Ex-www.travelmole.com: "Stephan Uhrenbacher takes over responsibility for Opodo,s sales and marketing strategy in Germany, the UK, France, Italy and the Nordic markets.
He comes from DocMorris, an online pharmacy where he was chief operating officer. Prior to that Mr Uhrenbacher held roles at Bild T-Online AG, Germanys largest content website according to Opodo, and Lastminute.com where he was head of Northern Europe, and Travel Channel GmbH, where he was managing director. "
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
More management changes at Lastminute
More management changes at Lastminute From April 29 Stephen Gleadle will replace David Howell, Lastminute.com's chief financial officer whose departure was announced last year.
Gleadle comes from technology company Synstar plc, where he was group finance director and company secretary. Previous roles include
group financial controller at Tarmac plc and senior financial roles at NFC plc and Mars Confectionery Ltd.
Gleadle comes from technology company Synstar plc, where he was group finance director and company secretary. Previous roles include
group financial controller at Tarmac plc and senior financial roles at NFC plc and Mars Confectionery Ltd.
Friday, March 25, 2005
The End of the Merchant Model as We Know It | By Max Starkov and Jason Price
Hospitality Net: "Over the last 4 years many hoteliers have been struggling to decrease their dependence on the online merchants and to develop direct online distribution strategies of their own. Hoteliers are also trying to find answers to several critical questions: does the cost of doing business with online merchants outweigh the cost of not doing business with them? What will be those crucial developments in the online hospitality marketplace over the next five years and what can hoteliers do to prepare for and take advantage of them now?..
Prime comments:
"The proverbial “pendulum” has shifted back in favor of hoteliers.
In the near future major brands and smart hoteliers will start introducing restrictions on how net wholesale rates can be marketed on the Internet by the third parties, which will gradually lead to a requirement that net rates should be bundled with other services and cannot be exposed “naked” on the Web...
Forrester predicts that dynamic packaging sales will quadruple between 2004 and 2009. 68% of online travelers would consider purchasing a dynamic package (PhoCusWright Survey). All major online intermediaries have embraced the dynamic packaging model. Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz report their dynamic packaging modules are the fastest growing segment of their overall bookings...
Hospitality eBusiness Strategies firmly believes that the following crucial developments in the hospitality industry over the next five years will benefit hoteliers and other travel suppliers and help lessen their dependence on the online intermediaries and transform the merchant model as we know it...
Conclusions:
Over the next 5 years the merchant model as we know it will disappear. It will be transformed into a “Commission Override” convergence model. Travel agency commissions will shrink from the current 10% level to 8% then 5%, in the end becoming a flat fee of $5-$10. Online merchant operators will start earning volume discounts above current agency commission levels but at a fraction of today’s levels.
Online intermediaries will further embrace the dynamic packaging model thus turning themselves into typical online wholesale packagers/tour operators, and start offering new advertising programs such as enhanced listings and positioning, PPC and display advertising."
Prime comments:
"The proverbial “pendulum” has shifted back in favor of hoteliers.
In the near future major brands and smart hoteliers will start introducing restrictions on how net wholesale rates can be marketed on the Internet by the third parties, which will gradually lead to a requirement that net rates should be bundled with other services and cannot be exposed “naked” on the Web...
Forrester predicts that dynamic packaging sales will quadruple between 2004 and 2009. 68% of online travelers would consider purchasing a dynamic package (PhoCusWright Survey). All major online intermediaries have embraced the dynamic packaging model. Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz report their dynamic packaging modules are the fastest growing segment of their overall bookings...
Hospitality eBusiness Strategies firmly believes that the following crucial developments in the hospitality industry over the next five years will benefit hoteliers and other travel suppliers and help lessen their dependence on the online intermediaries and transform the merchant model as we know it...
Conclusions:
Over the next 5 years the merchant model as we know it will disappear. It will be transformed into a “Commission Override” convergence model. Travel agency commissions will shrink from the current 10% level to 8% then 5%, in the end becoming a flat fee of $5-$10. Online merchant operators will start earning volume discounts above current agency commission levels but at a fraction of today’s levels.
Online intermediaries will further embrace the dynamic packaging model thus turning themselves into typical online wholesale packagers/tour operators, and start offering new advertising programs such as enhanced listings and positioning, PPC and display advertising."
Thursday, March 24, 2005
TUI UK 2,000 jobs to go
travelmole.com: "Restructuring costs within Thomson parent TUI UK cost £31.3 million last year, mainly due to redundancies."
