its 2011 industry profit...

Cheapflights prepares chart on social and mobile airline services...
Cheapflights.com has compiled its list of Social And Mobile Airline Services -- a table charting the e-services offered by 24 popular domestic and foreign airlines including their mobile sites, mobile apps, loyalty programmes and special discounts with links to their...

Travelport, TravelSky sign joint product development agreement...
Travelport and TravelSky Technology have signed what is being described as an “unprecedented joint product development agreement focused on advanced Passenger Service Systems technology for airlines worldwide”. TravelSky stated that it has never before signed a development agreement of this...

Hilton comes up with social media treasure hunt promotion...
Hilton Worldwide’s loyalty programme Hilton HHonors has launched “the world’s largest social media treasure hunt”, giving away 500 free hotel nights over the course of five consecutive days this week. Clues for the treasure hunt activities and locations are being...

Thomson plans early £5m ad campaign...
Thomson Holidays is launching a £5 million advertising campaign. The move is an aberration from its traditional strategy of a post-Christmas ad campaign. The company’s biggest-ever branding campaign goes live on October 22, with its first 90 second advertisement during...

Twitter Follower numbers are of little value if you can’t influence or engage with them...
Businesses, marketing professionals, and even individuals with personal Twitter accounts often obsess over getting more Twitter followers. They might believe that the number of followers a Twitter account has determines its ultimate value, but that’s only one part of the...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 19, 2011

2011-10-19T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Travel retailers losing £2b a year through website errors: research...
Online travel retailers are losing more than £2 billion a year as a result of simple website inefficiencies, according to research from website optimisation technology specialist, QuBit. The research analysed feedback data from nearly 8,000 online travel buyers and found...

American Airlines – “by far the most hated” airline on social media: analysis...
Social media analytics service Amplicate has indicated that 57 percent of all comments on US airlines on social media in the last 12 months were negative. Social media users expressed intense hatred for a number of the leading lights of...

Gogobot unveils its app for iPhone...
Social travel site Gogobot has unveiled its new Gogobot App for iPhone. The app, according to the company, extends its unique social travel experience to iPhone users, allowing them to create and share real-time digital postcards, find nearby restaurants, hotels...

Secret Escapes appoints Alex Saint as CEO...
Secret Escapes has appointed Alex Saint as CEO of the company. Saint moves from Dealchecker where he also held the CEO position. Secret Escapes has also secured a second round of funding. The company declined to share financial details regarding...

Business travel continues to flourish in Asia Pacific: CWT...
Travel buyers in most parts of the world are facing tough negotiations as the landscape increases in complexity, highlighted Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) as it released its 2012 Global Travel Forecast. According to the company, at the same time, economic...

How to Measure Your Social Media Lead Generation Efforts...
Social media is no longer in its infancy and is no longer an optional task for businesses and brands. Indeed, building and engaging with audiences on established social networks is now a key part of business interaction. So, as social...

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News Update - October 18, 2011

2011-10-18T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Improving upon RM professionals’ training curriculum...
IN-DEPTH: Organisations must invest in training resources, technological insights etc to provide RM executives with strategic and analytical information, according to Dhiraj Trivedi, Corporate Director of Revenue Management & Electronic Distribution, Royal Orchid Hotels. By Ritesh Gupta RM professionals in...

Orbitz fined for violating price advertising rules...
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined the online ticket agent Orbitz $60,000 for violating federal aviation laws and the Department’s rules prohibiting deceptive price advertising in air travel. “Consumers have a right to know the full price they...

Farelogix launches online baggage calculator...
Farelogix has launched iflybags.com, a new interactive, online baggage calculator. The offering, which is using patent-pending technology, focuses on providing instant access to the most up-to-date airline checked baggage allowances and fees based on the specific traveller, number and weight...

Making interline billing and settlement a standardised electronic process...
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched Simplified Interline Settlement (SIS) which removes paper documents from the airline industry’s interline billing and settlement process. When fully implemented in 2013, SIS is expected to: Eliminate paper invoice creation and distribution...

TfL to offer real-time bus information...
Transport for London (TfL) has introduced a new up-to-the-minute bus information service that can be accessed online, on a smartphone, and via text message. The new service provides live bus information for all 19,500 bus stops in the Capital. Director...

When Social Media for Hotels works...
Through our experience in running what is undoubtedly some of the most successful hotel social media campaigns we’ve experienced what works, what makes no difference and what is counter productive in Social Media for hotels. We’re answering some of the...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 17, 2011

2011-10-17T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Differentiating between a private sales site and a mass market deal-a-day site...
IN-DEPTH: Jetsetter has launched several new business models and has evolved beyond just its flash sales offering, says its VP, Partner Development & Operations, Heather M. Leisman. By Ritesh Gupta The number of sites offering flash sales continues to grow....

HRS to take over majority of hotel.de...
Hotel portal HRS has decided to take over 61.6 percent of the shares from the founding holders of worldwide hotel reservations service, hotel.de AG. The company will now own 64.6 percent of hotel.de AG. Hotel.de AG, located in Nuernberg, currently...

Meliá Hotels creates “Social Suite”, inspired by its Facebook fans...
Meliá Hotels International has opened the doors to its “Social Suite” at the ME Madrid. It is being termed as the first suite of its kind, created and inspired by the company’s Facebook fans. The “Social Suite” is the result...

TravelCube to launch Weekly Bounce Deals...
TravelCube, part of the Kuoni Group, is set to launch Weekly Bounce Deals - a weekly deals service exclusively to travel agents. Travel agents will be able to unlock TravelCube’s Weekly Bounce Deals by logging into the secure site and...

eBay and Facebook join hands to make shopping social...
eBay has announced the integration of Facebook’s new Open Graph functionality into its Magento and GSI global commerce platforms. This will allow developers to build new social shopping experiences for consumers and retailers. Facebook functionality will be integrated into eBay...

Survey dispels notion that last-minute trips are more expensive...
A survey by discount travel site Hotwire has indicated that “booking last-minute can actually save travellers big”. Sharing the results of its American Travel Behavior Survey, conducted online in conjunction with Harris Interactive in July among over 2,000 adults, Hotwire...

Average hotel price in Europe falls seven percent...
European hotel rates have fallen seven percent in comparison to last month, from an average of £118 in September to £110 in October, according to hotel price comparison website trivago’s latest trivago Hotel Price Index (tHPI). Overnight costs sank in...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 14, 2011

2011-10-14T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Gaining investor community’s support as a travel start-up...
IN-DEPTH: TrustYou, which recently announced its $5 million Series A round, “sees the hospitality and travel sector as one of the sectors in which, historically, there has not been much innovation”. From the end user perspective as well as from...

Making the most of personalised email marketing programmes...
IN-DEPTH: Email is the glue that holds other marketing channels and tactics together, especially for travel marketing, says Dwight Sholes, Principal, Sholes. By Ritesh Gupta Email is described as one of the most engaging communication platforms that has ever existed....

HotelClub re-launches its site, offers up to 7% back on every booking...
HotelClub.com has introduced new site features and functionality – including improved search results, map view, virtual tours and a streamlined booking process. The new offering also features a more generous Member Rewards loyalty programme. Members now receive up to seven...

Study shows link between online brand metrics and offline sales...
Advertisers looking to build their brands online will need to look beyond traditional web metrics to determine if their investments are paying off, according to a recent study by Nielsen. The company referring to its new report, Beyond Clicks and...

All Apps need to have a clear purpose and should not be seen as a ‘nice-to-have’ feature...
A new study has highlighted several key features that App developers and companies need to take into account when creating an App, including being easy to use, intuitive and simple to navigate. It is essential that all Apps have a...

CarTrawler’s car rental iPhone app source code released...
CarTrawler has released the source code to its car rental app for the iPhone. Through this initiative, the company is offering travel businesses a way to customise the app and re-release it as their own product on the App Store....

Why Hoteliers Should Avoid Last Minute Sales...
Last-minute sales in travel are not a new phenomenon. There have been many attempts to find a way to dispose of these empty airline seats, idle rental cars, and empty hotel rooms at any cost. Theoretically it makes economic sense:...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 13, 2011

2011-10-13T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“Travel providers need to be cautious in serving up accurate and personalised data”...
IN-DEPTH: In an increasingly traveller-initiated booking industry, transparency and personalisation is a positive way to approach the booking process, says Brett Henry, VP, Marketing, Abacus International. By Ritesh Gupta, in Mumbai Travellers have a growing number of online resources and...

Assessing the mobile behaviour of a traveller in India...
IN-DEPTH: Consumers want to be constantly connected to all the parties in their “virtual” and “physical” world. They want to be able to look up any information on the go, be informed by the various travel service providers, keep in...

“Pre-ticked" boxes on shopping websites to be banned in EU states...
It has been decided that “pre-ticked” boxes on shopping websites will be banned in European Union states as per the new EU Consumer Rights Directive that has been formally adopted. The new legislation will strengthen consumers’ rights in all 27...

Video Marketing Agenda for SEO...
In order to have a successful SEO campaign, you first need to have quality content to optimise. Content doesn’t necessarily need to be text-based. Videos can help your SEO efforts too. In fact, videos are great because in some cases...

Mobile users have mixed feelings about location-based coupons: survey...
A recent mobile survey has indicated that most mobile users think location-based coupons are convenient and useful, but the majority would prefer to receive a coupon on a mobile device via email. Almost half of Mobile Users also have privacy...

CMOs struggling to prove the return on marketing investments: study...
Most chief marketers admit they are not sufficiently plugged into real-time conversations about their brands, according to a new IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers from 64 countries and 19 industries. The majority of the world’s top...

New Facebook changes explained. How will they affect your marketing?...
At the recent f8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg and his team announced some pretty big changes. Here’s a brief overview of these; 1. You will see a Timeline of ALL your activity on Facebook. On your profile page, you will see...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 12, 2011

2011-10-12T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

How can one avoid worrying about working on a ‘defensive’ Social Media strategy...
A lot of emphasis is placed on ensuring a strategy is in place to counter threats posed by social media especially the one pertaining to an organisation’s reputation. Employees, customers and vendors can be an organisation’s greatest ambassadors or can...

Benefiting from maintaining direct connects with airlines and OTAs as a travel search company...
There is no dearth of action in the travel search category at this juncture. Start-ups in this arena believe that the industry is dominated by established companies stuck on ancient technology who haven’t meaningfully innovated their search experience in a...

Making sure all segments are optimally priced based on the current demand-supply situation...
Hotel operators need to diligently look at their existing pricing and segmentation practices in order to gain optimal results. By Ritesh Gupta RM specialists believe that the spread between various segments needs to be reduced. Too often one sees prices...

