Managed Content is dead, long live UGC

I’ve been commenting a lot recently about the impact that user generated content is having on travel and tourism online. Now it would seem that others are also recognizing that ugc is quickly becoming the content of choice for most savvy travelers. In a recent post, Jens Thraenhart, commented that DMOs and other tourism agencies also had to start looking at ugc seriously if they want to continue effectively marketing to a growing online audience. In my previous post titled “Keeping Travel Agents Relevant“, I discuss how travel agents can increase their value to clients by providing... Read more »

Canada’s First E-Tourism Strategy Conference

I am so excited to promote the first Canada-e-connect conference to be held in Vancouver. The goal of the conference is to profile Canada’s tourism industry and to highlight innovations in online marketing and technology that support tourism. This is especially exciting because this conference would normally have been in Ottawa or Toronto prior to the CTC’s move to Vancouver. This conference marks a milestone in the development of online marketing and tourism technologies because it is an acknowledgment and an acceptance that internet distribution, marketing, social media, and new... Read more »

Expert vs. Amateur Reviews

I’ve been following an ongoing discussion on the WIWIH forums about the effect that expert reviews and amateur reviews have on the reputation of a hotel. I find this discussion particularly interesting because it is directly related to the increasing use of user generated content by travelers in the decision making process. Trip Advisor, among others, have been using amateur user ratings for some time as a way of rating properties in an unbiased manner. The challenge they face now is that property owners have realized that they too can produce their own user generated content in order... Read more »

Why Banks Consider Travel a Risky Business

Over the years I’ve worked with dozens of travel agencies and tour operators who have tried and been unsuccessful at getting a merchant account which allows them to accept credit cards for payments. In this credit driven world, it can be difficult to do business if you can’t accept credit cards for payments, especially on large travel related purchases. Some have come back to us in frustration to try and determine why they are being singled out by the banks and merchant processing companies. Many processors categorize travel with gambling, pornography, and online lotteries. For... Read more »