End of hotel commissions - merchant model predicted.
travelmole.com: "In our view the standard travel agency commission, which is currently 10%, will disappear over the next 5 years in the same manner as it vanished in the airline and car rental sectors. redicts Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, Inc."
easyJet to offer all inclusive pricing
Travel Daily News : Ray Webster, easyjet Chief Executive, said:
"'Consumers cannot be fooled by misleading upfront fares. In fact, they base their decision to buy depending upon the final price they see. It`s time the consumer was given credit by other airlines and presented with an honest total fare upfront to make the decision making process quicker and easier. Again easyJet will be the market leader in changing the airline industry to be more focused on the customers needs whilst maintaining our famously low (and all-inclusive) fares.' "
"'Consumers cannot be fooled by misleading upfront fares. In fact, they base their decision to buy depending upon the final price they see. It`s time the consumer was given credit by other airlines and presented with an honest total fare upfront to make the decision making process quicker and easier. Again easyJet will be the market leader in changing the airline industry to be more focused on the customers needs whilst maintaining our famously low (and all-inclusive) fares.' "
European budget airlines move to Sabre Travel Network
Travel Daily News: "More European no-frills carriers move to Sabre Travel Network"
Cendant`s hotel web sites set record-breaking pace
Travel Daily News: "Cendant Hotel Group announced that the value of single-day bookings made through its brand Web sites reached the $1 million mark on Feb. 7, three months earlier than last year.
May 17 was the company`s first $1 million day last year.
Year-to-date, Cendant Hotel Group`s Web sites have recorded 21 days exceeding one million dollars in revenue. In terms of overall revenue, the Web sites are exceeding last year`s booking pace with a 38 percent growth in revenue year over year.
'At this rate, our Web sites may break the 2004 record of 52 million-dollar days for the year,' said Peter Strebel, Cendant Hotel Group executive vice president and chief marketing officer. 'This is a testament to the success of our efforts to make our Web sites more user-friendly and streamlined in the rebounding travel market.' "
May 17 was the company`s first $1 million day last year.
Year-to-date, Cendant Hotel Group`s Web sites have recorded 21 days exceeding one million dollars in revenue. In terms of overall revenue, the Web sites are exceeding last year`s booking pace with a 38 percent growth in revenue year over year.
'At this rate, our Web sites may break the 2004 record of 52 million-dollar days for the year,' said Peter Strebel, Cendant Hotel Group executive vice president and chief marketing officer. 'This is a testament to the success of our efforts to make our Web sites more user-friendly and streamlined in the rebounding travel market.' "
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Travel agent Londons richest Asian woman
travelmole.com: "Rita Sharma, head of the online holiday website bestattravel.co.uk, has been named as one of the wealthiest Asians in the UK – and the richest Asian woman in London.
According to The Independent newspaper, Sharma started life in the travel business with “a string of low-paid jobs selling airline tickets to rich travellers”, then setting up her own company in a small London office in 1986.
Today, bestattravel is reportedly valued at some £95 million."
According to The Independent newspaper, Sharma started life in the travel business with “a string of low-paid jobs selling airline tickets to rich travellers”, then setting up her own company in a small London office in 1986.
Today, bestattravel is reportedly valued at some £95 million."
For independent travellers the nternet has'compelling advantages' over agents
travelmole.com : A "survey by lifestyle analysts Mintel, claims that while the number of holidays booked through travel agents has remained static since 1999, holidays booked independently are up 60% over the same period...
Mintel head of research, Paul Rickard said: "For an increasing number of travellers, being in control of creating their own itineraries and doing their own booking creates a compelling advantage over the services of the travel agent. “Indeed, today, some 34% of adults like to travel independently."
Mintel head of research, Paul Rickard said: "For an increasing number of travellers, being in control of creating their own itineraries and doing their own booking creates a compelling advantage over the services of the travel agent. “Indeed, today, some 34% of adults like to travel independently."
Monday, March 21, 2005
AOL launches meta-search travel site
marketwatch.com Bambi Francisco reports : "AOL is launching a new travel site aimed at non-AOL members and the increasing number of brand-indifferent consumers searching for the best travel deals on the Web.
Time Warner's AOL's Pinpoint Travel, which is set to launch on Monday, helps consumers search 550 airlines and 85,000 hotels...
Much like the new version of travel sites such as Sidestep, Yahoo's Fairchase and Kayak.com, Pinpoint crawls and aggregates the Web for hotel and airline deals and gets a fee for a lead. Unlike the older generation travel sites, such as InterActive's (IACI: news, chart, profile) Expedia and Hotwire, or Priceline (PCLN: news, chart, profile) and Travelocity, Pinpoint does not broker the transactions.
The new site will not change AOL's partnership with Sabre Holdings' (TSG: news, chart, profile) Travelocity, whereby AOL acts as the full-service travel agent. AOL shares the revenue with Travelocity for the bookings conducted on the AOL Travel site.
The services are designed to target two different consumers, said DeKorte. The brand-loyal consumer who wants a full-service treatment will have the option to continue going to AOL Travel. But the searcher, whose criteria are price and convenience, may choose AOL Pinpoint. "Most consumers search three to four sites before making a purchase," said DeKorte.
Pinpoint will be powered by Kayak.com, a start-up that AOL took a minority interest in but also competes with. Asked why AOL didn't just buy Kayak.com since it would be competing with it, and Dekorte said AOL did consider purchasing start-up travel search sites, but it made more sense to build its own service in partnership with Kayak.com.