TripAdvisor introduces free Mobile City Guides for Android...
TripAdvisor has launched free Mobile City Guides for Android. The new apps are currently available for 20 cities. These apps offer smartphone access to detailed destination information including traveller reviews on hotels, restaurants and attractions, as well as suggested itineraries...

New semantic search technology for online travel portals unveiled...
FACT-Finder, a provider of search and navigation offerings in eCommerce, has forayed into the travel industry with its newly-developed semantic search function, FACT-Finder Travel. FACT-Finder Travel is a new semantic search technology for online travel portals. The travel search tool...

Travelport, FastBooking sign agreement...
FastBooking and Travelport have reached an agreement through which FastBooking client hotels are displayed and bookable on www.travelportroomsandmore.com, Travelport’s recently launched hotel booking tool. Travelport Rooms and More combines the metasearch functionality and user interface developed by Sprice.com, which was...

Kayak adds new hotel filter...
Kayak has recently added a new hotel filter that lets users narrow their hotel search to recommendations from the experts at Frommer's Travel and Budget Travel. Kayak mentioned that the partnership includes providing Frommer's Travel with Kayak travel search capabilities...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 11, 2011

2011-10-11T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Implementing a direct channel management strategy that wins consumers’ confidence...
IN-DEPTH: One of the best things hotels can do to better manage their distribution costs is just to fully understand what all of the costs are in the first place and what levers they can pull to drive the right...

American Airlines promises lowest price guarantee for its vacation packages...
American Airlines has launched the “What’s The Deal?” online booking promotion in order to highlight the extension of its lowest price guarantee. The airline’s lowest price guarantee now extends to online bookings for flights, rental cars, hotels, cruises, activities and...

Pros and Cons of Deal Sites...
You have probably read countless blogs, attended numerous conferences and listened to endless sales pitches where Deal Sites explain their business models and the benefits they offer hotels. I have too. So what’s the bottom line – what’s the deal?...

98 billion mobile applications will be downloaded in 2015: report...
A report has indicated that the number of mobile application downloads worldwide will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 56.6 percent between 2010 and 2015 to reach 98 billion at the end of the period. According to a...

“We are now entering the era of the mobile-centric passenger”...
The number of smartphones carried by airline passengers has doubled over the last year making them an important tool for travellers wishing to check-in remotely, access flight information on the go, or use an emerging range of flight-related applications, according...

Three Great Ideas for Twitter Social Media Promotions...
One of the greatest features of Twitter is that anyone can interact with anyone else on the platform without having to Like, follow, or even ask for permission. This low barrier to entry makes Twitter an ideal platform for social...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 10, 2011

2011-10-10T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“There needs to be a distinction between retail and travel flash sales”...
The social commerce movement fills a gap in travel discovery and buying. The proponents of this concept highlight that it champions evocative travel stories and pairs these stories with transactional “buy” buttons like never before. And then there are those...

How Meliá Hotels International multiplied its mobile transactions by 12...
Google has shared how Meliá Hotels International multiplied its mobile transactions after launching a website optimised for mobile devices. After the launch of its site, the hotel chain, which is the first Spanish hotel chain to offer this service, observed...

Discovering if it’s cheaper to drive or fly on vacation...
C2G (Cost To Go), a company focused on helping consumers quickly determine the cost of going places, has launched its Cost2Drive iPhone App. The new offering helps users determine the cost of driving and compare it to the cost of...

Google introduces AdWords Mobile Call Tracking...
Google has introduced a new conversion tracking metric for AdWords. All AdWords accounts will now have the ability to report calls placed from mobile pages. Google highlighted that two of the most common ways to get mobile customers to call...

“We should all be as worried as Willie Walsh about APD”...
ABTA’s head of public affairs Luke Pollard has highlighted renewed concerns around Air Passenger Duty (APD). “It’s the season for political leaders to address their party faithful,” said Pollard. “…the CEO of (one of) the world’s largest airline carriers –...

Carrentals.co.uk launches new app for UK iPhone users...
Car hire price comparison website Carrentals.co.uk has launched a new app for UK iPhone users, enabling customers to compare prices and availability from up to 50 suppliers in over 15,000 locations worldwide. The company has designed the app to make...

High street travel agents prove most popular amongst women and Internet generation: Survey...
Over half of consumers, 53 percent, who have taken a foreign holiday in the last 12 months booked through a travel agent or tour operator, according to the 2011 ABTA Consumer Trends survey. The survey indicated that high street travel...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 7, 2011

2011-10-07T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“Brands forget that people do more than just purchase on a mobile device”...
IN-DEPTH: If one looks at the hotel apps out there now, the majority of them are for either booking or looking up reservations. According to Judy Christa-Cathey, vice president, global brand marketing, Hilton Garden Inn, the company, which recently introduced...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 6, 2011

2011-10-06T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Setting out RoI objectives for data management as a travel company...
IN-DEPTH: The challenge is often that one does not know what the value of MIS or data management is as long as the data has not been mined and surprising insights are generated that can lead to better decisions and...

Predicting the biggest talking points surrounding Revenue Management in the time to come...
Revenue management in hotels is constantly evaluating several issues at this juncture - dynamically measuring the responsiveness of guests to price changes, RM tools and ancillary revenue streams, and automated systems. By Ritesh Gupta EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta recently spoke to...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 5, 2011

2011-10-05T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Enhancing user experience via judicious use of content and interactive mapping...
IN-DEPTH: History travel website Historvius.com is now letting its users explore the historic sites of the world, shortlist places of interest and build a free, personalised itinerary to print and take with them on their travels, all using interactive mapping....

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - October 4, 2011

2011-10-04T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“The industry needs to treat the easy-to-pull price lever very carefully”...
IN-DEPTH: In times of economic uncertainty where demand drops and becomes more unpredictable, the travel industry sees much more pressure on prices. Revenue Managers seem to still follow too easily the principle of dropping price to generate more demand, says...

“The next big thing in UGC is clearly the use of Facebook-connected reviews and recommendations”...
User generated content (UGC) continues to gain traction and is definitely becoming more influential in the holiday planning and buying process. The explosion of UGC has changed expectations around travel planning content and the ability to share travel experiences both...

How Google Display Network helped Airbnb grow to over 2m nights booked...
Google has shared a case study featuring Airbnb. The detailed analysis explains how Airbnb increased the number of nights booked from 800,000 to two million with help from remarketing on the Google Display Network and TrueView video ads on YouTube....

Macdonald Hotels incorporates ‘responsive design’ into its website...
Privately owned hotel group Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, which has a portfolio of more than 40 4-and 5-star properties throughout the UK, has launched its new website. The company says it is now the first UK hotel group to incorporate...

Travelzoo launches its first iPhone app in Europe...
Travelzoo has launched its first iPhone app in Europe, allowing its subscribers to access travel, entertainment and Local Deals while on the go. The Travelzoo app is now available on the iPhone in the UK, Germany, France and Spain. The...

TripAdvisor appoints Julie M.B. Bradley as CFO...
TripAdvisor has appointed Julie M.B. Bradley as its chief financial officer, effective immediately. In this newly-created role, Bradley will oversee corporate finance, investor relations, accounting, corporate development, human resources and real estate. Bradley previously served as senior vice president and...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 27, 2011

2011-09-27T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Finding novel ways as an online intermediary to target different set of customers across India...
IN-DEPTH: Online travel intermediaries continue to find ways to target Indian consumers who do not have credit/debit cards, net banking accounts or cannot get access to PC’s to purchase their travel online or prefer using a cash payment mechanism online....

Darren Huston appointed as CEO of Booking.com...
Former Microsoft executive Darren Huston has been named CEO of online hotel reservation service Booking.com. Since 2008, he served as Microsoft Corporation’s corporate vice president, Consumer & Online, responsible for the company’s consumer and advertising businesses in over 40 countries....

New mobile app to help business travellers navigate the business speak...
Hilton Garden Inn has launched BizWords, a new interactive iPhone/iPad app, to help business travellers better navigate business jargon and acronyms that have become common in the workplace. The free app will also serve as a professional social network and...

Study identifies three distinct human behaviour search patterns...
A study has indicated that users searching on the Internet exhibit three distinct human behaviour search patterns: “Answer Me”, “Educate Me” and “Inspire Me”. According to the “Three Mindsets of Search” study, conducted by About.com in collaboration with Latitude, three...

HRS makes its mobile website touchscreen friendly...
HRS has launched a new version of its iPhone app and updated its mobile website with a design specifically suited to touchscreen technology. The website has been adapted and optimised for touchscreen displays by introducing large buttons that make it...

Malaysia Airlines develops app for Google Chrome Web Store...
Malaysia Airlines says it has added a new option for its passengers to access its full e-commerce suite with the introduction of MHquick, an application extension for the Google Chrome web browser. The latest development, which follows the introduction of...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 26, 2011

2011-09-26T14:55:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“A massive amount of useful info for hoteliers is hidden within the review sites”...
IN-DEPTH: TrustYou, which recently announced its $5 million Series A round and the acquisition of Dallas-based competitor ReviewAnalyst, says it is on a quest to fill the specific data needs of hoteliers by aggregating and analysing the review content -...

Best Western launches three hotel tiers...
Best Western has announced a change to the structure of its 276 hotels, introducing three hotel tiers; Best Western, Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier, in a move that sees the company embark upon a nationwide brand enhancement strategy....

easyJet unveils new ad campaign post BA’s recent one...
easyJet is to reportedly run an advertising campaign post the launch of British Airways’ biggest brand advertising campaign for a decade. According to a report filed marketingweek.co.uk, easyJet will run a print and online campaign. The airline has planned an...

CityJet launches new £1m pan-European marketing campaign...
CityJet has recently launched its new £1million pan-European multi-platform brand building above-the-line marketing campaign that includes outdoor, print, broadcast and online creative executions. The five-week campaign will focus primarily on the London region but will also run across the Benelux...

First UK Bus unveils its new mobile website...
Bus operator First UK Bus has launched a new mobile website designed to enable its customers access First bus information from smartphones. First’s home page, www.firstgroup.com/ukbus, which incorporates all First’s operating company websites, currently attracts in the region of 325,000...

Southwest promotes Bob Jordan...
Southwest Airlines has shared that Bob Jordan, current executive vice president strategy & planning, has been promoted to executive vice president & chief commercial officer, and he maintains his role as president of AirTran Airways. In his new role, Jordan...

British chef Ramsay to feature in new hotel makeover reality show...
Fox in the US has chosen to work with British chef Gordon Ramsay for a new hotel-themed reality TV show about the country’s worst hotels. In the new show, titled Hotel Hell, Ramsay and a team of hospitality experts will...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 23, 2011

2011-09-23T12:58:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Room 77 introduces its hotel room search offering in Asia...
Room 77 has introduced its hotel room search offering in Asia and also added more destinations in Europe. The company shared that travellers can now search properties and rooms in Hong Kong, Paris and Frankfurt. The addition of these markets...

