Latest Nielsen NetRatings research statistics for online travel reviewed by Netimperative show over 50s flock to travel websites: "More than half (54%) of Brit Web users have visited a travel site representing over 14 million people every month, with the over 50s market booming, according to new research.
The figures, from Internet research firm Nielsen//NetRatings, show a growth of 20% visiting travel sites in the last year alone Significantly, more than four in five (86%) of all British surfers aged over 50 have visited a travel site in the last year, with 1.5 million of them visiting the secure pages of travel websites to book in September 2005 The Nielsen//NetRatings research found that surfers spend on average 40 minutes a month viewing more than 70 pages of content on a variety of travel sites, from airlines to cruise ..
The most popular travel site with the over 50?s is Expedia, ahead of second-placed Lastminute.com by almost 900,000 visitors during summer 2005.
Overall, pure online travel sites are more popular with the over 50?s than the traditional high street brands - Expedia, Lastminute.com, Ebookers, Opodo, and Travelocity collectively more popular than TUI (who own Thomson), Thomas Cook, MyTravel and First Choice.
The research revealed that over 50?s are ?looking and booking? online more than younger counterparts - accessing the secured section of travel websites to make bookings much more regularly."
Monday, November 28, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
AboveNet Prepares for the Launch of www.totaltravel.co.uk
AboveNet Prepares for the Launch of www.totaltravel.co.uk:
LONDON, November 16 /PRNewswire/ -- AboveNet Communications UK Ltd., a leading provider of fibre connectivity solutions for business and a subsidiary of AboveNet Inc., today announced that it has been chosen to provide totaltravel.com International, Australia's number one internet travel site, with its European internet infrastructure for the launch of its Great Britain site. As part of this agreement, AboveNet has also entered into a sponsorship deal to provide totaltravel.com with services in exchange for having a presence on the new Totaltravel portal.
Launched in Australia in 2002, www.totaltravel.com.au is now one of Australia's largest on-line travel guides. The site is designed for people booking short and long stay trips in and around Australia. It owes its popularity to its great deals on holidays as well as the amount and quality of information and beautiful photo galleries on its site.
The new Great Britain site offers users the opportunity to make travel arrangements by plane, train or taxi, view and print customised road maps, book accommodations, choose restaurants and tourist attractions and find more information about their chosen destination and its surrounding areas. The site already features over 3,000 hotels across England, Scotland and Wales.
"The success of the Australian portal highlights the demand for a travel site offering this level of detail. We have spent 12 months building the content on the UK site and have built a truly unique tool to help our users plan their perfect trip," said Michael Dennis, Director and Co-Founder of totaltravel.com. "We are very pleased to work with a world class provider like AboveNet UK, which will ensure our users receive excellent quality of service when spending time on our site."
Work has already begun on the content of the European sites, which are planned for launch in the next year. AboveNet's technology and comprehensive European network will enable totaltravel.com's rapid expansion into those markets.
LONDON, November 16 /PRNewswire/ -- AboveNet Communications UK Ltd., a leading provider of fibre connectivity solutions for business and a subsidiary of AboveNet Inc., today announced that it has been chosen to provide totaltravel.com International, Australia's number one internet travel site, with its European internet infrastructure for the launch of its Great Britain site. As part of this agreement, AboveNet has also entered into a sponsorship deal to provide totaltravel.com with services in exchange for having a presence on the new Totaltravel portal.
Launched in Australia in 2002, www.totaltravel.com.au is now one of Australia's largest on-line travel guides. The site is designed for people booking short and long stay trips in and around Australia. It owes its popularity to its great deals on holidays as well as the amount and quality of information and beautiful photo galleries on its site.
The new Great Britain site offers users the opportunity to make travel arrangements by plane, train or taxi, view and print customised road maps, book accommodations, choose restaurants and tourist attractions and find more information about their chosen destination and its surrounding areas. The site already features over 3,000 hotels across England, Scotland and Wales.
"The success of the Australian portal highlights the demand for a travel site offering this level of detail. We have spent 12 months building the content on the UK site and have built a truly unique tool to help our users plan their perfect trip," said Michael Dennis, Director and Co-Founder of totaltravel.com. "We are very pleased to work with a world class provider like AboveNet UK, which will ensure our users receive excellent quality of service when spending time on our site."
Work has already begun on the content of the European sites, which are planned for launch in the next year. AboveNet's technology and comprehensive European network will enable totaltravel.com's rapid expansion into those markets.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Early days for travel meta-search engines in Europe,
eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: Luke McNeice, chief technology officer, Bezurk says "still early days for travel meta-search engines in Europe, with lots of start ups and 'no real dominant players yet...