Besides marketing efforts, AOL plans on buying keywords from Google and Yahoo to drive traffic to its site. Those travel keywords can cost anywhere between 40 cents to $1."
Time Warner's AOL's Pinpoint Travel, which is set to launch on Monday, helps consumers search 550 airlines and 85,000 hotels...
Much like the new version of travel sites such as Sidestep, Yahoo's Fairchase and Kayak.com, Pinpoint crawls and aggregates the Web for hotel and airline deals and gets a fee for a lead. Unlike the older generation travel sites, such as InterActive's (IACI: news, chart, profile) Expedia and Hotwire, or Priceline (PCLN: news, chart, profile) and Travelocity, Pinpoint does not broker the transactions.
The new site will not change AOL's partnership with Sabre Holdings' (TSG: news, chart, profile) Travelocity, whereby AOL acts as the full-service travel agent. AOL shares the revenue with Travelocity for the bookings conducted on the AOL Travel site.
The services are designed to target two different consumers, said DeKorte. The brand-loyal consumer who wants a full-service treatment will have the option to continue going to AOL Travel. But the searcher, whose criteria are price and convenience, may choose AOL Pinpoint. "Most consumers search three to four sites before making a purchase," said DeKorte.
Pinpoint will be powered by Kayak.com, a start-up that AOL took a minority interest in but also competes with. Asked why AOL didn't just buy Kayak.com since it would be competing with it, and Dekorte said AOL did consider purchasing start-up travel search sites, but it made more sense to build its own service in partnership with Kayak.com.
Besides marketing efforts, AOL plans on buying keywords from Google and Yahoo to drive traffic to its site. Those travel keywords can cost anywhere between 40 cents to $1."
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Travel search terms Easyjet 2nd most 'Googled' word
travelmole.com: "The most searched for website on Google after ebay was easyjet, during February.
Other travel keywords in the top 50 search terms on Google in February were: ryanair, cheap flights, british airways, expedia, flights, holidays, flybe and travel insurance."
Travelmole title this "Why PPC is important" without explanation. Neither do they mention the possible problems re bidding on trademark terms
Other travel keywords in the top 50 search terms on Google in February were: ryanair, cheap flights, british airways, expedia, flights, holidays, flybe and travel insurance."
Travelmole title this "Why PPC is important" without explanation. Neither do they mention the possible problems re bidding on trademark terms
Travel search terms Easyjet 2nd most 'Googled' word
travelmole.com: "The most searched for website on Google after ebay was easyjet, during February.
Other travel keywords in the top 50 search terms on Google in February were: ryanair, cheap flights, british airways, expedia, flights, holidays, flybe and travel insurance."
Travelmole title this "Why PPC is important" without explanation. Neither do they mention the possible problems re bidding on trademark terms
Other travel keywords in the top 50 search terms on Google in February were: ryanair, cheap flights, british airways, expedia, flights, holidays, flybe and travel insurance."
Travelmole title this "Why PPC is important" without explanation. Neither do they mention the possible problems re bidding on trademark terms
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Priceline.com Chosen as Accor Hotels' Preferred Opaque Distribution
Internet Travel News: "Priceline.com said today that it has reached an agreement with Paris-based Accor Hotels to be the preferred opaque distribution partner for a selection of Accor hotels (mainly under the brands Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure) throughout Europe."
TripAdvisor Unveils Advanced Hotel Selection Tool
Internet Travel News - TripAdvisor Unveils Advanced Hotel Selection Tool: "TripAdvisor, the leading travel research site, announced the addition of an advanced hotel selection tool that enables travelers to easily view a destination's most popular hotels by price, neighborhood and star class. This comes as an addition to the highly regarded TripAdvisor Popularity Index, which uses more than 1 million reviews to rank over 135,000 hotels worldwide...
According to TripAdvisor, travelers consider price, location and quality to be the most important factors when choosing a hotel. The new advanced hotel selection tool is seen on TripAdvisor.com's destination-based hotel overview pages and includes:
- Price filter
- Neighborhood filter
- Star class filter"
According to TripAdvisor, travelers consider price, location and quality to be the most important factors when choosing a hotel. The new advanced hotel selection tool is seen on TripAdvisor.com's destination-based hotel overview pages and includes:
- Price filter
- Neighborhood filter
- Star class filter"
Travelocity add Disney to TotalTrip
breakingtravelnews.com : Travelocity "now offers consumers easy access to Magic Your Way Tickets for all Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando through Travelocity's dynamic flight+hotel+travel extras TotalTrip shopping engine. "
Opodo buys two more online agents
travelmole.com : "Opodo has bought Nordic online travel agency, Travellink...The online agency also announced it has acquired 100% of Eviaggi, an Italian online agency in which it first announced an interest in September last year, when it took over operational management of Eviaggi."
Monday, March 14, 2005
Zuji rides on popularity of online travel booking in Australia
eyefortravel.com: "Buoyed by increasing popularity of online travel booking in Australia, travel portal Zuji reportedly says its sales volumes had increased 167 per cent in 2004. The company expects the trend to grow further in 2005"
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Travel Agencies Online report.
