Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

Google released their latest labs project called “City Tours” last week.  I was quick to jump on the bandwagon and take a look, but I resisted from posting right away because I wanted to think a little more deeply about the implications of the application.  Let’s not forget that Google is a powerhouse and, if they wanted to, develop and release ANY travel application they want in any vertical.  With a single mouse click they could probably brush Kayak, Fly.com, Bing.com, or anyone else off the Read more [...]

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One of my favorite things about speaking at conferences and seminars around the World is what I learn while I’m there.  I often find that I learn just as much being at these confernences as the attendees learn from me.  One such experience was at the Creative Lapland Seminar in Rovaniemi, Finland.  The theme of the seminar this year was “The Best Show Cases in the Experience Economy Focused on Tourism”.  My contribution was to talk about the philosophies behind the creation of Rezgo.com and to Read more [...]

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Distribution has been a common (if not cumbersome) part of life for airlines and hotels for many years now.  But hotels and airlines are only the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to the abundance of tourism products that could potentially be distributed.  Destination product suppliers like walking tours, whale watching, boat tours, bicycle tours, bus tours, and the like are, for the most part, absent from distribution channels.  Although there are a few applications that cater specifically Read more [...]

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To demonstrate my point, I’m writing this post on my iPhone. Why, you ask, would I take the time to tap out a full post on my mobile? Partly because I wanted to prove a point but mostly because the battery on my laptop ran out and I really wanted to get this post done. Okay, back to the point. Mobile devices like the iPhone are so capable now that you can write content and submit posts where ever you happen to be. The benefit to tourism is obvious, at least in my mind, and that is that you can now Read more [...]

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One of the most powerful aspects about tourism is that it is an industry that everyone in a destination can participate in.  Whether they know it or not, everyone from the local bus driver to the hot dog vendor on the corner is contributing or benefiting from the tourism industry.  In a mature market like Vancouver, most businesses recognize that they are part of the tourism equation and most have found a way to participate.  The local tourism board, Tourism Vancouver, has a very strong marketing Read more [...]

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Scott Woodhouse, CMO of Travellr.com contacted me in early March to invite me and my readers to participate in a private beta test of Travellr.com, a new website he has launched.  What I really liked was the fact that Scott was proactive and created a beta code “t4blog” before he contacted me.  For all you other Web 2.0 marketing types out there, this is a great example of how to engage with a blogger effectively. I released the beta code to my 850+ Travel 2.0 Facebook Group members and received Read more [...]

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You’ll probably recognize the Three Musketeer’s famous tag line “All for one and one for all”, but does it really work in a software as a service environment?  That is the challenge I was faced with this weekend after we released our latest round of updates to Rezgo.  The challenge I face everyday with Rezgo is balancing the needs of the whole with the needs of the few.  Not to get too nerdy on you, but I am reminded constantly of the line in The Wrath of Khan where Spock says: “The needs of Read more [...]

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With so much focus on technology and innovation, its nice to see a web company launch something as simple and effective as a good blog site.  Granted I can say its a simple technological solution because I know how these things work.  That said, the real work in launching something like the Uptake Blog Network involves a good strategy, a lot of grunt work, great writers, good content, and good relationships.  The result is an interconnected mass of content that covers almost every aspect of travel Read more [...]

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I finally broke down and switched to an iPhone.  It’s not because I didn’t like my Nokia E-61, in fact, while those around me were going crazy over the iPhone, I held out and dutifully texted on my qwerty keyboard.  The reason I switched to the iPhone was two-fold.  Firstly, I wanted a multi-purpose device, one that could do all the same things as my Nokia but also take photos, play music, watch movies, and surf the web (more elegantly).  The second reason was because there are a huge number Read more [...]

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Cadabra Limited Product Description: Cadabra is creating a worldwide online travel agency specializing in experiential tour planning by combining its innovative software with a network of destination expert inbound tour operators. Cadabra’s Web-based technology allows consumers (or travel agents) to research, plan and book all aspects of complex multidestination touring type travel itineraries in one place including accommodation, activities, transport and journey planning. These tools, together Read more [...]

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