Gowalla unveils its “re-imagined” mobile app...
Austin, Texas-based Gowalla has launched its “re-imagined” mobile app, available for iPhone and Android, along with a newly redesigned website. Gowalla, which began as a check-in app, recently chose to revamp its offering into a social tourist guide. The new...

Illinois Appellate Court affirms Travelport’s preliminary injunction against AA...
Travelport has shared that the Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed “Travelport’s preliminary injunction against American Airlines”. The injunction preserved Orbitz’s ability to sell AA tickets. The company also shared that the Appellate Court also recognised Travelport’s position that the AA...

Myths Concerning GDS-TMC Agreement Restrictions...
In U.S. federal antitrust lawsuits, in the press and before the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), some airlines have aggressively claimed that they as well as new-entrant travel technology firms, such as Farelogix, are frustrated in their efforts to offer...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 22, 2011

2011-09-22T13:00:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“Revenue management now aims to influence demand to materialise in a profitable way”...
IN-DEPTH: Among all the developments from the recent past, the ones related to price-sensitivity modelling are probably the most significant in re-defining revenue management (RM), says Pieter Dorhout, Founder, Pieter Dorhout Consulting By Ritesh Gupta The hotel industry has witnessed...

BA’s new brand campaign to promote its “To fly, to serve” motto...
British Airways has launched its biggest brand advertising campaign for a decade. The new initiative backs BA’s plan to spend more than £5 billion on customer products and services over the next five years. The campaign, according to the airline,...

American Airlines’ new ads highlight “ease of travel experience”...
American Airlines has launched a new advertising campaign which encourages customers “to travel without putting their life on pause”. The airline shared that each ad communicates the message that American enables the modern traveller to, “Fly without putting your life...

American Airlines launches new social travel website in Spanish...
American Airlines has launched Aprendi.com, which is being described as the first-ever social travel website in Spanish. Aprendi.com, according to the airline, is the next evolution of American’s existing U.S. Hispanic advertising campaign. “Aprendi” (I learned) focuses on the emotional...

Kelkoo Travel unveils new-look hotel website in the UK...
Kelkoo Travel has developed and released its first version hotel beta website within 16 weeks. The release of the new-look hotel website in the UK is the start of a series of phased rebuild developments to Kelkoo Travel across Europe....

Kayak acknowledges new risks in its amended IPO filing...
Kayak has updated its IPO filing and acknowledged that its business can get adversely impacted in case it is “not offered access to Google’s enhancements of or replacements to ITA software at competitive prices or at all”. “Google has recently...

“We’ve not ‘cooked’ anything”: Eric Schmidt...
Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt denied that the company fixes its search results to promote its own websites and services. He said the same as he testified before the U.S. Senate to talk about Google’s approach to competition. The Senate...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 21, 2011

2011-09-21T13:01:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

IHG comes up with “Most Powerful Website Guarantee Ever”...
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is now offering guests a free night if they find a qualifying lower price on any other website. This promise is part of the company’s new initiatives - the launch of `Best Price Guarantee’ and the...

TrustYou secures $5m funding...
TrustYou, a specialist in social media monitoring and semantic technologies for online reviews and social commerce, has announced a $5 million Series A round and the acquisition of Dallas-based competitor ReviewAnalyst. The round, led by Credit Agricole Private Equity, will...

Jetsetter launches its offering in the UK market...
Members-only website Jetsetter, which has two million members in the US, has forayed into the UK market. The company has launched Jetsetter.co.uk. The company says it will feature 10-15 destinations on sale each week at prices up to 50 percent...

79pc Americans favour the FTC’s Investigation of Google...
A survey has found that 79 percent Americans favour the FTC’s Investigation of Google for restricting fair competition and misleading consumers. According to Fairsearch.org, the survey, which was fielded from September 15-18, polled 1,005 adults aged 18 and older across...

Overweight bag fees touches $400-mark at some US airlines: survey...
A survey of service charges for 13 US carriers has found that United Airlines and most Continental Airlines flights require a $400 fee for checking bags exceeding 71 pounds for international travel, while American Airlines is charging an additional $450...

Customer to ultimately decide how travel distribution evolves in the marketplace...
The customer will ultimately decide how travel distribution evolves in the marketplace; on this there is little to debate! By Kevin Mitchell, Chairman, Business Travel Coalition As someone who has researched travel distribution and helped lead fundamental change in this...

Vayama launches tours and activities offering...
Online travel agency Vayama, a part of Travix, has chosen Viator.com as its preferred partner for global destination activities. The tours and activities-related content is located on Vayama.com’s main menu under the “Travel Info” tab. Users will have direct access...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 20, 2011

2011-09-20T13:01:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Creating a channel-specific strategy based on your market segment...
IN-DEPTH: Rather than offering special deals and discounts all over the place, hotels need to assess all the available distribution channels and the markets they will be reaching out to and need to plan a channel-specific approach that supports overall...

TripAdvisor hits 50m unique monthly visitors mark...
TripAdvisor says it is now the first stand-alone travel brand to reach the milestone of 50 million unique monthly visitors. The company experienced a 22 percent increase in traffic year-over-year from July 2010 to July 2011, according to comScore’s traffic...

Google acquires DailyDeal...
Google has acquired DailyDeal, a company which was founded in Berlin in December 2009. The company says consumers throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland have used DailyDeal to find local deals for restaurants, travel destinations, entertainment venues and retail outlets. “What...

Enabling hotels to sell rooms directly on their own Facebook page...
Online hotel distributor SiteMinder has made its direct reservation product, TheBookingButton, available on Facebook, allowing hotels to sell rooms directly on their own Facebook page. SiteMinder mentioned that the integration of TheBookingButton with Facebook would enable people to directly book...

Google launches its Wallet mobile-payment service...
Google has released the first version of its Google Wallet app to US telecom carrier Sprint. The company is beginning to roll out Google Wallet to all Sprint Nexus S 4G phones. Wallet software is being sent to Sprint Nexus...

“Most travel apps don’t have the functionality necessary for business travel”...
It is being highlighted that mobile technology has the potential to transform the travel function of an organisation, but while there are plenty of travel apps on the market, most of them don’t have the functionality necessary for business travel....

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 19, 2011

2011-09-19T13:01:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“Google’s Flight Search is actually quite validating to the travel meta-search space”...
Travel search start-up Hipmunk believes the timing of its launch is perfect as the industry is dominated by established companies stuck on ancient technology who haven’t meaningfully innovated their search experience in a decade or more. And the emergence of...

“Google Flight Search: Speed Is Promising, Coverage Is Poor”...
IN-DEPTH: The biggest challenge for a meta-search site is coverage. If it does not cover the market in full, there is no justification for the service, says Thorvald Stigsen, Founder and CEO, momondo.com. By Ritesh Gupta Speed and simplicity have...

Senate confirms witnesses for “The Power of Google” hearing...
Google is getting ready to face a Senate hearing this week on whether the company is “abusing its dominance” in Internet search. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is going to take the witness stand on Wednesday, September 21 at a...

Ryanair shares ‘Secrets’ to avoiding optional fees...
Ryanair has released an online guide, which it says features ‘secrets’ of how to avoid all Ryanair’s optional fees. The guide, titled How Do I Avoid Paying Optional Fees?, urges passengers to avoid bringing checked in bags, ensure they check-in...

dealchecker.co.uk appoints Mark Attwell as its MD...
Travel price comparison website www.dealchecker.co.uk has appointed Mark Attwell as its new managing director. Following a hand over of duties with his predecessor Alex Saint, Attwell will officially take on the role from October. Attwell’s key responsibilities will be to...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 16, 2011

2011-09-16T13:03:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Time for travel meta-search engines to prove their worth...
IN-DEPTH: OTAs and meta-search sites can demonstrate their current market-share supremacy vs. Google, but as important they’ll need to leverage their customer loyalty and brand equity. The stronger the bond with their customers, that harder it will be for Google...

Gowalla goes for a major overhaul, moves beyond “check-ins”...
Gowalla, which began as a check-in app, has chosen to revamp its offering into a social tourist guide. The company will feature guides for around 60 major cities around the world. The company, which has about two million users, is...

Qunar.com plans IPO in the US...
Qunar.com Information Technology Co., a travel search company of which Baidu owns a majority stake, is planning a 2012 U.S. initial public offering, according to Dow Jones. The details of Qunar’s planned IPO are not yet available. In late June,...

Bing’s Adaptive Search feature to tackle the challenge of ambiguity in search ...
Bing has worked on a new feature called Adaptive Search, a way of personalising search results based on users’ search history. Bing says for many searches, there may be “hidden context” which would improve the search engine’s understanding of what...

InterContinental Kitchen Cookbook iPad app launched...
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is offering its guests an option to download recipes from the newly launched InterContinental Kitchen Cookbook iPad app. The group stated that its new iPad app is the first food and beverage app from a global...

Finding the best time for starting travel advertising campaigns...
When people start planning a vacation, they are much more mindful of online travel ads; that is the conclusion from a recent analysis conducted by New York-based MediaMind. This is another powerful indicator of the importance of relevant advertising—people begin...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 15, 2011

2011-09-15T13:05:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Using sentiment data for internal decision making as a travel company...
IN-DEPTH: There is an opportunity for travel companies to gain an “information advantage” by closely monitoring the preferences of their guests, as well as the way they communicate these preferences on the Internet, according to Ben Jost, CEO of social...

TripAdvisor removes `reviews you can trust’ slogan...
TripAdvisor, which is currently being investigated by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) in the UK over allegations that fake reviews have been posted on the site, has reportedly removed the slogan `reviews you can trust’ from its hotel listings. The...

Spirit Airlines focuses on vacation packaging...
Spirit Airlines has recently worked on its one-stop shopping offering in order to offer complete vacation packaging at spirit.com. spirit.com emphasised that it is now offering customers attractive prices on complete vacation packages, including air, hotel and car rentals. The...

New holiday rental auction website launched...
pureholidayhomes.com has launched what it says is the world’s first dedicated holiday rental auction website, where holidaymakers can expect discounts of up to 60 percent on a selection of worldwide rental homes. The new offering, Bidango, according to the company,...

Hoteliers need solutions to overcome the shrinking booking window...
Consumer travel trends and technology have shrunk the booking window. How can hotels capitalise on this “shrinkage?” It’s been just over a week since millions of Americans have returned to the post-Labor Day daily grind. And in spite of traffic-clogged...

Users can now block sites on most Google domains...
After letting its users to block sites from their search results that they might not find useful, Google says now users can now block sites on most Google domains. “Sometimes you’ll click on a result, find that it’s not what...