"Certainly the biggest development in meta-search is the strategic move by the general search engines to either partner or buy into the meta search space, look at Yahoo's acquisition of Kelkoo and FareChase and AOL's investment in Kayak. These developments certinaly validate the value of travel meta search."
McNeice said, "At this stage we are planning on focusing on UK first, as Europe presents a load of challenges which we are currently addressing in our upcoming Asia Pacific launch i.e. multiple languages and cultures. We need to achieve our Asia Pacific roll-out before we tackle Europe."
He continued: "We're just about to launch Bezurk 2.0 which will extend the existing rich user interface to enable customers to compare airfares from multiple websites by price, by schedule, by airline and by provider in real-time thanks to a new AJAX interface recently made famous by Google's revolutionary GMail."
"For hotels we've collated data from over 70 thousand hotels worldwide, which will give our customers unprecedented access to information about hotels in real-time. They will be able to view descriptions and images with the search results, and then be able to further zero in on hotels that they're after by adjusting in real-time"
"Certainly the biggest development in meta-search is the strategic move by the general search engines to either partner or buy into the meta search space, look at Yahoo's acquisition of Kelkoo and FareChase and AOL's investment in Kayak. These developments certinaly validate the value of travel meta search."
McNeice said, "At this stage we are planning on focusing on UK first, as Europe presents a load of challenges which we are currently addressing in our upcoming Asia Pacific launch i.e. multiple languages and cultures. We need to achieve our Asia Pacific roll-out before we tackle Europe."
He continued: "We're just about to launch Bezurk 2.0 which will extend the existing rich user interface to enable customers to compare airfares from multiple websites by price, by schedule, by airline and by provider in real-time thanks to a new AJAX interface recently made famous by Google's revolutionary GMail."
"For hotels we've collated data from over 70 thousand hotels worldwide, which will give our customers unprecedented access to information about hotels in real-time. They will be able to view descriptions and images with the search results, and then be able to further zero in on hotels that they're after by adjusting in real-time"
Totaltravel.com appoints ex-Flight Centre eCommerce chief
e-Travel Blackboard: Australia's Number One Industry Newsletter: "Totaltravel.com, the number one site for Australians seeking information about destinations, has appointed Flight Centres former eCommerce Australia chief as its new global marketing manager.
Paul Fisher was responsible for developing five of Australia's top travel websites including flightcentre.com.au, Australia's no.1 travel agency website, quickbeds.com, escapetravel.com.au, travelthere.com and studentflights.com.au during his time as founder of Flight Centres eCommerce division.
Mr Fishers appointment comes as totaltravel.com achieves more than 250,000 page views per day.
This is an exciting time to join totaltravel.com with more than 30,000 users logging on to it each day, Mr Fisher said.That makes it bigger than Lonely Planet, AAA Tourism and all the State Tourism Authority sites such as Tourism QLD for Australians seeking information about destinations.
And under Hitwises Destinations and Accommodation category, it is now hard on the heels of hotel booking engines such as wotif.com. "
Paul Fisher was responsible for developing five of Australia's top travel websites including flightcentre.com.au, Australia's no.1 travel agency website, quickbeds.com, escapetravel.com.au, travelthere.com and studentflights.com.au during his time as founder of Flight Centres eCommerce division.
Mr Fishers appointment comes as totaltravel.com achieves more than 250,000 page views per day.
This is an exciting time to join totaltravel.com with more than 30,000 users logging on to it each day, Mr Fisher said.That makes it bigger than Lonely Planet, AAA Tourism and all the State Tourism Authority sites such as Tourism QLD for Australians seeking information about destinations.
And under Hitwises Destinations and Accommodation category, it is now hard on the heels of hotel booking engines such as wotif.com. "
Thursday, October 27, 2005
TravelCLICK acquires Vantis International Corporation OnlineTravel News
eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "TravelCLICK Inc. has acquired Vantis International Corporation. The acquisition of travel reservations and marketing services firm will provide the Vantis customer base of over 5,000 hotels worldwide with access to an exclusive combination of decision-support services and technology that is proven to increase both hotel revenue and profitability. "
Monday, October 24, 2005
travel writers and photographers database online
WriteClick – A New Database Of Travel Writers & Photographers travmedia.com "A DYNAMIC new database of travel writers and photographers in Australia and around the world is poised to enhance the way in which the tourism and travel media industries conduct business.
The website, which includes more than 150 freelancers, aims to provide tourism organisations and public relations professionals working in tourism and travel, with specific details of the needs and interests of travel writers and photographers, in order to plan famils and functions and pitch story and photographic ideas.
At the same time, it is designed to promote travel writers and photographers who can list their specific needs and interests and therefore better attract the kinds of famils and functions in which they wish to participate and story and photographic ideas they wish to pursue."