Emarketer: "The online travel segment grew rapidly over the past three years, and growth is projected to be in the high teens for the next three years. So why are online travel agencies belting up for a bumpy ride?
As consumer options proliferate and the online travel market matures, eMarketer's new report, Travel Agencies Online explores the question of who is going to win and who is going to lose in the race to dominate this $66 billion US market.
According to eMarketer estimates, online travel sales will increase a "mere" 20% this year to $58 billion. Growth will continue at roughly this level through 2007 — short of the 57% growth registered in 2002, but a respectable gain nonetheless...
...with success has come competition. Selling direct, airlines and hotel chains have aggressively entered the market. Now shoppers bounce from site to site in search of the lowest price, and online travel search engines are springing up, serving up aggregated fares from multiple sources."
This latter statement about competition is the most likely reason for the online travel agencies question... I have always had serious doubts about travel sites which merely put the bricks and mortar agency model online. Such sites are severely limited in their exploitation of the benefits of internet commerce and are at the base of many of the search engine optimisation challenges within the travel sector - as such there is still a huge need for innovation to overturn this out dated model.
As consumer options proliferate and the online travel market matures, eMarketer's new report, Travel Agencies Online explores the question of who is going to win and who is going to lose in the race to dominate this $66 billion US market.
According to eMarketer estimates, online travel sales will increase a "mere" 20% this year to $58 billion. Growth will continue at roughly this level through 2007 — short of the 57% growth registered in 2002, but a respectable gain nonetheless...
...with success has come competition. Selling direct, airlines and hotel chains have aggressively entered the market. Now shoppers bounce from site to site in search of the lowest price, and online travel search engines are springing up, serving up aggregated fares from multiple sources."
This latter statement about competition is the most likely reason for the online travel agencies question... I have always had serious doubts about travel sites which merely put the bricks and mortar agency model online. Such sites are severely limited in their exploitation of the benefits of internet commerce and are at the base of many of the search engine optimisation challenges within the travel sector - as such there is still a huge need for innovation to overturn this out dated model.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Major Travel Sites Face Credibility Crunch
Hospitality Net : "Major Travel Sites Face Credibility Crunch An Examination of Booking First-Class Tickets Online :: By William J. McGee, Consultant, Consumer Reports WebWatch" (USA stats and figures)
Article charts rise of confidence in booking travel online noting 10% growth of first class airline tickets 2003 to 2004 in particular.
"Consumer Reports WebWatch tested a variety of domestic routes among six sites: Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and the Web sites of American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Delta Airlines."
They found that: "buying first-class tickets online can be much more difficult than buying economy-class tickets"
Main findings:
"Fare-jumping," when a rate for a ticket suddenly increases or decreases during the booking process, sometimes without notification to the user, continues to occur on Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity.
The single-largest incident of fare-jumping occurred testing Expedia, totaling $748.00
Although testers queried sites only for first-class fares, sites continually returned itineraries with business and even economy-class flights.
Testers found problems on Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz with missing or incorrect labeling information for the airlines’ classes of service.
Expedia led all six sites, returning the lowest first-class fare four of 10 times. Travelocity returned the highest percentage of nonstop first-class flights. Orbitz recorded the highest savings for a single itinerary, returning a first-class fare $1,348.70, or 242 percent, less than the lowest fare offered by its closest rival.
PDF full report
Article charts rise of confidence in booking travel online noting 10% growth of first class airline tickets 2003 to 2004 in particular.
"Consumer Reports WebWatch tested a variety of domestic routes among six sites: Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and the Web sites of American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Delta Airlines."
They found that: "buying first-class tickets online can be much more difficult than buying economy-class tickets"
Main findings:
"Fare-jumping," when a rate for a ticket suddenly increases or decreases during the booking process, sometimes without notification to the user, continues to occur on Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity.
The single-largest incident of fare-jumping occurred testing Expedia, totaling $748.00
Although testers queried sites only for first-class fares, sites continually returned itineraries with business and even economy-class flights.
Testers found problems on Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz with missing or incorrect labeling information for the airlines’ classes of service.
Expedia led all six sites, returning the lowest first-class fare four of 10 times. Travelocity returned the highest percentage of nonstop first-class flights. Orbitz recorded the highest savings for a single itinerary, returning a first-class fare $1,348.70, or 242 percent, less than the lowest fare offered by its closest rival.
PDF full report
Travelzoo newsletter success
DMNews.com | News | Article: Report by "Mickey Alam Khan Senior Editor"
"About 8.1 million subscribers nationwide have signed on to receive Travelzoo's most popular product, the weekly Top 20 e-mail newsletter listing what the company considers to be the 20 best travel deals that week on the Internet. This milestone, representing 31 percent growth from 2003 to 2004, is buttressed by two more. More than 175,000 deals from 300-plus companies were published as of January across the Travelzoo brand. And traffic at www.travelzoo.com that month jumped 176 percent versus the year-ago period to surpass 21 million page views...