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News Update - September 14, 2011

2011-09-14T13:05:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Making the most of external data to accurately predict demand in the travel sector...
IN-DEPTH: No part of the travel industry can be viewed in isolation, and understanding the factors which affect the industry as a whole will give you a greater understanding of your specific industry, says James Murray, Marketing Research Analyst, Experian...

Google unveils Flights Search offering...
Google has unveiled its new Flights Search offering, a product that combines ITA’s expertise with Google’s technology. When users search for flight information on Google they will see a “Flights” link in the left-hand panel. This link leads to the...

ibis becomes a mega brand with three brands...
Accor has unveiled its economy brand “dynamization” strategy. The French hotel group has chosen to revolutionise its economy brand portfolio around the ibis brand. The company shared the portfolio will consist of: ibis, which remains ibis, all seasons, which will...

Historvius offers historic sites, tours and hotels on one interactive map...
History travel website Historvius.com says it is using interactive mapping in a unique integration of Expedia and Viator content. According to the site, which maps historic sites around the world, the move allows users to find and shortlist tours and...

Finalising decisive factors that hoteliers should target for 2012 digital marketing budgets...
2012 is quickly approaching and budget-planning season is upon us. Whether you are just starting to think about where you are going to allocate your dollars, or are moving towards finalising your budget for next year,this is the perfect time...

What are the five essentials global hoteliers should demand from IT providers?...
Technology is changing – particularly in the hospitality sector. Guests demand greater online interaction and more tailored offers. Shareholders want greater cost savings to drive profitability following the sluggish performance of the hotel sector in the last two years. Hotel...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 13, 2011

2011-09-13T13:06:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Assessing how hotels need to look at their existing pricing and segmentation practices...
IN-DEPTH: There is a need to make efforts to get rid of “static” rates for all segments and move to dynamic pricing across the board, says Maunik Thacker, Vice President - Revenue Optimization, Marina Bay Sands By Ritesh Gupta Hotel...

Balancing key new marketing trends with limited time and resources...
IN-DEPTH: Mobile, social media, rich media, digital advertising, personalisation… marketers are continuously trying to get their arms around these areas By Ritesh Gupta Travel marketers are looking at enhancing their digital marketing strategies in order to raise the bar on...

Priceline’s iPad app features real-time hotel mapping and in-app booking option...
Online travel company priceline.com has launched its first iPad app for travellers “who place high value on location when they book their hotel rooms”. The company stated that Priceline.com and its sister hotel reservation service, Booking.com, are the only two...

Jetsetter targets the vacation rental industry...
Private sales website Jetsetter has forayed into the vacation rental industry with the launch of Jetsetter Homes. The company says its new offering features a collection of more than 200 curated, verified homes around the world, available at Jetsetter exclusive...

Travellers switching airlines for Wi-Fi access: study...
A survey in the US has indicated that more and more travellers are booking air travel based on Wi-Fi availability. According to a recent study, one in five Gogo users say they've switched from their preferred airline to be on...

ASTA agencies optimistic for stronger profits in 2011, 2012...
A new survey by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has indicated that its members expect to see a stronger profit in 2011 and 2012--on par with 2008 profit levels. The survey, which was conducted this summer, asked travel...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 12, 2011

2011-09-12T13:06:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Social Buying & Flash Sales: The Future of Hotel Distribution or a Recession Phenomenon?...
IN-DEPTH: As travel demand improves, hoteliers are becoming reluctant to participate in social buying/flash sales sites and provide the Supply Side of the equation with fresh, intriguing deals, according to HeBS Digital. The concept of private online travel clubs and...

Beth Murphy joins HotelTonight as chief marketing officer...
HotelTonight, a mobile offering that features discounted same-day hotel deals in the US, has appointed Beth Murphy as its chief marketing officer. Murphy will be responsible for product and marketing as the company continues to increase its investment in growth....

Android usage peaks among Millennials: TripIt’s survey...
The results of a new survey conducted by TripIt has indicated that a higher percentage of TripIt’s Android users are in their late twenties (25-29) and early thirties (30-34) than any other smartphone group. Overall, Android users skew younger and...

“Mystery of ancillary fee charges is worsening” ...
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has filed comments in response to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Reporting Ancillary Airline Passenger Revenues in which the DOT proposed to collect more detailed information on airline...

Best Western unveils mobile site for Rewards members...
Best Western International has highlighted that booking windows continue to shrink, as more windshield warriors manage their travel plans through their smartphones. The company shared this trend as it unveiled a new mobile site that allows the nearly 13 million...

Study identifies role of design and technology in shaping user experience with smartphones...
A study has indicated that having the right combination of physical dimensions and operating functions and features for both smartphones and traditionally equipped devices is key to creating an exceptional ownership experience with each type of wireless device. According to...

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News Update - September 9, 2011

2011-09-09T13:08:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Apps a great way for travel advertisers to reach consumers away from home: study...
Millennial Media’s latest monthly mobile advertising report, focusing on the Travel Ad Vertical, has indicated that 86 percent of travel campaigns gave consumers the option to download an app. The company’s July SMART (Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting)...

Ex-Googlers launch free interactive travel guides for mobile devices...
It has emerged that Triposo, a start-up focused on building free, interactive travel guides for mobile devices, has raised $525,000 in seed financing from angel investors, including Chris Sacca, Taher Haveliwala, Google Wave Co-founder and Google Maps Lead Engineer Lars...

Orbitz’s new flash sale to support its app for iPad...
Online travel company Orbitz has launched a new flash sale initiative in order to support its Orbitz Hotels App for iPad. According to Orbitz, this new 72-hour flash sale is being offered exclusively through its Orbitz Hotels App for iPad....

Google Offers Beta in five more cities...
Google has expanded its local bargains programme to five more cities. The company has started offering its deals from local businesses in Austin, Boston, Denver, Seattle, and Washington. Google launched a test of the service called Google Offers in Portland,...

Emerging as a corporate travel winner during the 2012 Olympics...
The race has begun among travel buyers to find reasonable hotel rates around the time of next summer’s Olympics in London. It may be the greatest show on earth, but for travel managers the event is creating the biggest headache...

Facebook updates its iPhone app...
Facebook has updated its iPhone app to version 3.5. It features a variety of new features and privacy controls to match the recent enhancements made to its website. It includes a redesigned sharing tool that gives users more control over...

How difficult can a mobile site be? The dangers of doing it yourself...
Mobile technology is quickly emerging among consumers as the next generation of local search. Equivalently, mobile is becoming, for businesses, an increasingly important avenue for being discovered and considered during purchase selection. As mobile technology continues to progress, more businesses...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 8, 2011

2011-09-08T13:10:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Creating compelling social media content and building meaningful relationships...
IN-DEPTH: Listening to what customers are saying is key and can be a strong starting point for any social media initiative. Once an entity is sure about its brand attributes then it is in a position to work out its...

Creating and promoting mobile apps as a travel company...
IN-DEPTH: The apps world can be managed as a unique channel. Whilst it remains close to the digital space, it is new to marketers and brings a new set of rules that have yet to become standard, believes Christelle Chan,...

UK consumers’ mobile spend up 43.3pc in one year...
A new research released in the UK has indicated that average mobile transaction value increased by £5.29 in 12 months. New research released by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), which evaluated four key areas of M-Commerce: researching on mobile, experience...

London hotels have the worst reputation in Europe: study...
Hotel price comparison website www.trivago.co.uk has put together a ranking of European and British cities according to the online reputation of their hotels, and concludes that out of over 1000 European cities, London has the worst reputation among travellers. The...

TAN appoints Nan-Kirsten Forte as CEO, to revamp operations...
The Board of Directors of the Travel Ad Network (TAN) have named Nan-Kirsten Forte as CEO of the company. Brian Silver, TAN’s President and CEO since 2009, will remain President and will spearhead a newly-created division of TAN called Travel...

bmibaby to offer customers three options when booking a flight...
Midlands based bmibaby says it has become the first UK based low cost airline to offer three services for flyers. The new services are aimed at both business and leisure customers and designed to provide flyers with a wide range...

New geo-location aware itinerary planner and travel guide launched for London...
Digital marketing agency Metia has launched a mobile travel guide app that allows visitors to London to plan their itinerary and navigate their trip using an Android-based mobile phone or tablet device. Built using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, the ShowMe...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 7, 2011

2011-09-07T13:10:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

The Indian online travel market is fragmented, fascinating and just has so much potential!...
The annual Travel Distribution Summit India, in Mumbai, is set to focus on a truly fascinating market. With over 100 attendees already signed up and bookings pouring in, it will be standing room only this October when the heavy weights...

Changing landscape of hotel search engine marketing – social relevancy, reviews, and more…...
IN-DEPTH: The factors that impact search results have changed drastically. The best search results are not just the ones which have the right content and meta-tags and relevant links pointing back to them. Hoteliers also need to focus on several...

British Airways launches teaser ad on Facebook...
British Airways is offering an exclusive glimpse of the trailer for its new TV advert on Facebook. The teaser ad features the time and date for the unveiling of the finished campaign on Facebook : 11 am on September 21....

hotels.com’s new marketing campaign focuses on its mobile booking app...
hotels.com has launched a new integrated marketing campaign focusing on the online travel company’s mobile booking application. The new campaign features display ads, social media activation, and the www.thesmarterapp.com microsite, in addition to the digital video and claymation commercial. To...

28pc of US adults use mobile and social location-based services...
More than a quarter of all American adults—28 percent—use mobile or social location-based services of some kind, according to a new survey in the US. The survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project indicates that includes...

Visiteurope invites fans to share their favourite foodie photo and story...
Visiteurope.com has launched its latest social media campaign and contest, Enjoy a Taste of Europe, in the US. Hosted on visiteurope.com’s official Facebook page beginning September 6, the contest invites fans to share their favourite foodie photo and story that...

Why hoteliers should treat Facebook and Twitter differently...
eMarketer estimates that Facebook growth will come to a screeching halt at only 13 percent this year after about 40 percent growth in 2010 and over 90 percent in 2009. More importantly, user behaviour, led by the US, is showing...

Find out which travel marketing and distribution channels are really working...
Twice a year we track which marketing and distribution channels are growing or shrinking via our Distribution and Marketing Barometer. If you are a travel intermediary of supplier please do find a few minutes to fill in the survey. You...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 6, 2011

2011-09-06T13:11:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Consumers paying £265k a day in airline card surcharges: research...
A new research in the UK has highlighted that consumers are still paying more than £265,000 per day in debit card surcharges to airlines, despite a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that they should be banned. According...

TeleNav acquires activity search engine goby...
GPS navigation services provider TeleNav has completed the acquisition of goby, a Boston-based local search engine and mobile application developer. goby is focused on offering users an easy way to explore and discover events and activities based on location. Currently,...