Definitions of famil on the Web:
y office A company set up to manage a small number of wealthy family’s money. At a minimum, a family office has an administrative staff to manage the various brokerage accounts, private investments, memberships in organizations and boards, and charitable contributions that comprise a portfolio.
www.cmra.com/html/body_glossary.html
The website, which includes more than 150 freelancers, aims to provide tourism organisations and public relations professionals working in tourism and travel, with specific details of the needs and interests of travel writers and photographers, in order to plan famils and functions and pitch story and photographic ideas.
At the same time, it is designed to promote travel writers and photographers who can list their specific needs and interests and therefore better attract the kinds of famils and functions in which they wish to participate and story and photographic ideas they wish to pursue."
Definitions of famil on the Web:
y office A company set up to manage a small number of wealthy family’s money. At a minimum, a family office has an administrative staff to manage the various brokerage accounts, private investments, memberships in organizations and boards, and charitable contributions that comprise a portfolio.
www.cmra.com/html/body_glossary.html
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
totaltravel.com.au, Australia’s largest online travel guide Press Releases - Multi Map
Totaltravel Australia shows up on Google news search.....
Google Search: totaltravel: "Travel and Entertainment Seekers on totaltravel.com.au ..."
Press Releases - Directions Magazine: "
totaltravel.com.au, Australia’s largest online travel guide, today announced the deployment of Multimap’s online maps on its site to enable users to view detailed, interactive maps of tens of thousands of accommodation, entertainment, and service options. The added functionality is designed to facilitate travel and entertainment decision-making by equipping consumers with the location information they need to make an informed decision in a few easy steps from any page on the site. Multimap is one of the world’s leading providers of internet mapping services.
Malcolm Baker, CEO, totaltravel.com.au, said, “Multimap was the obvious choice when it came to selecting an online mapping partner. Thanks to its relationship with PSMA, street-level coverage of Australia is comprehensive and up-to-date. This, coupled with Multimap’s proven track record of reliable and flexible services, informed our choice. We remain delighted with our decision.”
Visitors to www.totaltravel.com.au can access Multimap’s interactive maps, with full zoom in/out, and pan N,S,E,W functionality, in just a few easy steps, wherever they are on the site. From the homepage, they can drill down to the area of interest from the overview map of Australia, select a directory of interest (accommodation, beauty and health, entertainment and eats, attractions and tours, transport and travel, or activities and sports), and click on an item of interest followed by the ‘Map’ button. Alternatively, they can click on a directory of interest on the homepage and proceed as outlined previously, or go straight to a map of the features flagged up on the homepage via a link for each entry.
Baker continued, “We wanted to make the maps as accessible as possible for our users, and, thanks to Multimap’s flexible services and the pervasiveness of links to the maps throughout the site, we’re delighted to say that we’ve achieved this!”
Chris Warrick, Managing Director of Multimap Australasia, said, “totaltravel.com.au provides an immensely helpful resource for people planning accommodation, entertainment and travel options in Australia, and the addition of our online mapping services to the site offers the perfect complement to its existing functionality. Our services are extremely useful to end users, giving them the confidence to proceed to make a booking.”"
Google Search: totaltravel: "Travel and Entertainment Seekers on totaltravel.com.au ..."
Press Releases - Directions Magazine: "
totaltravel.com.au, Australia’s largest online travel guide, today announced the deployment of Multimap’s online maps on its site to enable users to view detailed, interactive maps of tens of thousands of accommodation, entertainment, and service options. The added functionality is designed to facilitate travel and entertainment decision-making by equipping consumers with the location information they need to make an informed decision in a few easy steps from any page on the site. Multimap is one of the world’s leading providers of internet mapping services.
Malcolm Baker, CEO, totaltravel.com.au, said, “Multimap was the obvious choice when it came to selecting an online mapping partner. Thanks to its relationship with PSMA, street-level coverage of Australia is comprehensive and up-to-date. This, coupled with Multimap’s proven track record of reliable and flexible services, informed our choice. We remain delighted with our decision.”
Visitors to www.totaltravel.com.au can access Multimap’s interactive maps, with full zoom in/out, and pan N,S,E,W functionality, in just a few easy steps, wherever they are on the site. From the homepage, they can drill down to the area of interest from the overview map of Australia, select a directory of interest (accommodation, beauty and health, entertainment and eats, attractions and tours, transport and travel, or activities and sports), and click on an item of interest followed by the ‘Map’ button. Alternatively, they can click on a directory of interest on the homepage and proceed as outlined previously, or go straight to a map of the features flagged up on the homepage via a link for each entry.
Baker continued, “We wanted to make the maps as accessible as possible for our users, and, thanks to Multimap’s flexible services and the pervasiveness of links to the maps throughout the site, we’re delighted to say that we’ve achieved this!”