We're different from the online agencies in that we don't sell travel, but rather act as an aggregated source of travel offer information," said Kelly Ford, vice president of marketing at Travelzoo, New York. "In fact, many of the large online agencies are our clients, which speaks to the fact that we're a complementary media outlet for them rather than a direct competitor."
Travelzoo makes money in two ways. One is paid placement on its site and e-mail products. The other is a fee charged to clients on a per-click basis for inclusion in the SuperSearch search engine, a tool that incorporates user feedback, flight schedules and other criteria to recommend relevant sites.
The company ended the fourth quarter of 2004 with more than 340 advertisers, a 42 percent increase from 240 in the year-ago period"
"About 8.1 million subscribers nationwide have signed on to receive Travelzoo's most popular product, the weekly Top 20 e-mail newsletter listing what the company considers to be the 20 best travel deals that week on the Internet. This milestone, representing 31 percent growth from 2003 to 2004, is buttressed by two more. More than 175,000 deals from 300-plus companies were published as of January across the Travelzoo brand. And traffic at www.travelzoo.com that month jumped 176 percent versus the year-ago period to surpass 21 million page views...
We're different from the online agencies in that we don't sell travel, but rather act as an aggregated source of travel offer information," said Kelly Ford, vice president of marketing at Travelzoo, New York. "In fact, many of the large online agencies are our clients, which speaks to the fact that we're a complementary media outlet for them rather than a direct competitor."
Travelzoo makes money in two ways. One is paid placement on its site and e-mail products. The other is a fee charged to clients on a per-click basis for inclusion in the SuperSearch search engine, a tool that incorporates user feedback, flight schedules and other criteria to recommend relevant sites.
The company ended the fourth quarter of 2004 with more than 340 advertisers, a 42 percent increase from 240 in the year-ago period"
Yahoo updates travel site
Yahoo Search Blog posted news of the updates.
CNET News.com reports: "Yahoo has added new features to its Farechase travel Web site, the company said Thursday...The upgrades are designed to let people refine their search results according to such criteria as preferred airlines, flight times, nearby airports and number of stops. People will also be able to sort results by price and departure times. In addition, the Web site will support more browsers, including Firefox, Netscape and Safari."
The article aslo reports on research by Keynote Systems which found "67 percent of 2,000 consumers participating in a study reported that they are likely to book a hotel room online. That compares with 57 percent who are open to using a phone reservation system.
Just 16 percent said they are willing to use a travel agent. The price difference and ability to compare prices are driving consumers to favor online travel, Keynote said."
CNET News.com reports: "Yahoo has added new features to its Farechase travel Web site, the company said Thursday...The upgrades are designed to let people refine their search results according to such criteria as preferred airlines, flight times, nearby airports and number of stops. People will also be able to sort results by price and departure times. In addition, the Web site will support more browsers, including Firefox, Netscape and Safari."
The article aslo reports on research by Keynote Systems which found "67 percent of 2,000 consumers participating in a study reported that they are likely to book a hotel room online. That compares with 57 percent who are open to using a phone reservation system.
Just 16 percent said they are willing to use a travel agent. The price difference and ability to compare prices are driving consumers to favor online travel, Keynote said."
Lastminute.com brief history
Spotlight: Lastminute.com's hard road to survival:
Report by Matthew Saltmarsh International Herald Tribune "Upbeat chief sees an end to losses
Summed up in one sentence: "Brent Hoberman could be an archetype of the dot-com era: His business, Lastminute.com, was feted, floated - and then hammered by the market. But unlike many of the e-commerce pioneers of the past decade, he's still hanging in there. While the ascent - and decline - seemed meteoric, the recovery is likely to be more of a steady slog....
Saltmarsh reckons the future is bright-ish though far more grounded than the early, heady days of the internet "bubbles" based on the following:
Europeans have lots of leisure time and the market is bigger than the United States, with far less online penetration.
PhoCusWright, a travel research company, said it expected the European online travel market to grow to €41.2 billion, or $54.4 billion, next year from €19.3 billion last year.
That could pique the interest of the U.S. giants of online travel, which are struggling for growth at home. There has been speculation that IAC/InterActive, run by Barry Diller, and Travelocity, owned by Sabre Holdings, might consider making a bid for Lastminute.com."
Report by Matthew Saltmarsh International Herald Tribune "Upbeat chief sees an end to losses
Summed up in one sentence: "Brent Hoberman could be an archetype of the dot-com era: His business, Lastminute.com, was feted, floated - and then hammered by the market. But unlike many of the e-commerce pioneers of the past decade, he's still hanging in there. While the ascent - and decline - seemed meteoric, the recovery is likely to be more of a steady slog....
Saltmarsh reckons the future is bright-ish though far more grounded than the early, heady days of the internet "bubbles" based on the following:
Europeans have lots of leisure time and the market is bigger than the United States, with far less online penetration.