Responding to expansion of Facebook’s location-based check-ins as a hotelier...
Facebook is revamping its location-based check-in product also know as Places. Starting last Friday, you may have noticed that the “X check-ins” verbiage has been removed from Places Pages and merged Facebook Pages and has been replaced with “X were...

4 best practices for creating a customer-friendly mobile site...
Here's the basic tenet of feng shui: With the mindful arrangement of objects in relation to one another and in the context of their environment, one can attract positive energy and good fortune, and generally usher in the good. That...

Jeet Sawhney to lead Abacus’ operations in India...
Abacus International has appointed Jeet Sawhney as the managing director of Abacus India, effective from this week. Sawhney comes in place of Nikhil Dhodapkar, who previously led the operations in India as MD. In his new role, Sawhney will help...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 5, 2011

2011-09-05T13:11:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Interview with Tom Mulders, Industry Manager Travel, Google...
IN-DEPTH: Google says it is making strong progress in improving its algorithms to deliver the best recommendation to the consumer query. By Ritesh Gupta The travel industry continues to witness new developments in the search arena. Start-ups in the travel...

Understanding the risks of the economic cycle and its impact on the hotel industry...
IN-DEPTH: There will certainly be another downturn, but there are numerous ways we can mitigate issues if we understand long-term market dynamics and growth potential better, says Steve Hennis, director of STR Analytics By Ritesh Gupta STR Analytics recently launched...

VisitBritain initiates first ever global tour of 3D art to inspire visitors...
Britain’s national tourism agency VisitBritain has unveiled the second phase of its global ‘You’re Invited’ campaign. The agency kicked off this phase as 10 unique 3D artworks left London for a worldwide tour that will promote Britain overseas. Great Britain...

Offering photos free to guests for sharing on Facebook and Twitter...
Vail Resorts is set to launch the next generation of its ski and snowboard application, EpicMix. The company says it will change the way guests take and share photos at all six of its mountain resorts. The new photo features...

Airbnb to make monthly stays easy...
San Francisco, California-based Airbnb has extended its booking options by adding the monthly rentals segment. The company says booking a long-term stay on Airbnb is as simple as booking a hotel room. The company connects people who have space to...

Bing shares SEO tips for optimising websites...
Bing recently listed 18 things one needs to know about SEO. Bing, on a company blog, mentioned that this list is not meant to cover everything, but to focus in on some of the more important aspects one should look...

Smartphone users more likely to engage with ads while shopping...
It is being highlighted that smartphone users most engage with ads while shopping. According to emarketer, mobile shopping is the task marketers are most interested in when it comes to smartphone users, especially in regards to advertising. In one of...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - September 2, 2011

2011-09-02T13:13:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Improving upon the utility of mobile sites and mobile apps...
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to increasing the use and function of mobile sites and mobile apps is to deal with the variations in each of the mobile operating systems. By Ritesh Gupta Though a standard is...

Expedia’s CFO Michael Adler to leave the company...
Online travel company Expedia’s chief financial officer Michael Adler has decided to leave the company after six years in his position. Adler will remain with the company during a transition period that will include the completion of the pending spin-off...

Hipmunk adds TripAdvisor reviews to its hotel search...
Hipmunk has tied up with TripAdvisor to strengthen its hotel search offering. While searching for hotels on Hipmunk, users can now see TripAdvisor reviews and opinions directly in the hotel listings when those hotels have available reviews. One no longer...

How much exactly a hotel should invest in Internet marketing in 2012...
Allocating the appropriate amount of your property’s overall marketing budget to online marketing can be more of an art, than science. Here’s why you need a significant investment in online marketing to increase direct bookings and key areas to focus...

VisitBritain Facebook check-in volume 5x bigger than Foursquare: report...
A study of all the check-ins at the top 50 UK attractions have found that while 955,437 check-ins originated from Facebook Places just 176,724 came from Foursquare. As per the information available, this data is from VisitBritain’s Love UK Facebook...

Simon Ferguson joins Travelport as regional director, UK and Ireland...
Travelport has appointed Simon Ferguson as its new regional director for the UK and Ireland. The appointment follows the decision by current job holder, Jerome Moisan, to leave the business and pursue a career opportunity outside of the travel industry...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 31, 2011

2011-08-31T13:15:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Understanding the significance of price intelligence tools in the travel sector...
IN-DEPTH: Travel companies can be proactive by having systems in place to consistently watch out for competitiveness and make use of advanced business intelligence tools that are capable of feeding rates into RMS or provide the ability to fire reports...

American Airlines’ sweepstakes to highlight mobile product offerings...
American Airlines has come up with a new campaign, “Get Mobile. Get Moving” sweepstakes, a promotion highlighting the airline’s array of mobile products. The sweepstakes, which runs through Sept. 27, will reward one grand-prize winner with 280,000 AAdvantage miles. In...

Jetsetter App for iPhone and iPod touch enhanced...
Members-only website Jetsetter has shared that its Jetsetter App for iPhone and iPod touch has been updated with new travel tools and features. The company has developed a suite of travel tools to assist members before and during their vacation....

Novotel HK’s property launches game on Facebook to celebrate YouTube milestone...
One of Novotel’s hotel in Hong Kong is launching its “Video Detective” game on Facebook this week. Novotel Hong Kong Nathan Road Kowloon has taken this initiative as it achieved a milestone on YouTube, crossing its first 100,000 video views-mark....

A mathematical model unveiled for search optimisation process...
A new piece of academic research promises to save advertisers’ time and investment, as well as avoid costly commercial mistakes, in their search optimisation process. The study focused on activity within the travel sector. The project, undertaken by a team...

“Search engines are not just assessing the face-value quality of your content”...
Every trade has its clichés and in the world of online marketing the phrase “Content Is King” gets bandied around so often it has almost lost its original meaning and has become a euphemism for the kind of mass-produced, churned-out...

STR Analytics launches new forecasting tool...
STR Analytics has launched a new forecasting tool, DataCast. The company says it alters the landscape of hotel forecasting methodology by allowing the user to adjust the forecast to better evaluate market potential. DataCast is designed to provide direction and...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 30, 2011

2011-08-30T13:16:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Inspiring travellers to post stories about the places they visit in real-time...
IN-DEPTH: Each piece of digital content that is created tells a story. Each time any LBS app is used, one includes location as a part of the narrative being shared with their network. It is the most honest look at...

Frommer’s to provide enhanced destination info on AA.com...
American Airlines has tied up with Frommer’s Unlimited, the B2B business of Frommer’s, in order to improve the travel planning experience. The airline has chosen to work with Frommer’s for destination content on American’s website, AA.com. With this rollout, AA.com...

Travelocity’s new daily deals offering to shows date availability at time of booking...
Online travel company Travelocity says it has put a new spin on flash sales with its new offering, Dashing Deals. Via Dashing Deals, travellers are able to book the daily deals directly, instead of receiving a coupon or voucher for...

TripAdvisor to make travel planning easier for those traveling by car...
TripAdvisor has come up with an app that provides those traveling by car access to its content for the first time on a navigation device. The company has announced a new travel app to be available on the new TomTom...

Setting up an effective social media risk management strategy...
One of the most potentially damaging risks from social media can be to an organisation’s reputation. Employees, customers and vendors can be an organisation’s greatest ambassadors or can seriously undermine its brand and image. While no one can control or...

Alaska Airlines reworks on its mobile app...
Alaska Airlines has shared that its application for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available with several new features aimed at providing customers with convenient and quick access to their most important travel information. The most significant new feature...

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News Update - August 29, 2011

2011-08-29T13:16:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Allocating budgets for video content...
IN-DEPTH: Professional video production can vary in price from under $1,000 to over $50,000 and regardless of quality it needs to have the same objective: increase awareness of the product and drive consumers to purchase, says, Gil Keinan, VP Business...

Deutsche Bahn gets ready for Touch&Travel mobile ticketing service...
Deutsche Bahn is to roll out its Touch&Travel mobile ticketing service throughout Germany this November. According to a report filed by nfcworld.com, German rail transport operator is to equip its 320 long distance railway stations with `Touchpoints’ bearing NFC tags...

Mobile becoming an influential shopping companion for consumers: study...
A recent survey in the US has indicated that consumers using mobile for shopping have new expectations for pricing standardisation across channels and require a steady stream of promotions to remain engaged. Also, consumers want to capitalise on powerful tools...

Travel websites bounce back in Hitwise Hot Shops List...
Hitwise has seen a big increase in the performance of travel e-retailers this quarter, with Thomson coming out top as the highest ranking travel company. Overall, travel brands surged back up the list this quarter with Thomson the best performing...

Measuring profit and ROI across channels...
Measuring ROI and performance of all marketing efforts is very important. A search marketer should be able to measure every dollar spent and every dollar made. Different teams – display marketing, PR, email marketing, SEO team, paid search, social media,...

65pc of online adults in the US use social networking sites: survey...
Two-thirds of adult Internet users (65 percent) now say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 61 percent one year ago, according to a Pew Internet survey. For the first time in Pew Internet...

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News Update - August 26, 2011

2011-08-26T13:18:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Relying on data management for hidden insights and increasing competitive edge...
IN-DEPTH: The travel sector is increasingly trying to bank on a consistent view of data in order to make informed, actionable decisions that support the business strategy By Ritesh Gupta An effective data management strategy can let any organisation adapt...

Star Alliance’s new mobile app to offer access to member airlines’ fares...
The Star Alliance network says it has now become the first airline alliance to introduce an easy fare finder mobile application. Using the new Star Alliance FareFinder app, customers can search for either one-way or return fares for flights between...

AOL UK re-launches its travel site...
AOL UK has re-launched its premium travel site AOL Travel, which now has enhanced features and a redesign that presents news, reviews and bespoke guides in a simpler, more user-friendly format. The company emphasised that there is a strong appetite...

Zuji Australia to bring “best prices” faster to consumers...
Online travel agency Zuji Australia has partnered with Universal McCann Sydney and technology provider MediaMind to deliver “the most advanced targeted and immediate travel offers in the history of Australian travel”. According to the company, through the technology UM and...

Travelodge to offer its customers free Wi-Fi...
Quite often, it is said that holidaymakers and business travellers are paying too much for Internet access. Going by travellers’ sentiments, it is suggested that getting online while one is travelling should be cost effective and simple. Even studies have...

mTrip’s new online sharing features to work with its mobile app...
mTrip has launched online sharing features for its mobile applications. With this move, mTrip Travel Guides has expanded to the web. The company has taken this initiative after launching its mTrip Travel Guides on iPhone and Android. Travellers can use...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 25, 2011

2011-08-25T13:20:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“We are the opposite of a meta search site”: Hopper CEO Frederic Lalonde...
IN-DEPTH: It is considered that there is a uniformity of general search patterns that has long irked those in the industry who want to make search more flexible, intuitive and personalised. For a start-up, Hopper believes that to fix the...