Chris Warrick, Managing Director of Multimap Australasia, said, “totaltravel.com.au provides an immensely helpful resource for people planning accommodation, entertainment and travel options in Australia, and the addition of our online mapping services to the site offers the perfect complement to its existing functionality. Our services are extremely useful to end users, giving them the confidence to proceed to make a booking.”"
Monday, October 17, 2005
TravelMole - Best web based agency www.totaltravel.co.uk Shortlisted:
TravelMole - The News and Resource Centre for the Travel Industry: "Best web based agency
www.lastminute.com
Shortlisted:
www.iglu.com
www.ebookers.com
www.totaltravel.co.uk"
The criteria for these awards are to recognise those who do the simple things right, often the most difficult task any of use face. In online terms this means clear purpose, easy navigation, effective and aesthetically-pleasing design, and minimal obstruction in the course of a user getting what they have visited the site for. All of the winners have over-achieved in this objective
www.lastminute.com
Shortlisted:
www.iglu.com
www.ebookers.com
www.totaltravel.co.uk"
The criteria for these awards are to recognise those who do the simple things right, often the most difficult task any of use face. In online terms this means clear purpose, easy navigation, effective and aesthetically-pleasing design, and minimal obstruction in the course of a user getting what they have visited the site for. All of the winners have over-achieved in this objective
Online Travel Marketing: Web Certain launches online travel marketing blog
Online Travel Marketing: Web Certain launches online travel marketing blog: "Web Certain, which has a wide range of travel clients, has launched an online travel marketing blog to keep travel web marketers up to date with the most important and relevant, travel news"
OAG & lastminute.com to distribute real-time flight status information directly to mobile devices
eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "OAG, a provider of flight schedules and online travel information, has entered into a partnership with lastminute.com to distribute real-time flight status information directly to mobile devices"
Site59 launch “Meet Me In…” travel coordinator, a new, patent-pending online tool
eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis Site59, the Travelocity owned lastminute travel provider, has today launched the "Meet Me In." travel coordinator, a new, patent-pending online tool that enables family and friends to connect by travelling from two departure cities to a common destination with one convenient, discounted travel package.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
European Online Travel Buyers survey
Internet Travel News - All European Online Travel Buyers Not Created Equal: "They access many of the same travel sites and visit many of the same places, but European online travel buyers differ in the ways they purchase their holiday travel.
According to findings from PhoCusWright's Online Travel Shopping and Buying Behavior: Key European Markets survey, 8 out of 10 U.K. online travelers use the Internet as the main way they purchase travel. But e-commerce barriers and embedded habits make German and French travelers more likely to use offline methods as well...
Online travel buyers in Germany and France are more likely to use a combination of online and offline channels than are U.K. buyers. In Germany, for example, 68% of online travel buyers are not committed to the Internet and use multiple methods for purchasing travel. That compares to only 40% in the U.K. who use multiple methods. Reasons for the disparity include the high volume of airline tickets purchased online via U.K. low-cost carriers, which lifts Internet usage overall...
Other results from PhoCusWright's Online Travel Shopping and Buying Behavior survey:
* On average, European online travel buyers search 4.76 Web sites before purchasing leisure travel. This propensity is significantly higher among German buyers (mean rating: 5.09).
* Nearly half of all online travel buyers in the U.K., Germany and France purchased packaged tours in the past year, and 70% of those travelers purchased them online.
* Online travel buyers purchase holiday travel from airlines more often than from any other travel source. However, this dominant position is slipping as more travelers choose online agencies and tour operator Web sites for longer-stay travel."
According to findings from PhoCusWright's Online Travel Shopping and Buying Behavior: Key European Markets survey, 8 out of 10 U.K. online travelers use the Internet as the main way they purchase travel. But e-commerce barriers and embedded habits make German and French travelers more likely to use offline methods as well...
Online travel buyers in Germany and France are more likely to use a combination of online and offline channels than are U.K. buyers. In Germany, for example, 68% of online travel buyers are not committed to the Internet and use multiple methods for purchasing travel. That compares to only 40% in the U.K. who use multiple methods. Reasons for the disparity include the high volume of airline tickets purchased online via U.K. low-cost carriers, which lifts Internet usage overall...
Other results from PhoCusWright's Online Travel Shopping and Buying Behavior survey:
* On average, European online travel buyers search 4.76 Web sites before purchasing leisure travel. This propensity is significantly higher among German buyers (mean rating: 5.09).
* Nearly half of all online travel buyers in the U.K., Germany and France purchased packaged tours in the past year, and 70% of those travelers purchased them online.
* Online travel buyers purchase holiday travel from airlines more often than from any other travel source. However, this dominant position is slipping as more travelers choose online agencies and tour operator Web sites for longer-stay travel."
