Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

Thanks to Happy Hotelier for updating me on the latest T-List. Here it is again. T-List » A Luxury Travel Blog » aaron dalrymple » Adirondack Base Camp » ADV Italia » Air France Mexico – Weblog » Albert Barra » Apple Core Hotels » Aviación Digital » Bitácora de viajes » Blog de gestión turística » Blog de Viajes » Blog on Travel » BlogsdeTurismo.com » BootBlog » Brief Blog »... Read More...

Here is an excerpt from a Wikipedia entry about Sabre Holdings which clearly illustrates the inherent problems with a closed distribution system such as the GDSs. The original is available on Wikipedia. In 1981 a study[1] by American Airlines found that travel agents selected the flight appearing on the first line more than half the time. 92 percent of the time, the selected flight was on the first... Read More...

As a research exercise for our sales and business development team, I asked the questions: 1. What are the currently available GDS companies? 2. Where did they come from? 3. What websites do they own? The resulting answers, for many us who are familiar to the travel industry, are not altogether surprising. To a general consumer or to someone who is new to the sector, however, the results of the research... Read More...

T-List, where have you been all my life. Okay, maybe for the last two years. What an excellent idea, a list of popular travel and tourism blogs. For the most part, I am interested in the travel and tourism technology side of the discussion, but all of these blogs are worthwhile and provide active and lively discussion on the topics. Here is the current list that I discovered on RadarOn. Hotel... Read More...

PhoCusWright, the travel industry research authority released their five predictions about the future of the long tail in travel. The article is excellent and is a clear acknowledgment that technologies such as online booking systems and tour operator software specifically designed for sme tour operators are where the industry is going. Bob Offutt states: “There are low cost and shareware packages... Read More...

As a technologist with a focus on tourism and travel technologies I have had the opportunity to work with SME tour operators for some time. For most savvy operators, the opportunity to use new technologies to increase their exposure and bookings is ever present. For some, however, the perceived reality of implementing such a solution is simply too remote, too expensive, and too complex. In actuality... Read More...

For a long time now, prospective travelers have had the ability to search, find and make their basic flight and hotel reservations on-line. Only recently has it been possible for these same travelers to book their destination products, such as sightseeing tours and attraction tickets on line as well. Despite this trend, however, there is still no primary distribution system; which means that most travelers... Read More...

It seems that the Internet is full of applications that allow tour operators, independent hotel and motel owners and packaged vacation providers with online booking capabilities. Many of these booking engines are extremely expensive and many are not. Some are hosted and some are stand-a-lone. So how do you choose one that is right for your organization? Here are some important things to keep in mind... Read More...

I finally found a site that mentions both travel and web 2.0 in the same article: “In the world of travel, disparate data from direct sources, travel agents and intermediaries made it nearly impossible to find the best price or options for an itinerary. Sites like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz transformed that forever (and sites like Kayak are creating even more efficiency).” Found... Read More...