Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

Did you know that 22% of traffic to travel sites is driven by Google! No wonder Google is interested in this area given the amount of traffic around travel websites and the amount of money spent on advertising through Google’s channels. Mr. Amstrong started by saying that connecting with consumers is an important part of the success of marketing a destination. New Zealand Tourism, for example, has done an excellent job of connecting with consumers. The site contains a variety of assets including Read more [...]

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Michelle Peluso, CEO of Travelocity focused her talk on improving the user interface for consumers of travel products. The presentation was the first of an excellent series of presentations by top brand executives. Here is a summary of her presentation and my commentary from the PhoCusWright Conference 2007 in Orlando. Ms. Peluso’s opening comment was that the collective travel user interface needs be bigger and bolder, but that I believe she was referring to the need to provide more overall experience Read more [...]

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I had a chance to catch up with Jeremy Gutsche from Trendhunter.com Magazine, after his presentation at the Canada-e-connect Conference in Vancouver. I asked him what small activity and tour operators could do to increase the popularity of their activities. Jeremy re-iterated that if you want to make your story and brand more compelling, you must relentlessly obsess about your story and focus on making your value proposition different and more interesting than your competition. Here is the quick Read more [...]

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This is a interview Darren Johner, the webmaster for Tourism Vancouver. I was introduced to Darren through Phil Caines, who works for me at Rezgo.com. Phil used to work with Tourism Vancouver before working at Rezgo. According to Darren, the biggest take away from the Canada-e-connect conference is the sense of collaboration and community. Read more [...]

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Stephen Kaufer, CEO of Tripadvisor provided an engaging presentation about truth online and the effect that Tripadvisor has had of the travel industry. He discussed how products like TripAdvisor are promoting long tail products by allowing users to rate and comment on all types of accommodations and activities, not just those that are popular or well established. He noted that a tree top adventure in Colorado is now the most popular product on TripAdvisor. Mr. Kaufer went on to discuss that… Honest Read more [...]

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This is a great little vignette with William Bakker, the head of E-Commerce for Tourism BC. William is also one of the contributors to the “Tips from the T-List” book and an all round great guy. He is also one of the expert panelists at the the first ever blogger workshop and summit at the PhoCusWright Conference 2007 in Orlando, Florida. Look for more content about that later in the day. You can view his blog at http://www.wilhelmus.ca. Read more [...]

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Paypal and billmelater technologies are being accepted by airlines now. Internet has been focused on low fares. Mandate is to focus on revenue and provide access to low fare information as it pertains to specific traveler requirements, for example the lowest direct fare, or the lowest first class fare, etc. Meta search and vertical search – What is NWA view of these intermediary channels (for example Kayak.com). Meta search is different because they have a different customer value proposition. Read more [...]

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I had the opportunity to meet with Butch Langlois from PlanetEye.com, the innovative travel startup that won the Canada-E-Connect Entrepreneurial Spotlight. Butch and I talked a lot about start-ups, financing and what it takes to be successful in a highly competitive marketplace. PlanetEye.com looks like a really exciting site and I wish Butch the best of luck with the project. Read more [...]

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