Opodo CEO
Internet Travel News - Opodo CEO Says Being Number One Isnt the Be All and End All: "During the PhoCusWright Executive Conference, Simon Vincent, CEO, Opodo, outlined Opodo’s key strategy in moving forwards to transform the business...
Opodo have developed a supplier friendly hotel and accommodation model. Opodo will be going for growth in the core package holiday market and is aiming to develop customer intimacy across Europe...
“We’ve transformed the business, we have scale and we have put ourselves solidly among the top 3 online intermediaries”. He added: “Being number one isn’t the be all and end all"
Opodo have developed a supplier friendly hotel and accommodation model. Opodo will be going for growth in the core package holiday market and is aiming to develop customer intimacy across Europe...
“We’ve transformed the business, we have scale and we have put ourselves solidly among the top 3 online intermediaries”. He added: “Being number one isn’t the be all and end all"
Active Hotels Boss Says Get to Know your Customer Better
Internet Travel News - Active Hotels Boss Says Get to Know your Customer Better Travel industry entrepreneur Andy Phillipps reckons it is absolutely critical for online travel players to get to know the customer.
Andy warned that travel sites that do not act on 'customer feedback' face losing customers saying:
“Customers booking on the internet are transacting at an arms length, so it more difficult to find out what they think you are doing right or wrong...
Current hotel booking sites have a long way to go – they are just online brochures. The next step is to get customer feedback on what you are doing wrong...
It’s very important to take risks. If you don’t get things wrong you’re doing something wrong”.
Active Hotels have appointed Brainbox to develop new CRM Programme (customer relationship management) in a move towards a more customer-centric business model based on insight into customer behaviour and needs.
Phillipps highlighted the benefits of customer reviews, in addition to other interactive features on the site. He commented: “We are now giving guests questionnaires. We use previous guest feedback to help potential guests make future bookings”.
Active Hotels - Your Reservations Partner - Active Hotels appoint Brainbox to develop new CRM Programme: " Active Hotels, one of Europes leading online hotel reservation providers owned by priceline.com has appointed Brainbox, the analytical CRM division of Data Locator Group, to provide it with a detailed understanding of its customers through the creation of Personas - a new series of customer groups...
Jason Froggett, Managing Director, Brainbox comments: “Active Hotels has a great business model and is becoming truly customer-centric. With this in mind we are very much looking forward to working with them. The development of Personas will help their business fine tune their marketing strategy and make highly informed decisions regarding search and booking functionality.”
About Data Locator Group Plc
Data Locator Group Plc sources prospect data for multi-channel direct marketing via
telephone, mail and internet. Coupled with its dynamic UK based tele-marketing operation, broking expertise and data analytics team, Data Locator is uniquely positioned to generate, source, analyse and convert data into new customers, adding tangible bottom line benefits for its many blue-chip clients. Data Locator Group PLC is the foremost supplier of all round data services to the UK direct marketing industry.
Media enquiries: Karl Pykerman, Head of Marketing, Data Locator Group Plc, Karl.pykerman@datalocator.com tel: + 44 (0) 1923 281 700 "
define: crm - Google Search: "Definitions of crm on the Web:
CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth. (1)
www.iptv.org/digital/dictionary_internet.cfm"
Andy warned that travel sites that do not act on 'customer feedback' face losing customers saying:
“Customers booking on the internet are transacting at an arms length, so it more difficult to find out what they think you are doing right or wrong...
Current hotel booking sites have a long way to go – they are just online brochures. The next step is to get customer feedback on what you are doing wrong...
It’s very important to take risks. If you don’t get things wrong you’re doing something wrong”.
Active Hotels have appointed Brainbox to develop new CRM Programme (customer relationship management) in a move towards a more customer-centric business model based on insight into customer behaviour and needs.
Phillipps highlighted the benefits of customer reviews, in addition to other interactive features on the site. He commented: “We are now giving guests questionnaires. We use previous guest feedback to help potential guests make future bookings”.
Active Hotels - Your Reservations Partner - Active Hotels appoint Brainbox to develop new CRM Programme: " Active Hotels, one of Europes leading online hotel reservation providers owned by priceline.com has appointed Brainbox, the analytical CRM division of Data Locator Group, to provide it with a detailed understanding of its customers through the creation of Personas - a new series of customer groups...
Jason Froggett, Managing Director, Brainbox comments: “Active Hotels has a great business model and is becoming truly customer-centric. With this in mind we are very much looking forward to working with them. The development of Personas will help their business fine tune their marketing strategy and make highly informed decisions regarding search and booking functionality.”
