Laffitte Conseil

The travel industry is making the most successful use of affiliate marketing, according to research conducted by E-consultancy

The survey into how brands (merchants) use affiliate marketing found that travel marketers spend an average of 16 per cent of their online budget in the channel to drive 18 per cent of their online sales.

Sponsored by buy.at, the survey also reveals that 84 percent of marketers in the travel sector say that affiliate marketing drives a high or medium volume and 56 percent report it is very cost effective for customer acquisition compared with 35 percent saying paid search is very cost-effective and just eight percent for display advertising. None of the travel brands surveyed consider affiliate marketing to be not 'cost-effective' but over half thought online display advertising is not cost-effective and over two thirds think mobile advertising is not cost-effective.

This follows the news that 71 percent of travel companies have increased their spend on affiliate marketing over the past two years and around a quarter of travel firms, have at least doubled their investment in the channel. 63 percent intend to increase their spend in the channel over the next two years.

Complete article

Lucien Barrière vise une place en or sur les moteurs

Etre leader dans l'hôtellerie de luxe n'empêche pas de se passer du référencement. Loin de son cœur de métier, le groupe Lucien Barrière s'est lancé dans la course à l'optimisation.

Article complet

Internet video and the travel industry

If ever two trends were meant to intersect, it’s the growth of consumer appetite for researching their travel and leisure options online on the one hand, and their exploding appetite for online video on the other. Before they decide where to go and how to get there, consumers browse multiple websites, looking for a destination or mode of travel that appeals to them. “Consumers conducting travel research online continue to outnumber those booking online,” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, citing data from a 2007 survey of 10,000 households nationwide. Online travel-related research outpaces actual online buying by two-to-one, Franco says. Which means it is increasingly important for industry websites to grab and keep visitors, and video is one way to accomplish that.

Complete article

HotelClub unveils new corporate identity, adds user content

Flairview Travel has now released its new corporate brand identity as HotelClub, encompassing their three accommodation specialist websites: HotelClub.com, RatesToGo.com and Asia-Hotels.com, with new website features to be launched starting with HotelClub.com.

Discount accommodation e-wholesaler, HotelClub (previously trading as Flairview Travel) has revealed its new corporate brand identity as well as new features for HotelClub.com.

From today, Flairview Travel will trade as HotelClub and will continue to operate its three highly successful accommodation specialist websites: HotelClub.com; RatesToGo.com and asia-hotels.com. The decision to re-brand the trading name has come in association with HotelClub’s Chicago based parent, Orbitz Worldwide, and demonstrates the powerful family grouping of companies created under this newly NYSE listed company.

Complete article

VirtualTourist.com to support Google’s new OpenSocial standard

As a pioneer in the arena of user-generated content and one of the largest online travel communities in the world, VirtualTourist.com is a strong supporter of OpenSocial, a set of common APIs for building social applications across the web.

Complete article

Two Chinese search players collaborate on new travel service

Qihoo.com, a community search platform with over 20 million unique visitors, and Qunar.com, China’s largest travel search engine with 10 million unique users, announced today the launch of a new, innovative service titled “360 Degrees Travel”. 360 Degrees Travel combines Qunar’s real-time pricing information for flights and hotels with Qihoo’s community services and user-generated content.

“This is a great opportunity for our customers. As China’s largest community search and aggregation service, we are looking forward to working with Qihoo.com. The cooperation between Qunar.com and Qihoo.com better meets demand for personalized travel information,” said Dai Zheng, Vice President at Qunar.com.

Complete article

Chinese prepared to indulge in luxury travel

The survey, conducted by the Nielsen Company and Pacific Asia Travel Association, showed travelers to Europe to be the biggest spenders, splashing out an average of $5,253 per trip.

In comparison, those holidaying in Asia spent about $1,900 per person.

The exceptions were those traveling to Hong Kong and Macao - the long-preferred shopping and entertainment destinations for Chinese - whose average spend was US$2,185.

Grace Pan, head of travel and leisure research for the Nielsen Company, China, said: “Asia remains the most popular destination for Chinese travelers because of the proximity.

Complete article

E-Mail Open Rates Hinge on 'Subject' Line

Personalized e-mails boost open rates, according to a MailerMailer study. The e-mail service provider found that personalized "subject" lines in particular increased the number of times recipients opened their mailings.

The "subject" line is so important that, even when marketers have recipients' permission, the wrong line can still mean trouble.

"The e-mail’s 'from' and 'subject' lines become key elements that help recipients quickly decide whether the e-mail is spam," said David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer.

Complete article

Ctrip taps Baidu for hotel search

China’s largest online travel agency Ctrip announced today that it has formed a partnership with Baidu to promote its hotels on Baidu Map.

According to the company, Baidu Map users will be able to search for nearly 5,000 hotels through Baidu and view hotel details as well as book rooms through Ctrip.

Complete article

Zuji voted best online travel agent in Asia Pacific

ZUJI received the prestigious TTG ‘Travel Industry Award’ during the ‘18th Annual Travel Awards’ ceremony and gala dinner held in Bangkok, Thailand attended by the cream of travel professionals in Asia Pacific. ZUJI’s Executive Team members - including General Manager of ZUJI Hong Kong - and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Scott Blume, accepted the award on behalf of ZUJI sites and teams located in Australia (zuji.com.au), Singapore (zuji.com.sg), Hong Kong (zuji.com.hk), Taiwan (zuji.com.tw), Korea (nextour.co.kr), New Zealand (zuji.co.nz) and India (Travelocity.co.in).

Complete article