Laffitte Conseil

UGC sites need to facilitate a purchase decision making process

It is being acknowledged that the biggest effect Travel 2.0 will have is going to be in automating the word of mouth process for planning travel, giving travelers better ideas and direction for planning trips, which will yield richer and more satisfying travel experiences.

So how do experts see Travel 2.0 headed in the next year or so?

"My prediction for the next 12 months is the opening of the other major social networks to third party application developers which will enable Travel 2.0 companies to add travel planning applications with built-in relevancy within those social networking sites. I also expect the social networks will allow this relevancy or social graph to be exported and embedded in other sites. Finally, pursuant to the opening of LinkedIn, I expect a frenzied land grab for social applications that target the business traveler," according to Sam Shank, Vice President, General Manager of TravelPost.com, SideStep.

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Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008: Hot Destinations

Lonely Planet Bluelist: The Best in Travel 2008 has just been released. The book profiles the 30 intriguing places for 2008, as recommended by Lonely Planet, including these Asian destiantions

Northwest Vietnam
Vietnam is a hot destination these days, But for most visitors, hot means just that – the hot and steamy lowlands of the coastal regions. But if you crave adventure more than a holiday, it is time to chart a cooler course to the majestic mountains of the northwest.

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Web Users Reading Less Print

Since 2001, most Internet users say that they have continued reading the same amount of printed material, according to the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. Three-quarters said so in 2001, and 70% did in 2006.

But the number of Internet users saying they spend less time with offline printed materials rose from 19.3% in 2001 to 23.2% in 2006.

In a statement accompanying the findings, the USC Annenberg Center said Internet users "are using printed materials less often and are instead seeking out that information online, frequently from the online versions of the same sources. Everything in our work strongly suggests that this trend will increase significantly."

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European online holiday retail sales to reach euro 51 billion, says Forrester

Europeans will spend a projected euro 51 billion (US $71 billion) online during the Christmas season this year, according to Forrester Research. For the full year 2007, Forrester projects European online retail to grow 58 percent year-over-year. "The significant growth in online retail is due in part to increasing consumer confidence and familiarity with the Web," said Victoria Bracewell Lewis, a senior analyst at Forrester Research.

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Travelzoo UK attracts 200 new advertisers in 2007

Internet media company Travelzoo has shared that 200 new advertisers have promoted offers in its popular Top 20 newsletter and on the new Travelzoo.co.uk website since January this year.

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Hotels.com adds interactive rate calendar

Hotels.com unveiled a new room rate calendar feature that helps travelers quickly identify the best room rates available at the property of their choice. This tool is available for the full hotels.com selection of lodging options, including hotels, resorts, vacation rentals, and bed and breakfasts.

The rate calendar, which appears on the “Rooms & Rates” tab for each property on the hotels.com site, is color-coded to give users a quick, at-a-glance view of pricing levels for each day. Green indicates the lowest room rates, beige indicates moderate prices, and orange indicates the highest prices. In addition, the calendar displays the actual price for most properties, so that users can compare specific cost differences among different dates. hotels.com provides calendar data for six months into the future.

“For travelers who are flexible in their plans and mindful of costs, the rate calendar is an invaluable tool,” said Scott Booker, chief hotel expert for hotels.com. “This site feature is designed to help customers make a more informed decision; we will continue to focus on providing resources to help make the property research, selection and booking process as simple as possible.”

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Nielsen survey: Ignore China’s big spenders at your peril

A new survey has warned that Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and the travel industry needs to monitor changes and trends in their travel preferences, attitudes and perceptions towards various destinations,"

A report released by The Nielsen Company -The Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor 2007 - found more than one third of Chinese outbound travellers choose to stay in four-star hotels, with a further 10 percent opting for five-star luxury accommodation when heading overseas.

Dr. Grace Pan, Nielsen China head of Travel & Leisure Research, said, "While Chinese travellers appear to seek comfort, they are also becoming wise and well-prepared as they plan their trips, leveraging all the information available to them on the Internet."

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Hoteliers, don’t be fooled by the Web 2.0 hype

Social media may become a major force to be reckoned with by hotels, but, it isn’t right now. Remember that your first point of sale for the Internet is now your hotel’s web site. Make sure it’s well designed for search/sales, and it is well promoted, says Neil Salerno.

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AsiaTravel.com taps Bezurk

Asiatravel.com, the pan-Asia total travel reservation service and Bezurk.com, Asia Pacific’s leading travel search engine today announced a marketing partnership as part of which Asiatravel’s hotel and flight prices will be integrated into the Bezurk travel search which will expose Asiatravel to a large new audience.

Asiatravel.com recently launched an instant confirmation flight reservation service allowing customers the convenience of booking flights departing from Singapore.  This service will subsequently be extended to departure from all major Asian cities.

“We’ve had great results to date working with Bezurk to promote Asiatravel’s hotel offerings so now that Asiatravel has entered the online flights reservations business we’re delighted to extend our already successful partnership to promote our new flights service,” said Boh Tuang Poh, Asiatravel’s Executive Chairman. “We’re confident that our partnership with Bezurk will drive new users, increased bookings and repeat customers to Asiatravel.com”

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Travelocity launches new trip planning tool

Travelocity has announced the beta launch of the RoadTrip WizardTM, a new tool that streamlines and simplifies the road trip planning process. First to launch the RoadTrip Wizard platform, Travelocity customers can now benefit from a new way to plan every aspect of their road trip all in one place—a task that previously required multiple Web sites. This tool is available through an alliance with LeisureLogixTM, a new travel and navigation services company.

“Road trips are a part of the American culture,” said Andres Fabris, vice president business development Travelocity. “What our customers were missing was one place to plan their road trips based on what they want to see and do. The RoadTrip Wizard will not only fill this gap, it will also allow them to personalize plans based on what they want to get out of their trip.”

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