About Data Locator Group Plc
Data Locator Group Plc sources prospect data for multi-channel direct marketing via
telephone, mail and internet. Coupled with its dynamic UK based tele-marketing operation, broking expertise and data analytics team, Data Locator is uniquely positioned to generate, source, analyse and convert data into new customers, adding tangible bottom line benefits for its many blue-chip clients. Data Locator Group PLC is the foremost supplier of all round data services to the UK direct marketing industry.
Media enquiries: Karl Pykerman, Head of Marketing, Data Locator Group Plc, Karl.pykerman@datalocator.com tel: + 44 (0) 1923 281 700 "
define: crm - Google Search: "Definitions of crm on the Web:
CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth. (1)
www.iptv.org/digital/dictionary_internet.cfm"
Monday, September 26, 2005
New online travel sites : Hotels.com launches local hotel booking sites
eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "Hotels.com launches local sites in Russia and Poland...the launches see sites go live with IP based country recognition, local-language interfaces and local currency pricing. The company said Hotels.com now operates local language sites in over 20 European countries, which include UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Benelux. The company is now focusing on country expansion, of which the launch of local-language sites in Russian and Polish are the latest step."
Travel heavyweights Orbitz, Worldspan sue each other for $50M
:: Travel Weekly :: Travel industry court cases: "Push came to shove this month as two major e-commerce partners, Orbitz and Worldspan, traded $50 million civil suits in two courts here.
Orbitz fired first, alleging in a suit filed on Sept. 16 that Worldspan had conned Orbitz into a “one-sided, long-term agreement” to provide a booking engine for the online service.
Worldspan countersued three days later, claiming to be the victim of “deception and abuse” since August 2000, when its partnership with Orbitz began. Worldspan also alleged that Orbitz stole Worldspan’s data and illegally used ITA Software and Galileo.
In its suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., here, Orbitz seeks a judgment of more than $50 million plus punitive damages, along with an order precluding Worldspan from pursuing its claims against Orbitz.
Orbitz claims that while negotiating a new contract, Worldspan concealed its objection to the way the Orbitz Web site intermingles flight information from direct connect airlines with information on carriers who do not have those Orbitz connections.
Orbitz also alleges that Worldspan hid the fact that it would not be giving Orbitz access to low cost airlines, including Independence Air.
In addition, Orbitz alleges that it didn’t know at the time the two parties extended their agreement to 2011 that Worldspan considered Orbitz’s use of ITA Software to be a violation of the agreement, which gives Worldspan exclusivity in GDS services."
Orbitz fired first, alleging in a suit filed on Sept. 16 that Worldspan had conned Orbitz into a “one-sided, long-term agreement” to provide a booking engine for the online service.
Worldspan countersued three days later, claiming to be the victim of “deception and abuse” since August 2000, when its partnership with Orbitz began. Worldspan also alleged that Orbitz stole Worldspan’s data and illegally used ITA Software and Galileo.
In its suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., here, Orbitz seeks a judgment of more than $50 million plus punitive damages, along with an order precluding Worldspan from pursuing its claims against Orbitz.
Orbitz claims that while negotiating a new contract, Worldspan concealed its objection to the way the Orbitz Web site intermingles flight information from direct connect airlines with information on carriers who do not have those Orbitz connections.
Orbitz also alleges that Worldspan hid the fact that it would not be giving Orbitz access to low cost airlines, including Independence Air.
In addition, Orbitz alleges that it didn’t know at the time the two parties extended their agreement to 2011 that Worldspan considered Orbitz’s use of ITA Software to be a violation of the agreement, which gives Worldspan exclusivity in GDS services."
Golden Tulip Hospitality Signs Global Agreement With Expedia.Com And Hotels.Com :: Hotel News Resource
Golden Tulip Hospitality Signs Global Agreement With Expedia.Com And Hotels.Com :: Hotel News Resource: "Golden Tulip Hospitality and Expedia have entered a global agreement involving a preferred marketing partnership that provides Expedia.com and Hotels.com customers with enhanced access and connectivity to over 400 properties that comprise the Golden Tulip Hospitality Group and alliance partners."
Friday, September 23, 2005
Search Engine Marketing in Hospitality
Hospitality Net - Industry News - Search Engine Marketing in Hospitality | By Max Starkov and Jason Price: "Search Engine Marketing in Hospitality | By Max Starkov and Jason Price
Search engine marketing is an essential component of the hotel direct online distribution strategy. According to Forrester research about 80% of overall website visits begin in a search engine or a directory service. Many other surveys also show that up to 85% of Internet users rely on search engines to locate relevant information on the Web (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc). Search marketing is an extremely dynamic field. Search algorithms change, new search techniques and formats introduced, new search services launched, new challenges emerge on a daily basis that keep search marketers busy. The implications of all this in hospitality are enormous and some highlighted in this article.