PhoCusWright, a travel research company, said it expected the European online travel market to grow to €41.2 billion, or $54.4 billion, next year from €19.3 billion last year.
That could pique the interest of the U.S. giants of online travel, which are struggling for growth at home. There has been speculation that IAC/InterActive, run by Barry Diller, and Travelocity, owned by Sabre Holdings, might consider making a bid for Lastminute.com."
IAC to file to "spinoff" Expedia
seattlepi.nwsource.com "IAC/InterActiveCorp, owner of Bellevue-based online travel agency Expedia Inc., will file documents with federal regulators next month providing details of its plan to spin off Expedia and 15 of its other travel-related companies, the firm said yesterday."
IAC proposes to rename its travel division Expedia Inc., move related operations to Bellevue, and make Expedia a publicly held company with control of 15 other of IAC's travel-related companies. Shareholder approval is yet to obtained.
The article gives financials: "IAC yesterday posted a fourth-quarter loss of $42.6 million, or a net loss of 7 cents per share, after writing down the value of some assets. Revenue from the travel businesses grew at the slowest pace in at least four quarters.
The quarter's loss compared with net income of $156 million, or 20 cents, a year earlier, New York-based IAC said in a statement. Sales fell 4.9 percent to $1.72 billion after a change in accounting for hotels.com sales. Allowing for the change, revenue would have risen 9 percent."
technorati.com posts about Expedia
IAC proposes to rename its travel division Expedia Inc., move related operations to Bellevue, and make Expedia a publicly held company with control of 15 other of IAC's travel-related companies. Shareholder approval is yet to obtained.
The article gives financials: "IAC yesterday posted a fourth-quarter loss of $42.6 million, or a net loss of 7 cents per share, after writing down the value of some assets. Revenue from the travel businesses grew at the slowest pace in at least four quarters.
The quarter's loss compared with net income of $156 million, or 20 cents, a year earlier, New York-based IAC said in a statement. Sales fell 4.9 percent to $1.72 billion after a change in accounting for hotels.com sales. Allowing for the change, revenue would have risen 9 percent."
technorati.com posts about Expedia
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Lonely Planet publications for market for short breaks
travelmole.com: "Lonely Planet is launching city break guide packs after research found 90% of its readers enjoy short breaks. "
Cheapflights - website visitor stats
travelmole.co. "Cheapflights claims that over three million people visited its UK sites in January.
The statistic, which has been verified by an independent auditor, amounts to 3,070,481 unique users to the company’s three websites in January 2005 – these are www.cheapflights.co.uk, www.cheapholidaydeals.co.uk, www.cheapaccommodation.com. "
The statistic, which has been verified by an independent auditor, amounts to 3,070,481 unique users to the company’s three websites in January 2005 – these are www.cheapflights.co.uk, www.cheapholidaydeals.co.uk, www.cheapaccommodation.com. "
SideStep Makes Marketing Deals With Major International Airlines
biz.yahoo.com: "SideStep, Inc. the traveler's search engine, today announced marketing partnerships with six international airlines, including Lufthansa, Air France, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Aer Lingus and Air New Zealand. SideStep will use a broad suite of marketing programs to drive consumers directly to the carriers' Web sites to book their travel.
Key campaign elements will include:
-- Targeted advertising -- SideStep will feature geographically targeted offers within search results on both the SideStep.com Web site and the SideStep toolbar
-- Featured specials -- SideStep will detail partners' best deals on SideStep.com's TravelFinds tab (www.sidestep.com/travelfinds), which showcases notable travel bargains
-- Email marketing -- SideStep will highlight additional travel values from the carriers via its SideStep TravelFinds email newsletters"
Key campaign elements will include:
-- Targeted advertising -- SideStep will feature geographically targeted offers within search results on both the SideStep.com Web site and the SideStep toolbar
-- Featured specials -- SideStep will detail partners' best deals on SideStep.com's TravelFinds tab (www.sidestep.com/travelfinds), which showcases notable travel bargains
-- Email marketing -- SideStep will highlight additional travel values from the carriers via its SideStep TravelFinds email newsletters"
exeter considers hi-tech laser-guided buses
this is exeter
"Futuristic laser-guided buses could take to Exeter's roads under radical proposals unveiled by council bosses.They claim the hi-tech buses would provide the same reliability, speed and convenience as a light rail system at a fraction of the cost"
"Futuristic laser-guided buses could take to Exeter's roads under radical proposals unveiled by council bosses.They claim the hi-tech buses would provide the same reliability, speed and convenience as a light rail system at a fraction of the cost"
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Active Hotels on Best Small Companies to Work For list
travmedia.com Active Hotels, one of Europe’s leading online hotel reservations providers, has been listed for the second year running as one of the Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Best Small Companies to Work For’ in the UK.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Gridskipper The Urban Travel Guide
Gridskipper
Styles itself as: "Scouring the world for discount flights, chic hotels—and pretty people. Gridskipper, the decadent travel guide."