Marriott unveils new “app-like” mobile website...
Marriott has launched a new, free mobile app for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices. The company has also launched its all new “app-like” mobile website that can be accessed from any web-enabled mobile device. Marriott highlighted that the site even...

gapyear.com appoints Tim Fenton as GM, Griffiths to step down...
Social network and travel advice expert, gapyear.com, has appointed Tim Fenton as general manager. It has also emerged that Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, has stepped down as Managing Director but continues in a creative, advisory and promotional capacity. Flight...

Business travellers increasingly looking for destination specific offers...
Sabre’s biannual mobile survey of business travellers has indicated that business travellers want local deals, navigational tools and transactional capabilities. “Our survey shows that business travel today is personal. Travellers want the same functionality and convenience from their business travel...

HRS sets up option for peer-to-peer hotel recommendations...
Hotel portal HRS has chosen to enhance its points-based hotel evaluation system to include written feedback. HRS is also offering hoteliers the option to respond to the published comments. The company clarified that only those guests who have stayed at...

UK consumers plan to do more shopping on their smartphones this Christmas...
A study has indicated that 35 percent of UK consumers will do more shopping on their smartphones this Christmas, as the popularity of shopping and browsing on mobile devices continues to increase. According to eDigitalResearch and IMRG, the latest eCustomerServiceIndex...

“Consumers have become more frugal and value focused”: Wotif...
Wotif.com Holdings has announced full year after tax profit of $51 million. The reported after tax profit was marginally down on last year’s record result of $53 million, interrupting the company’s consistent growth in annual profits since it listed on...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 24, 2011

2011-08-24T13:20:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“A solid forecast needs to look at each segment and how to optimise the highest yielding channels”...
IN-DEPTH: As behaviours and trends change rapidly, revenue managers need to understand how each segment is behaving across all channels. Going back to basics and studying booking curves and LOS for each day of the week, each segment via each...

Business travellers in high-risk destinations value location-specific alerts...
A survey of more than 4,700 international business travellers has indicated that travellers place a high level of importance on the ability to stay informed, on a city and local level, on travel, health and security risks while on the...

Eurostar unveils new mobile app and mobile website...
Eurostar, the high-speed passenger service linking the UK and mainland Europe, has launched its mobile application allowing passengers to book journeys on-the-go and receive tickets direct to their phones. Eurostar has also launched a mobile version of eurostar.com, to give...

Cheapflights’ newsletter offering touches 5m subscriber-base mark...
Cheapflights has shared its newsletter offering has hit five million subscriber-base mark following 33 percent increase in year-on-year in global opt-ins. The company says its newsletter has grown significantly following last year’s introduction of more personalised newsletters. Subscribers receive personalised...

Travelzoo appoints Stephen Dunk as MD, Europe...
Travelzoo has chosen Stephen Dunk to lead its European business, as managing director, Europe. Dunk is the first managing director to be appointed after Chris Loughlin, the former Managing Director of Travelzoo in Europe was appointed to CEO in July...

Disney Parks releases new GPS-powered mobile app...
Disney Parks has launched an app to enhance visitors’ experience with a GPS-tracking system. The new app, called Mobile Magic, is now available exclusively through Verizon. According to Disney and Verizon Wireless, visitors will be provided valuable information to enhance...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 23, 2011

2011-08-23T13:21:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Using videos for traffic generation and online sales...
With nearly all e-bookers using a different agent every time, providing excellent customer experience can be the key differentiator for travel e-tailers. In particular, video can be a valuable tool for these websites. The impact that rich media can have...

President Obama “does not understand how the retail travel agency industry operates”: ARTA...
The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA), which is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, has written to US President Barack Obama, outlining the agency association’s concerns about a statement made by the President in Atkinson, Illinois recently. In an answer to...

Orbitz launches new Facebook game...
Online travel company Orbitz has launched a Facebook game, Orbitz 50 Faves, giving its fans the opportunity to win 50 handpicked, luxury vacations worth up to $15,000. Orbitz 50 Faves runs through September 18. “Orbitz 50 Faves is a fun,...

Avis to serve hourly, daily and one-way rental needs via RFID technology...
Avis Rent A Car has deployed RFID Technology to serve hourly, daily and one-way rental needs of corporate clients on-site. The company says its new offering, Avis On Location, enables it to rent vehicles and accept returns on corporate campuses...

Aer Lingus releases new app and mobile website...
Aer Lingus has unveiled its new app and mobile website. These offerings allow customers to plan and review their flight details, check-in, receive travel alerts, check real-time flight information and make a booking whilst staying mobile. Customers can access these...

An insight into Google Ad Innovations...
Google is constantly experimenting, changing, and innovating its various marketing offerings. All of Google’s Ad innovations, latest technological advancements are summarised and explained in the Google Ad Innovations site. Google hopes to achieve the following goals by constantly innovating its...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 22, 2011

2011-08-22T13:21:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Leveraging new travel technology tools and the power of social networks...
IN-DEPTH: Social commerce will grow as more and more users mature in their use of Facebook. The power of social word of mouth is key to building brands and transactions, says Sean Seah, director of e-commerce for Langham Hospitality Group....

Hopper raises $8m...
Hopper, a startup founded by a team of former Expedia employees, has raised $8M in new funding from Atlas Venture and Brightspark Ventures. The company is developing a website for consumer travel discovery. Hopper’s travel-oriented search engine allows users to...

Travix to acquire easytobook.com...
Dutch online travel company Travix is to acquire hotel booking website easytobook.com. With this acquisition, Travix intends to expand its product line to include international hotels and packages. Travix is the parent company for five online travel brands, including CheapTickets...

British Airways gears up for its first US affiliate programme ...
British Airways is set to commence its first performance marketing programme in the US market. The airline has appointed affiliate network buy.at as the sole partner for the same. buy.at’s goal is to further build brand awareness for the airline,...

Bing set to release its “We’re In” app for Windows Phone...
The We’re In app for Windows Phone users allows its users to set an event at a location and invite those in their contact list to join them. When they do, they appear on the map and it tracks their...

Vodafone brings in-app billing for Android Market to Europe...
It has emerged that mobile operator Vodafone has become the first carrier in Europe to roll out operator billing for Android devices. Vodafone’s UK and German operations have made it possible for customers to pay for Android apps using their...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 19, 2011

2011-08-19T13:23:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Budgeting and planning for mobile marketing spend...
IN-DEPTH: There is a clear correlation between marketing budget and mobile investment at the moment, according to EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution & Marketing Barometer report. By Ritesh Gupta Several recent forecasts have indicated that digital engagement tactics are shifting to include...

Brands miss 70pc of local consumer content: study...
A study has that found consumer brands with brick & mortar locations missed more than 70 percent of local customer feedback. This “local blind spot” is the direct result of the exploding consumer adoption of mobile, social, and location-based services,...

AA and American Express Global Business Travel “reach understanding”...
American Airlines (AA) and American Express Global Business Travel, a division of American Express Travel Related Services Company, have agreed in principle to explore a long-term arrangement for the benefit of their corporate clients. Under this arrangement, American Express Global...

Virgin Atlantic unveils `Up In The Air Sweepstakes’ campaign...
iQapps, the developer of the Trip Journal travel app, and Virgin Atlantic have launched a new marketing campaign to promote the recently launched Trip Journal Virgin Atlantic Edition. The new campaign, titled Up In The Air Sweepstakes, will run for...

Hospitality sector websites should improve responsiveness: study...
Even as the hospitality industry is seeing renewed enthusiasm to travel, the companies in the sector should improve website responsiveness in order to maximise travel purchases, according to a report. According to iPerceptions’ Hospitality and Tourism Industry Report for Q2...

GBTA believes Lufthansa credit card fee adds to confusion...
Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has stated that the move by Lufthansa to introduce credit card charges for bookings made through the GDS in key European markets will add further confusion and damage relations with buyers because of increased cost...

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News Update - August 18, 2011

2011-08-18T13:25:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

53pc willing to share location for relevant content and promotions: report...
A report has indicated that 53 percent of the on-the-go U.S. audience are willing to share their location to receive more relevant content. According to JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report, 52 percent expect to use their mobile device more for...

Why is SEM an important component of the hotelier’s direct online channel strategy ...
Paid search marketing continues to function as a critical direct online channel tool to combat the OTAs, making it essential that hoteliers understand how sophisticated search marketing technology can optimise campaign performance, increase ROIs, boost conversions and revenues, and ultimately...

Travel managers find it difficult to track ancillary fees: survey...
Corporate travel managers are still grappling with the best way to tackle airline ancillary fees from a tracking and policy perspective, as well as the ongoing effects on supplier relationships, according to AirPlus’ latest survey of corporate travel buyers. The...

Concur’s mobile app to deliver in-policy air travel booking capabilities...
Concur, a provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, is to release the first native mobile air booking experience for business travellers. The company says the ability to book an entire business trip, from air and rail to hotel...

Paralysis By Analysis: data overload and what revenue managers can do about it...
Too much data analysis and not enough decision making can cause the very real problem of paralysis by analysis: a poisonous situation that creates slow decision-making—or brings it to a halt—due to redundant analytical processes and sheer data overload. I...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 17, 2011

2011-08-17T13:26:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Embracing both Onchannel and Onsite Social Media as a travel company...
Digital Visitor recommends both Onchannel and Onsite social media for optimisation of a social media strategy. The company believes that both should be considered because onchannel and onsite social media have two very different benefits – one is for driving...

Visitors strongly dislike the Facebook `Like’ button on travel sites: report...
How do visitors react to the presence of Facebook ‘Like’ button on travel sites? According to a new report on the user experience (UX) and usability similarities and differences of websites in the travel industry, the feedback has been “overwhelmingly...

Gapyear.com re-launches on improved technical platform...
Social network and travel advice expert gapyear.com has re-launched its website. The re-launch sees gapyear.com on a new technical platform with an enhanced social network. The re-launch has also seen the introduction of ‘Short Gap’ – a section dedicated to...

Yahoo!, Facebook to test the “Six Degrees Of Separation” theory...
Yahoo! and Facebook have taken an initiative to test an old social experiment. The Yahoo! Labs Small World Experiment is designed to test the hypothesis that anyone in the world can get a message to anyone else in just “six...

Thomas Cook and Co-Op merger gains final approval...
The Thomas Cook Group, The Co-operative Group and the Midlands Cooperative have shared that the Competition Commission has cleared their merger to create the UK’s largest multi-channel travel retailer. Thomas Cook said the merger would save the company £35m a...