Background
In 2005, online travel sales will account for an estimated 30 percent of total travel sales- up from 25 percent last year and 21 percent in 2003, according to a recent report by Merrill Lynch. By 2007 online travel sales will represent 39 percent of all travel revenue, with growth from direct suppliers outpacing that of online travel intermediaries....
Search in Travel is Destination Focused
Unlike other e-commerce categories, Internet users search for travel and hospitality services and offerings within the context of the destination. Therefore the search engine strategy for travel and hotel websites is subject to a different methodology than what the generalist SEO (Search Engine Optimization) companies offer. Marketing a bank, eyeglass store, or dental office does not factor the characteristics or intensity of the destination. Nor do generalists differentiate travel search behaviors from general online consumers.
A destination-focused search engine strategy requires in-depth knowledge of the travel and hospitality industry, extensive destination research, destination target keyword analysis, and destination search behavior. Only a destination-focused search engine strategy can help the travel and hotel website leverage the popularity of the destination to its benefit.
Search in Travel (includes hospitality):
73% use search to find travel; 27% went directly to travel site
Travel is top 4 category in use of search requests and some studies report in the top four types of searches
Travel searches originating from a search engine tends to lead to travel being purchased two weeks out
With such vast numbers of searches originating from search engines, clearly search engines are an essential component to the hotel’s direct online distribution strategy. Ranking high on the engines and consistently staying there along with matching the right budget to compete effectively are all major competitive issues with advertisers online.
CASE STUDY A Boutique Hotel in California
Background: In highly competitive northern California market this boutique hotel needed to outsmart its competition and boost ADRs, revenues and occupancy rates. Internet distribution and marketing strategy developed from scratch.
Actions: HeBS launched an aggressive Direct Online Distribution and Marketing Strategy for the hotel, including an award-winning designed website, email marketing, search marketing and link popularity strategies.
Results: Within 12 months the hotel opt-in e-mail list grew from practically zero to over 10,000 recipients. The website ranks in top positions on all major search engines for most popular keyword terms. The hotel website, supported by powerful email, search marketing, link creation and online sponsorship campaigns has indeed become the “first point of contact” with customers and over 50% of hotel bookings come via the hotel website.
CASE STUDY Body Copy and Link Popularity of a Hotel Brand Website
Using HeBS’ proprietary CyberScore Rating System, we evaluated the website of a prestigious hotel brand (body copy and descriptions) and the site Link Popularity and compared it to the industry average derived from similar evaluations of over 20 brand websites.
The body copy on the property pages consistently failed to disclose the location of the hotel and to “associate” the property with its respective destination
Extremely low Keyword Density
No customer segmentation strategy resulting in the absence of rich content related to the key customer segments (e.g. meeting planners, wedding planners, business travelers, etc)
No destination web strategy to make the hotel the “hero” of its destination.
Low link popularity and even lower number of links recognized by Google, which inevitably will hurt the search engine ranking.
Audit Results: The hotel brand utilizes only 27% of the “best practices” opportunities, way behind the industry average of 48%.
Conclusion:
Online distribution has become the main distribution channel in hospitality. This year over 50% of all hotel sales will be directly influenced by the Internet. Search marketing is an essential component of the hotel direct online distribution strategy. It is part of a comprehensive eMarketing Strategy in hospitality, together with other important aspects such as email marketing, link popularity, online sponsorships. Search marketing and its main aspects: natural listings, paid inclusion, PPC and Local Search should become an integral part of the overall hotel marketing strategy, and an important line item in hotelier’s 2006 budget.
Hoteliers should focus all of their efforts and resources on building and expanding their existing Direct Online Distribution and Marketing Strategies. Consider seeking advice from an experienced Internet marketing hospitality consultancy to help navigate the Internet and utilize the Direct Online Channel to its fullest potential. From experts who can teach hoteliers and their staffs best practices and provide crucial professional development, as well as guide hotel company’s direct Internet distribution and marketing strategies, including search marketing and online brand building strategies, e-CRM, website optimization and email marketing strategies"
Search engine marketing is an essential component of the hotel direct online distribution strategy. According to Forrester research about 80% of overall website visits begin in a search engine or a directory service. Many other surveys also show that up to 85% of Internet users rely on search engines to locate relevant information on the Web (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc). Search marketing is an extremely dynamic field. Search algorithms change, new search techniques and formats introduced, new search services launched, new challenges emerge on a daily basis that keep search marketers busy. The implications of all this in hospitality are enormous and some highlighted in this article.
Background
In 2005, online travel sales will account for an estimated 30 percent of total travel sales- up from 25 percent last year and 21 percent in 2003, according to a recent report by Merrill Lynch. By 2007 online travel sales will represent 39 percent of all travel revenue, with growth from direct suppliers outpacing that of online travel intermediaries....