Also interesting because Writing over at Gridskipper Nick Denton "agreed to step in as guest editor..."
Steve Rubel provided the initial link: Micro Persuasion: Pitch.Me Del.icio.usly: "Nick Denton's on to a killer idea. He is guest blogging this week on his company's travel blog and he is asking readers to send him links via del.icio.us. "
This last named web service is hailed as the new next big thing - especially in its use of tags not file hierarchies to organise data....
Styles itself as: "Scouring the world for discount flights, chic hotels—and pretty people. Gridskipper, the decadent travel guide."
Also interesting because Writing over at Gridskipper Nick Denton "agreed to step in as guest editor..."
Steve Rubel provided the initial link: Micro Persuasion: Pitch.Me Del.icio.usly: "Nick Denton's on to a killer idea. He is guest blogging this week on his company's travel blog and he is asking readers to send him links via del.icio.us. "
This last named web service is hailed as the new next big thing - especially in its use of tags not file hierarchies to organise data....
EasyJet Feb. traffic up 16%
NewsFinder
" Low-fare U.K. airline carrier EasyJet (UK:EZJ) said passenger traffic in February was up 16.3 percent on the year to 2.2 million but that its load factor, a measure of passengers to available seats, eased 2.7 percentage points to 85.9 percent. 'It should be noted that the load factor for February 2004 was unusually high,' the airline said. "
" Low-fare U.K. airline carrier EasyJet (UK:EZJ) said passenger traffic in February was up 16.3 percent on the year to 2.2 million but that its load factor, a measure of passengers to available seats, eased 2.7 percentage points to 85.9 percent. 'It should be noted that the load factor for February 2004 was unusually high,' the airline said. "
Friday, March 04, 2005
Kayak.com uses ITA Software air fare search engine
Travel Weekly
Not so different after all? Has Kayak reached the limits of travel search comparison engines?
Dennis Schaal reports:"Kayak.com March 3 began using the ITA Software air fare search engine to supplement its reliance on supplier and third-party Web sites.
Kayak CEO Steve Hafner told TravelWeekly.com that the travel search and comparison shopping site will continue to conduct searches -- at least for now -- in the manner it has been doing. It will continue to spider some Web sites, access other fares through an XML application programmable interface, and will query Orbitz and OneTravel.com.
But he called access to ITA a big deal for Kayak because, now we can get the comprehensiveness we desire without relying on online agencies.
Orbitz is a Kayak partner and Kayak desires to keep the partnership, but Hafner said he wouldnt be surprised if the relationship ends.
He also conceded that some suppliers object to the volumes of users that Kayak was sending their way, a complaint that some suppliers had with previous generations of Web search and screen-scraping tools. Hafner said some airline sites cant handle the search volumes."
Not so different after all? Has Kayak reached the limits of travel search comparison engines?
Dennis Schaal reports:"Kayak.com March 3 began using the ITA Software air fare search engine to supplement its reliance on supplier and third-party Web sites.
Kayak CEO Steve Hafner told TravelWeekly.com that the travel search and comparison shopping site will continue to conduct searches -- at least for now -- in the manner it has been doing. It will continue to spider some Web sites, access other fares through an XML application programmable interface, and will query Orbitz and OneTravel.com.
But he called access to ITA a big deal for Kayak because, now we can get the comprehensiveness we desire without relying on online agencies.
Orbitz is a Kayak partner and Kayak desires to keep the partnership, but Hafner said he wouldnt be surprised if the relationship ends.
He also conceded that some suppliers object to the volumes of users that Kayak was sending their way, a complaint that some suppliers had with previous generations of Web search and screen-scraping tools. Hafner said some airline sites cant handle the search volumes."
IAC's Citysearch launches Local Pay For Performance
About Citysearch
"Local Pay For Performance (PFP) service"
Citysearch claims:
100 million monthly pageviews
Over 8 million Unique Visitors
25,000 local merchants already advertising
Powering local content for MSN, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves
"Local Pay For Performance (PFP) service"
Citysearch claims:
100 million monthly pageviews
Over 8 million Unique Visitors
25,000 local merchants already advertising
Powering local content for MSN, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves
EU 10 largest Hotel Groups and 10 Largest Hotel Brands
The MKG 2005 Ranking - Predominance of Accor
"As a preview of the in-depth European hotel industry report, compiled each year by MKG Consulting and published in the February/March issue of HTR, we present herein a list of the 10 largest groups and the 10 largest brands located in the European Union. For the first time, this ranking incorporates hotels located in the ten new European Union member states."
"As a preview of the in-depth European hotel industry report, compiled each year by MKG Consulting and published in the February/March issue of HTR, we present herein a list of the 10 largest groups and the 10 largest brands located in the European Union. For the first time, this ranking incorporates hotels located in the ten new European Union member states."
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Lonely Planet downloads for Optus Mobile customers
eyefortravel.com
Lonely Planet partners with Optus Mobile to provide content for mobile phone users.