Taking customer service online to the next level as an OTA...
Online travel agency Vayama is focussing on adding a new dimension to customer service online, as it attempts to make the post-purchase experience as easy as the pre-purchase one. The company says its aim is to provide speedy customer care...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 16, 2011

2011-08-16T13:26:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Building emotional engagement via editorial of a travel community site...
IN-DEPTH: Many travel sites use bland, SEO-ed content that isn’t always relevant and is often in no way practical, says Tremayne Carew Pole, Publisher and Founder, Hg2 By Ritesh Gupta Virgin Atlantic has been working with city guide publisher Hg2...

New transactional search and quotation portal for private jet travel launched...
Victor, a private jetshare community, has been launched. It is being described as an online community of people with a shared desire to use private jets, and a willingness to share private jet flights to radically reduce the cost. Victor...

Travelzoo continues to witness rapid adoption of Local Deals offering...
Travelzoo recently sold its 1 millionth Local Deal voucher. The company says in less than a year, it has established a “profitable, high-growth business” that is on track to exceed annualised gross revenues of more than $100 million. In the...

Unbranded UK travel community website launched...
Digital marketing agency Steel has worked with the Hoseasons Group to create a new online tool allowing users to recommend and share places of interest and activities across the UK. www.iVizit.co.uk lets users add places of interest, favourite things to...

New mobile app for discovering every mile in Illinois...
Chicago, Illinois-based SIM Partners, a developer of mobile apps for destination marketing organisations, has launched Enjoy Illinois, the official travel app of the Illinois Office of Tourism. The iPhone app features GPS technology, and it is being described as a...

Time Out Group acquires LikeCube...
Time Out Group, which plans to be locally relevant in more than 50 cities around the world, has acquired personalisation software company LikeCube. Financial details weren’t shared. LikeCube uses semantic analysis to give web and mobile users personalised recommendations. Time...

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News Update - August 15, 2011

2011-08-15T13:26:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Room 77 on track to include 1m rooms by the end of 2011...
Sunnyvale, California-based Room 77, the world’s first hotel search engine to reveal room-specific details, is on track to include 1 million rooms by the end of the year. The company has data on more than 500,000 hotel rooms in nearly...

Travel advertisers leveraging mobile to drive application downloads...
A study in the US has indicated that more advertisers are moving out of the test phase of mobile and starting to make a consistent investment. According to Millennial Media’s 50th Mobile Intelligence Report, travel advertisers leveraged mobile to drive...

Predicting new friends based on the type of places visited...
Researchers at University of Cambridge have come up with a new way of predicting which people may become friends on social networks - based on the type of places they visit. Salvatore Scellato, Anastasios Noulas and Cecilia Mascolo, of Cambridge’s...

Google to include public Google+ posts...
Google has shared that it will now include publicly shared Google+ posts in its social search results. In order to experience this updated feature, users need to be on Google+ and also have to be logged into their Google Account...

Search and email remain the top online activities: survey...
A May 2011 Pew Internet survey finds that 92 percent of online adults use search engines to find information on the Web, including 59 percent who do so on a typical day. This places search at the top of the...

Bringing the performance-based offer model to local merchants...
Bloomspot has unveiled a performance-based business model that takes responsibility for the profitability of its merchant partners. The company says its growing success is supported by the closing of $35 million in series B financing, co-led by InterWest Partners and...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 12, 2011

2011-08-12T13:28:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Reaping optimal results from your Social Media and Mobile strategies...
IN-DEPTH: Design Hotels’ Bernd Neff and InterContinental Hotel Group’s Jo Hill on the latest digital trends By Ritesh Gupta Travel suppliers are constantly looking for new ways to enable meaningful experiences with their target consumers. Ultimately suppliers try to ensure...

FairSearch.org stresses on how Google “misuses its power” in its new video ...
FairSearch.org has launched a new 30-second video, Bob’s Adventures in Searchville, indicating that many small businesses are facing a new challenge in the form of the Google Tax. According to FairSearch.org, Google misuses its power in the market to limit...

Is Your Hotel Prepared for Google+?...
In a little over two weeks Google+ reached 10 million registered users – a feat that took Twitter and Facebook over two years to achieve. And in just 24 days Google+ was up to 20 million users – a mark...

Thomas Cook’s UK retail chief Ian Derbyshire steps down...
Thomas Cook’s British retail division head Ian Derbyshire has chosen to step down. Derbyshire is leaving the company to join his family’s developing child activity business in the northwest. He joined Thomas Cook in 2000. According to the company, Derbyshire...

Webjet delivers record profit, to focus on US and Asian markets...
Webjet has delivered record profit as the online travel agency posted a five percent rise in full-year net profit after tax to A$11 million. Webjet’s revenue for the year ending June 30 was up 18 percent to $45.7m while total...

Jae Hyung Kim joins Cleartrip as president...
Jae Hyung Kim has joined online travel agency Cleartrip as president and head of business development. As part of the core management team, Jae will be responsible for Cleartrip’s corporate strategy, finance, M&A and overall business development. Prior to Cleartrip,...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 11, 2011

2011-08-11T13:30:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Integrating e-commerce into a hotel’s overall business strategy...
IN-DEPTH: Interview with Gareth Gaston, Senior Vice President, Global eCommerce, Wyndham Hotel Group By Ritesh Gupta E-commerce should be a compliment to every part of a hotel’s operations. All staff members need to be briefed on the advantages of taking...

Comparing the importance of personalisation versus location in mobile ads...
A study has indicated that mobile advertisements that are tailored to users’ “tastes and interests” far out-perform other offers that are based on time, lifestyle or location. A new study from Upstream reveals the types of mobile advertising that consumers...

Virgin America ties up with Twitter for flash fare sale...
Virgin America tied up with Twitter for its “Fly Forward, Give Back” (#FlyFwdGiveBack) flash fare sale. The airline encouraged flyers across the nation to grab a seat and retweet, to help raise awareness and funds for cancer research through the...

SAIF Partners and MakeMyTrip invest in iXiGO.com...
Gurgaon, India-based travel search engine iXiGO.com has confirmed an equity infusion from Asian private equity and venture capital fund SAIF Partners, and online travel company MakeMyTrip for a total cash consideration of $18.5 million across investment into the company and...

Lonely Planet launches video campaign on YouTube...
YouTube has teamed up with Lonely Planet and Intel to help travellers share their adventures. The companies are running a campaign, Share Your Adventure, in the US. Contestants need to upload their favourite travel video to Lonely Planet’s YouTube channel....

New recommendation engine to help travellers take back the power of their points...
Santa Monica, California–based PointHub has launched a recommendation engine that offers qualified, real-time, side-by-side comparisons between purchase price and rewards points for airlines and hotels. The company says it has gone beyond answering the question, “Can I use my rewards...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 10, 2011

2011-08-10T13:31:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Room night bookings from mobile devices go up as preferences evolve...
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) says its industry leading developments in mobile booking sites and apps are now generating over $10m of revenue a month. As the group announced its Interim Results to 30 June 2011, IHG’s chief executive Richard Solomons...

Hilton Garden Inn to make travel 'bucket list' wish come true...
Hilton Garden Inn has launched its `Life’s Ultimate To-Do List’ contest, which gives consumers the chance to make their ultimate travel `to-do’ a reality. The contest, which runs until September 2nd on Hilton Garden Inn’s Facebook page, invites consumers to...

Room 77 to launch mobile app on Android...
Hotel room search engine Room 77 is ready to launch its free mobile app on Android. The Room 77 Android App includes several new features, including: Easier photos and reviews sharing – The app makes sharing room data, images and...

Last minute airfares cost travellers twice as much: study...
A recent study by FCm Travel Solutions has found that travellers tend to pay 116 percent more for an airfare if they book a ticket one day out from travel rather than three weeks in advance. FCm’s airfare analysis showed...

Sustaining same service level across devices to ensure consistency in brand experience...
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has taken an initiative to ensure that it is able to provide the same level of service via smartphones and its website to ensure consistency in brand experience, especially during peak times or events that result...

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News Update - August 9, 2011

2011-08-09T13:31:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

“RM now moving away from overall profitability towards customer centric profitability”...
IN-DEPTH: It is critical to understand that the interests of the hotel are the same as protecting your most valuable customers, says Devdutta Banerjee, Regional Director - Revenue Management, India Bangladesh and Nepal, Starwood Hotels & Resorts The way revenue...

Swiss and Lufthansa to charge customers £4.50 for using credit cards...
Swiss and Lufthansa have announced they are to charge customers £4.50 for using credit cards from 2 November 2011. The development has emerged just weeks after the Office of Fair Trading agreed with the Which? surcharge super complaint. “It’s unbelievable...

NCL to fill its ship with “Florida’s most Social”...
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has come up with its first ever Tweetup cruise initiative, the SeaTweetup Cruise (@SeaTweetup) in November. The cruise departs from Miami on November 18 and will set sail on a three-day weekend getaway to the Bahamas...

How to Do Customer Service on Twitter...
Whether you’re a part of the conversation or not, people are talking about your business on Twitter right now. Even if you don’t have a Twitter account, if you have any dealings with the public at all, your customers and...

YouTube accounts for 1 in every 35 UK Internet visits...
Experian Hitwise’s latest Search Engine and Social Analysis shows that July was a good month for Microsoft, YouTube and Twitter but was not so strong for the market leaders in their respective fields, Google and Facebook. Microsoft Sites reclaimed the...

Jeff Semenchuk to join Hyatt Hotels as chief innovation officer...
Hyatt Hotels has appointed Jeff Semenchuk as its first chief innovation officer. Semenchuk will be based at Hyatt headquarters in Chicago, and will report to both John Wallis, global head of marketing and brand strategy and chief marketing officer, and...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 8, 2011

2011-08-08T13:31:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

One quarter of UK adults are smartphone users: research...
There has been a huge growth in smartphone take-up and use in the past 12 months in the UK. According to new Ofcom research, 27 percent of UK adults now claim to own one, with 59 percent of sample having...

Searching for flights as far as 90 days from departure date...
Travel search site Hipmunk says it is offering its users an option to be “super flexible” with their flight dates. The company says it has come up with an offering that lets users visualise prices over the course of a...

American Airlines enhances customised fare-search process...
American Airlines has enhanced the customised fare-search process by upgrading its desktop tool DealFinder. DealFinder, a downloadable tool, allows users to receive automatic, personalised fare alerts and other information via their computer desktop. This upgraded version, called DealFinder 2.0, is...

American Airlines, HRG to explore direct connect distribution agreement...
American Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR Corporation, and corporate travel services company Hogg Robinson (HRG) have agreed in principle to explore a long-term arrangement for the benefit of their corporate clients. As per the agreement, HRG would receive...

New real-time social media text mining service for hotels...
A new service that delivers a highly filtered, real-time Twitter stream and conversation tool for hotels to reach potential guests has been launched. Real-time social media filtering startup Reach.ly has come up with this offering. Reach.ly enables hotels to reach...

