Focus Page 291
Olympic Spat – Quality Inn Vancouver Franchise Fight
A seemingly harmless franchise fight between the owners of the Quality Inn Vancouver Hotel and Quality Inn (the brand) has spiralled out of control into a giant consumer mess for travelers who booked rooms for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and got left high and dry.
My Twitter Digest for the Past Week 2009-10-26
RIP Geocities – Was #16 (tied) in first Media Metrix Jan 1996 Top Web Sites http://bit.ly/3cil5x | Still #92 in Sep ‘09 #
Metasearch, review and nontransactional is increasingly where the action is.
The days of straight forward travel booking on either an OTA or supplier site are rapidly coming to an end.
Long Tail and travel - Chris Anderson shows data
I am sure the timing is a complete fluke but two weeks after I published my first challenge to Chris Anderson’s Long Tail theory in my post EveryYou: Individuation and going beyond the Long Tail theory he published a post on seekingAlpha called the Long Tail of Travel.
Web Reservations International (WRI) up for sale for GBP 275mm (the Times)
The Times is reporting that Web Reservations International (WRI) is up for sale with a price tag of £275m.
Seat Review - Cathay Pacific Business Class (Herrinbone style)
I have lost track of what trip I am reviewing as I have consumed a lot of Cathay Pacific business class in the last few months. I have taken trips to Rome (via Hong Kong) and Tokyo and Seoul (with a CX leg care of a oneworld circle Pacific fare).
Hotel Market Segmentation
One of the components needed to apply hotel revenue management is market segmentation. It allows you to target and market to a variety of consumer groups with different behavior with an offer that matches their needs and budget level.
A Closer Look at The PhoCusWright Conference Online Ticket
PhoCusWright doesn’t just talk and issue reports about innovation and travel technology. They’re actually doing a little bit of innovating themselves.
US Congress Aims to Clean Up Cruise Industry’s Act
On Oct 21, 2009, the Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2009 (S. 1820) – which would ban the release of raw, untreated sewage in U.S. waters, including the Great Lakes – was introduced in the US Senate by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
The end of the DMO/CVB website? Europe says yes.
With websites such as Tripadvisor, WAYN, Google Maps, Facebook, etc., do DMO/NTO/CVB’s need websites at all 10 years from now?
European Online Travel Market Holds Steady in 2009
European online travel bookings are projected to grow slightly by 0.6% in 2009 according to PhoCusWright’s European Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition. Internet distribution channels continue to outperform the European travel market as a whole, which is projected to decline by 10% in 2009.
Twitter Users Are Now Younger on Average Than Facebook’s – The Steve Rubel Lifestream
The Pew Internet for the American Life Project is out with new data about Twitter …