Optus Mobile customers will be able to "to download Lonely Planet CityPicks travel guides to their java-enabled mobile phones via the Optus Zoo mobile content portal."
CityPicks launched in Europe where they have been very popular.
Jeff Trounce, Business Development Manager at Lonely Planet said “Australia, through our relationship with Optus, is the first market outside Europe to be able to access the city guides. We know from the European experience that people often download guides to their dream destinations, even if they are not travelling immediately."
Features of citypicks service:
"Optus Zoo subscribers can download Lonely Planet CityPicks guides from the Optus Zoo website via a PC or, if the phone is WAP enabled, download direct to their mobile phone. Once the CityPicks guide is downloaded to a phone customers can access it anywhere in the world regardless of network coverage. Customers can also download Lonely Planet CityPicks while overseas if their phone is activated for international roaming."
Lonely Planet partners with Optus Mobile to provide content for mobile phone users.
Optus Mobile customers will be able to "to download Lonely Planet CityPicks travel guides to their java-enabled mobile phones via the Optus Zoo mobile content portal."
CityPicks launched in Europe where they have been very popular.
Jeff Trounce, Business Development Manager at Lonely Planet said “Australia, through our relationship with Optus, is the first market outside Europe to be able to access the city guides. We know from the European experience that people often download guides to their dream destinations, even if they are not travelling immediately."
Features of citypicks service:
"Optus Zoo subscribers can download Lonely Planet CityPicks guides from the Optus Zoo website via a PC or, if the phone is WAP enabled, download direct to their mobile phone. Once the CityPicks guide is downloaded to a phone customers can access it anywhere in the world regardless of network coverage. Customers can also download Lonely Planet CityPicks while overseas if their phone is activated for international roaming."
SideStep to power travel search for 31 newspaper sites
eyefortravel.com
"SideStep, is to partner up with Knight Ridder Digital, the online division of Californias second largest newspaper publisher. Through this alliance, SideStep is to power travel search for Knight Ridder Digital's network of 31 newspaper sites, which has a total reach of 9.4 million monthly unique visitors"....piggyback on their branding and brands of existing advertisers to gain audience and increase their credibility.
"SideStep, is to partner up with Knight Ridder Digital, the online division of Californias second largest newspaper publisher. Through this alliance, SideStep is to power travel search for Knight Ridder Digital's network of 31 newspaper sites, which has a total reach of 9.4 million monthly unique visitors"....piggyback on their branding and brands of existing advertisers to gain audience and increase their credibility.
Hitwise Top 10 US "Travel - Agencies" sites
Hitwise
By VISITS to online "travel agencies"week ending 26 February, 2005
1. Expedia.com http://www.expedia.com
2. Travelocity.com http://www.travelocity.com
3. Orbitz http://www.orbitz.com
4. Cheap Tickets http://www.cheaptickets.com
5. Yahoo! Travel http://travel.yahoo.com
6. Hotwire http://www.hotwire.com
7. Priceline.com http://www.priceline.com
8. ITN.net http://www.itn.net
9. Vacations To Go http://www.vacationstogo.com
10. TravelNow.com http://www.travelnow.com
By VISITS to online "travel agencies"week ending 26 February, 2005
1. Expedia.com http://www.expedia.com
2. Travelocity.com http://www.travelocity.com
3. Orbitz http://www.orbitz.com
4. Cheap Tickets http://www.cheaptickets.com
5. Yahoo! Travel http://travel.yahoo.com
6. Hotwire http://www.hotwire.com
7. Priceline.com http://www.priceline.com
8. ITN.net http://www.itn.net
9. Vacations To Go http://www.vacationstogo.com
10. TravelNow.com http://www.travelnow.com
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Which way for online travel - comparison search or storefront?
eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "As consumers rush to the Internet to buy travel, a battle is brewing over whether the industry will look more like search company, Google, or virtual shopping mall, Amazon.com, contends Hotelmarketing.com. "
Galileo introduce "Complete Pricing"
:: Travel Weekly ::: "Galileo introduced a Complete Pricing feature for hotels, partnering with hotel representation company Supranational Hotels to launch the product.
Galileo-connected agents, when shopping for a Supranational property, will view the total price...the Complete Pricing display will be available to consumers on the Web as well, and that it expects to increase participation from other hotel chains"
Galileo-connected agents, when shopping for a Supranational property, will view the total price...the Complete Pricing display will be available to consumers on the Web as well, and that it expects to increase participation from other hotel chains"
World travel internet conference
Barbados Dec 2005
Links to presentations by:
Air Jamaica
Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless
Cendant
Cheapflights
Dot Travel
e-Travel
Galileo
Hitwise
Pegasus
Siemens
Tourism Global
Travelocity
Valtech
Worldspan
Also will feature details for the "World Travel Awards"
Links to presentations by:
Air Jamaica
Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless
Cendant
Cheapflights
Dot Travel
e-Travel
Galileo
Hitwise
Pegasus
Siemens
Tourism Global
Travelocity
Valtech
Worldspan
Also will feature details for the "World Travel Awards"
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