Optimisation 3.0: Conversion Management...
Several years ago, marketers were in a frenzy – buying as many keywords as possible, hiring SEM experts and pouring tons of resources into the perfectly “optimised” website for Google.com’s number one ranking. This was all of course to drive...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 5, 2011

2011-08-05T13:33:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Relying on advocacy and online video to showcase inspiring destination content...
Tourism Australia has launched a new campaign, 30 days in Oz, targeting young travellers in the UK. The initiative, consisting of 30 one-minute online videos, attempts to capitalise on the combination of advocacy and online video in order to showcase...

Hilton Anaheim to host event for social media influencers...
The Hilton Anaheim hotel, located in the heart of California’s famous Orange County, is hosting an event for social media influencers. The hotel is going to encourage these guests to use their accounts with Twitter to share up to 140...

Should we treat Search and brand engagement signals in the same way?...
An analysis by Efficient Frontier has recommended that as CMOs look to maximise the RoI of their social media efforts, they must revisit all their assumptions. They must plan their marketing campaigns holistically considering all the cross-channel effects. Analysis by...

Holiday Inn launches `Stay Social’ sweepstakes...
Holiday Inn Hotels is asking consumers across the US to share their favourite travel stories on its Holiday Inn Facebook page. The company says it has launched its Stay Social initiative considering the importance of personal connections and the value...

Emirates, MasterCard to host 7-8 flash sales till December...
Emirates Airline and global payments company MasterCard are to host 7-8 flash sales from August till December 2011. MasterCard cardholders in India can avail of this promotional offer by booking their tickets in the two-day booking window during the flash...

Combining social media and websites to drive fans and conversions...
A challenge hoteliers experience is how to effectively connect a website with a Facebook page. Here are some ideas and a case study that shows how to cross promote and increase ROI. From March – June 2011, a hotel experienced...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 4, 2011

2011-08-04T13:35:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Evaluating how to direct resources to gain maximum RoI from mobile marketing campaigns...
IN-DEPTH: Mobile is a fast evolving channel and therefore one of the major challenges is deciding where to direct resources to achieve maximum RoI, says Per Voegerl, Commercial Director at Sixt By Ritesh Gupta Mobile, social, search, and local are...

US Airways to offer vacation packages on its website...
US Airways has strengthened its online offerings as the airline is now letting customers book entire vacation packages on its website, usairways.com. The airline says passengers can now plan their vacation in fewer clicks by booking their airline tickets, hotel...

Understanding which airlines are putting social media tools to good use...
Flight search and comparison site Cheapflights.co.uk has worked on a table featuring top airlines, outlining who offers what in its latest tips page on Airline eServices. Considering that social media is the hottest form of communication for gaining quick, immediate...

Google buys daily deals aggregator The Dealmap...
Google has acquired Menlo Park, California-based The Dealmap, a company that aggregates local deals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Dealmap focuses on cutting through the maze of paper coupons, e-mail newsletters and newspaper ads to help...

Matthew Crummack to lead lastminute.com group...
Online travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com group president Ed Kamm has chosen to step down. Travelocity Global shared that Matthew Crummack has been appointed as president of lastminute.com group. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Lodging at Expedia, instrumental...

Booking system adds Groupon and LivingSocial Support...
Online booking and scheduling system WebReserv has released a new version of its commission-free booking offering for small businesses. The new version includes full support for Groupon, LivingSocial and similar deal sites. “Businesses get completely overwhelmed when they use Groupon...

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News Update - August 3, 2011

2011-08-03T13:36:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Developing a web app for Google’s Internet browser Chrome...
An insight into HRS’ new Chrome app: One needs to assess whether a travel company has “the right content for a Chrome application”, says Jon West, Managing Director, UK and Ireland, HRS. It is important to offer customers additional services,...

Airbnb’s “crash course in crisis management”...
San Francisco, California-based Airbnb has decided to implement a $50,000 Airbnb Guarantee, protecting the property of hosts from damage by Airbnb guests who book reservations through its website. The company will be going ahead with this initiative, starting August 15th...

“Ancillary revenues have become the new decade’s money tree for airlines”...
A report featuring 47 carriers has reported 2010 ancillary revenue activity of €15.11 billion ($21.46 billion). This represents ancillary revenue growth of 38 percent over 2009 and 96 percent since 2008. According to the new 2011 Amadeus Yearbook of Ancillary...

Groupon Hong Kong unveils its travel deals site...
Groupon Hong Kong has launched its travel deals site -- Groupon Getaways. The site will offer Asia travel deals including discounts on flights, hotels and cruises through the service, with updates every Sunday. The debut of the new Getaways site...

LivingSocial acquires South Korean social commerce site...
Online deals specialist LivingSocial has signed a definitive agreement to acquire South Korean social commerce website TicketMonster. The deal is subject to Korean regulatory approval. Terms of the deal were not released. Founded in 2010, TicketMonster offers daily and instant...

Egencia unveils its new iPhone application...
Egencia, the corporate travel arm of Expedia Inc., has launched new mobile features and capabilities for business travellers. The Egencia Mobile release for the iPhone is equipped with new user friendly features, including: Smart Itinerary (the app knows what point...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - August 2, 2011

2011-08-02T13:36:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Focusing on price elasticity and price optimisation for optimal RM results...
IN-DEPTH: Price optimisation can be the ultimate guide or recommendation provided by a central RM solution--to properties who are unsure how to price in their market, says Bill Kotrba, Vice President of Industry Strategy for Leisure, Travel and Hospitality at...

Orbitz’s cash refund programme touches $10 million-mark...
Online travel company Orbitz has shared that its Price Assurance cash refund programme has hit the $10 million-mark. The company shared that every seven minutes an Orbitz customer gets a Price Assurance Refund. Its programme rewards Orbitz customers with a...

Viator introduces member-only deals for tours and activities...
Viator is now offering Member-Only Deals in select markets, promising “exclusive discounts ranging from 20 to 75 percent off already guaranteed low prices”. Viator is piloting Member-Only Deals in 25 markets and expects to roll out to more cities in...

Star Alliance iPhone app attempts to make journey smoother...
Star Alliance has created a new app for the iPhone that allows customers to access Alliance travel information. The app is the Alliance’s first on the iPhone and is currently available in English. The free Star Alliance Navigator app for...

Recommending new destinations through video content...
Samsung Electronics has chosen Teletext Holidays as the latest partner for its Smart TV App store, Samsung Apps. The agreement between Samsung and Teletext Holidays will inspire Samsung Smart TV users’ “travel choices as they browse for holidays and access...

American, Travelport extend full content agreement...
American Airlines and Travelport have shared that the existing full content agreements between American and Travelport’s global distribution systems (GDS), Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan, have been extended concurrently and are no longer due to expire in 2011. Terms of Travelport’s...

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News Update - August 1, 2011

2011-08-01T13:36:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Embracing and making social media marketing integral to an organisation...
IN-DEPTH: Ashok Lalla, President - Digital, Euro RSCG says one cannot expect a complete organisation to embrace Social Media overnight. Baby first steps are required, ideally by people in otherwise customer-facing roles. Also, it’s important to ride through any early...

Delta ties up with LivingSocial, to offer destination-specific deals...
Delta Air Lines has launched LivingSocial destination-specific deals offering delta.com customers targeted offers during their trip. Offers are specific to the dates and location related to the customer’s upcoming trip. The airline says its site, delta.com, is the first website...

How much are travellers willing to spend when booking travel on mobile device? ...
A study in the US has indicated that 43 percent of consumers would feel comfortable spending $200 or less when booking travel on a mobile device. According to mobile ad network Mojiva’s study, 64 percent consumers would be most comfortable...

Avis unveils first car rental mobile app for Microsoft Windows Phone 7...
Avis Rent A Car has become the first company to offer a car rental application for Microsoft Windows Phone 7 mobile devices. The Avis mobile application runs on Windows 7 Mobile OS and is specifically designed for Windows Phone 7...

“Around 10pc of our traffic comes from mobile devices”: Travelzoo CEO...
Travelzoo has launched its first iPhone application, allowing its subscribers to access travel, entertainment and local deals while on the go. Chris Loughlin, CEO for Travelzoo, recently mentioned that approximately 10% of the company’s traffic comes from mobile devices today....

Concur gears up to monetise the unmanaged travel market...
Concur, a provider of integrated travel and expense management services, says it is on track to double the TripIt user base by the end of calendar 2011. Referring to TripIt during the company’s Q3 2011 results earnings call (transcript on...

Brought to you by tourist intel.com.

News Update - July 29, 2011

2011-07-29T13:38:00.001+01:00

Source: m-travel.com ...

Expedia founder Barton introduces mobile discovery network...
Trover, a mobile discovery network where people share location-specific discoveries, has been formally launched. The company believes its defining feature is its location-based discovery mosaic, which allows explorers to visually browse through an eye-catching collection of thumbnail images featuring places...

US business travelers who own a smartphone on average have a 7% higher income...
Hollywood, Florida – July 26, 2011 – Two weeks after the release of Mobile360 for iOS devices ICE Portal is proud to announce the complete Mobile360 platform, including support for Android. A July 11th Forrester Research publication establishes that smartphone...

Google starts testing its Hotel Finder search tool...
Google has introduced a new experimental search tool, Hotel Finder. It is currently only available for locations in the US. Andrew McCarthy, Software Engineer, Google explained how the new tool makes it easy to narrow down the options: Figure out...

easyJet Holidays to offer £100 per person getaways every Friday...
The easyJet Holidays website is to offer 100 Holidays to European city and beach destinations for £100 per person every Friday for the next six weeks. The holidays will be for a variety of travel dates throughout summer and winter...

Navigating the Road to Revenues: GPS for the Revenue Manager...
What would it be like if you had to provide input into your car’s GPS (global positioning system) for every segment of your upcoming journey? Just imagine a late night, last minute trip to the store—it’s the only store still...

VisitBritain takes marketing initiatives for independent hotels and agents...
VisitBritain.TV, the website of Britain’s national tourism agency, has signed a pact with web-based hotel review and booking site Hotels.tv. The partnerships sees Hotels.tv become a partner channel responsible for providing video content on independent hotels on the site. VisitBritain.tv...

Business travel market benefits from returning corporate travel budgets...
The business travel market is basking in the validating glow of returning corporate travel budgets, according to Pegasus Solutions. Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus, mentioned that companies that previously slashed their travel budgets are again willing to now...

Cox & Kings and Holidaybreak reach agreement on acquisition...
Tour Operator Cox & Kings and Holidaybreak have confirmed an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition by Prometheon Holdings (UK) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cox & Kings, of the entire issued and to be issued share...

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