Laffitte Conseil

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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Travelzoo opens more offices in Asia-Pacific

Travelzoo, a global Internet media company, today announced new business initiatives in China, Australia, and Taiwan. Travelzoo’s Shanghai office opened on October 8. On November 15, Travelzoo will open an office in Sydney followed by Taipei on December 1.

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Finding ways to make new online tools or functionality a success

Companies do not have visibility into where and what travel products consumers are researching and booking at competitor sites. This viewpoint came from Gregory Saks, travel analyst, Compete almost a year back.

On where things stand as of today, Saks said, "Many companies in the industry have become more sophisticated in their understanding of web-wide behaviour and analytics. Almost all major websites have good insight into "local analytics" through companies like Webtrends and Omniture. Now, more and more are connecting the dots between this information and what consumers are doing web-wide, once they leave your site."

Saks, a speaker during EyeforTravel's Travel Distribution Executive Conference 2007 being held in Las Vegas, said the biggest trend is that major travel marketers are embracing user generated content, whereas not too long ago there were few companies beyond the UGC sites themselves that played in the space.

"Today, brands like Starwood, Southwest, and La Quinta are using UGC as part of innovative new campaigns," he says.

In an interview with EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, Saks spoke about UGC roadmap. Excerpts from an interview:

Do consumers trust bloggers views more than traditional marketing? What is the key differentiator? 

An example I can share is that 82 percent of TripAdvisor users prefer consumer-generated reviews and opinions over a hotel's own marketing of itself. At the same time, 49 percent of these same TripAdvisor users think that consumer-generated content is biased. The takeaway is that consumers like to receive validation from multiple sources of information, even if no single source is perfect.

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Travelocity Business is to start providing travel management services in select Asia-Pacific countries for its client base

TBiz now manages more than $800 million in annual travel spend.

The announcement follows the successful launch of TBiz services in the United Kingdom and European Union in early 2006. TBiz air bookings originating from the European Union increased more than 30 percent in the first nine months of 2007.

Beginning in November, the agency will extend its service offering to existing clients with managed travel needs in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Services include: Initial booking (both online and offline); Standardised fulfillment and reporting that mirrors processes in North America and Europe; In-country quality control and ticket issuance; Personalised account management; Support for ticket changes; and 24 x 7 telephone support, including a centralized call center in the region during business hours.

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