Yahoo! has completely re-launched its travel sites

eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "Yahoo! Travel in Europe, which has recently undergone changes, says from a product standpoint the company has completely re-launched its travel sites in both the UK and France, with Germany launching in September..

According to Tim Frankcom, European head of Travel, Yahoo!/Kelkoo, the new site combines best of breed content providers with a leading selection of travel companies to offer users across the board with a comprehensive travel resource in one easy-to-use service.

"Yahoo! Travel features independent in-depth travel guides, hotel reviews, holiday deals and information on over 20,000 destinations across the world. The new site also features the latest content and images supplied by Lonely Planet and WCities and a 'Destination Of The Week' section that will feature a key sponsor. Customers can also view deals from multiple travel websites, travel agents and suppliers to source a complete holiday, incorporating flights, hotels and car hire in one easy-to-use service," says Franckcom.

Franckcom recently shared information on company's standing in the region and his viewpoint on the trends with Eyefortravel.com in an interview. Excerpts:

How do you think Yahoo! Travel Europe is leveraging its brand strength? How do you think your company is in an advantageous position vis-à-vis competitors?

Yahoo! is one of the largest destination sites in the world, Yahoo! travel has the added advantage of being able to draw on Yahoo!'s entire community of users across Europe. For example, as a way of capturing the thoughts of our community of users, we have just added the ability for customers to add reviews about any restaurant, hotel, or destination in our travel guide. Currently we have in the region of 300,000 user reviews.

Yahoo! Travel offers a comprehensive service for both users and advertisers. Yahoo! Travel offers a holistic advertising solution including branded advertising and sponsorship opportunities as well as sponsored search placements and specialist search engine advertising.

Users can thoroughly research a destination before visiting or buying a ticket, and search for the right fare, hotel or car for their trip.

Which according to you are the most cost effective search engine promotion strategies?

The most effective search engine strategies are the ones, which include all elements of the marketing mix. Keyword buying (SEM) through companies like Overture, listing your company's products on specialist search sites like Yahoo! Travel search and of course exploiting branded media and sponsorship opportunities to raise brand awareness. Relevant branded advertising around the travel search will reinforce your message whilst placing your brand front of mind when a customer is searching, compounding the impact that such advertising solutions offer in isolation.

How do customers distinguish between search engines, meta-search engines and online intermediaries?

Search engines provide an excellent starting point for consumers looking for travel online, but general search engines do not provide the necessary product-specific information for a customer to make a purchase decision, which is where meta-search engines and online intermediaries come in. Meta-search engines, like Yahoo! Travel Search offer the added advantage of enabling users to view details of travel offerings from multiple sites including airlines and online travel agents - all in one search - helping users to find the right product for them. Travel search companies therefore enable the advertiser to access the buyer further along their purchase journey.

How do you think meta-search engines are trying to establish themselves? What are going to be the major considerations going ahead?

Meta-search engines have established themselves by filling an existing consumer demand. In order to build on these foundations, we must continue to satisfy consumer demands by helping the customer to find the right flight, hotel, holiday or city break which will enable us to drive highly qualified traffic to our advertisers.

What additional value, if any, can meta-search companies provide to consumers and suppliers?

The customers are able to search multiple travel companies in one search. In hotels alone we have now in excess of 20 advertisers, including Radisson, Intercontinental and Ramada Jarvis. This offers customers the ability to save time in searching while allowing the advertisers to receive highly qualified traffic their websites.

How would you differentiate various markets in Europe? Do these various channels appeal to different demographics and regions?

Although Yahoo! Travel has been designed to support and facilitate pan-European marketing campaigns, we also appreciate can only make this work effectively by taking account of local variations, which is why Yahoo! Travel operates with local sales, product and marketing teams for each of its European markets.

What are the implications of meta-search on brand integrity and distribution - and could it result in the commoditisation of your brand?

Yahoo! Travel is the largest travel site to offer display media advertising, sponsored search advertising and Travel Search advertising opportunities. From media placements to sponsorship opportunities in our travel guide section Yahoo! Travel offers a complete online marketing service to the travel industry integrating advertiser opportunities into all its pages and driving increased brand awareness through targeted campaigns. In this way Yahoo! Travel will help brands to reinforce their messages at all stages of the buying cycle.

Travel companies will also benefit from further opportunities to differentiate their brand as search users will ultimately visit their site to complete the transaction. Evidence from Yahoo! Shopping suggests that in even in shopping search, brand is more significant than price. We believe that brand is even more important to consumers when making significant purchases such as travel, where consumers want a company they can rely on to deliver their dream holiday."