Search in Travel is Destination Focused
Unlike other e-commerce categories, Internet users search for travel and hospitality services and offerings within the context of the destination. Therefore the search engine strategy for travel and hotel websites is subject to a different methodology than what the generalist SEO (Search Engine Optimization) companies offer. Marketing a bank, eyeglass store, or dental office does not factor the characteristics or intensity of the destination. Nor do generalists differentiate travel search behaviors from general online consumers.
A destination-focused search engine strategy requires in-depth knowledge of the travel and hospitality industry, extensive destination research, destination target keyword analysis, and destination search behavior. Only a destination-focused search engine strategy can help the travel and hotel website leverage the popularity of the destination to its benefit.
Search in Travel (includes hospitality):
73% use search to find travel; 27% went directly to travel site
Travel is top 4 category in use of search requests and some studies report in the top four types of searches
Travel searches originating from a search engine tends to lead to travel being purchased two weeks out
With such vast numbers of searches originating from search engines, clearly search engines are an essential component to the hotel’s direct online distribution strategy. Ranking high on the engines and consistently staying there along with matching the right budget to compete effectively are all major competitive issues with advertisers online.
CASE STUDY A Boutique Hotel in California
Background: In highly competitive northern California market this boutique hotel needed to outsmart its competition and boost ADRs, revenues and occupancy rates. Internet distribution and marketing strategy developed from scratch.
Actions: HeBS launched an aggressive Direct Online Distribution and Marketing Strategy for the hotel, including an award-winning designed website, email marketing, search marketing and link popularity strategies.
Results: Within 12 months the hotel opt-in e-mail list grew from practically zero to over 10,000 recipients. The website ranks in top positions on all major search engines for most popular keyword terms. The hotel website, supported by powerful email, search marketing, link creation and online sponsorship campaigns has indeed become the “first point of contact” with customers and over 50% of hotel bookings come via the hotel website.
CASE STUDY Body Copy and Link Popularity of a Hotel Brand Website
Using HeBS’ proprietary CyberScore Rating System, we evaluated the website of a prestigious hotel brand (body copy and descriptions) and the site Link Popularity and compared it to the industry average derived from similar evaluations of over 20 brand websites.
The body copy on the property pages consistently failed to disclose the location of the hotel and to “associate” the property with its respective destination
Extremely low Keyword Density
No customer segmentation strategy resulting in the absence of rich content related to the key customer segments (e.g. meeting planners, wedding planners, business travelers, etc)
No destination web strategy to make the hotel the “hero” of its destination.
Low link popularity and even lower number of links recognized by Google, which inevitably will hurt the search engine ranking.
Audit Results: The hotel brand utilizes only 27% of the “best practices” opportunities, way behind the industry average of 48%.
Conclusion:
Online distribution has become the main distribution channel in hospitality. This year over 50% of all hotel sales will be directly influenced by the Internet. Search marketing is an essential component of the hotel direct online distribution strategy. It is part of a comprehensive eMarketing Strategy in hospitality, together with other important aspects such as email marketing, link popularity, online sponsorships. Search marketing and its main aspects: natural listings, paid inclusion, PPC and Local Search should become an integral part of the overall hotel marketing strategy, and an important line item in hotelier’s 2006 budget.
Hoteliers should focus all of their efforts and resources on building and expanding their existing Direct Online Distribution and Marketing Strategies. Consider seeking advice from an experienced Internet marketing hospitality consultancy to help navigate the Internet and utilize the Direct Online Channel to its fullest potential. From experts who can teach hoteliers and their staffs best practices and provide crucial professional development, as well as guide hotel company’s direct Internet distribution and marketing strategies, including search marketing and online brand building strategies, e-CRM, website optimization and email marketing strategies"
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Lastminute expands bricks and mortar presence- E-Shops Travel Consultant
TravelWeekly.co.uk - Jobs Search Details - E-Shops Travel Consultant: "Job Description
PURPOSE OF ROLE
Sales agents to advise and assist customers with travel plans and make bookings within lastminute.com retail outlets positioned at Airports and Railways stations nationwide
MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
� Responsible for booking holidays, flights, accommodation, tours, theatres, coaches and many other ancillary products.
� Advising customers as to availability / product suited to their requirements
� Making bookings -Upselling and cross selling
� Calling suppliers to ascertain availability
� Bank reconciliation
� lastminute.com customer face "
PURPOSE OF ROLE
Sales agents to advise and assist customers with travel plans and make bookings within lastminute.com retail outlets positioned at Airports and Railways stations nationwide
MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
� Responsible for booking holidays, flights, accommodation, tours, theatres, coaches and many other ancillary products.
� Advising customers as to availability / product suited to their requirements
� Making bookings -Upselling and cross selling
� Calling suppliers to ascertain availability
� Bank reconciliation
� lastminute.com customer face "
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