Tourism Internet Marketing

Twitter is blocked in China – what does it mean to Travel and Tourism Marketing?

Jens — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:59:30 +0000

First some background:As reported by Reuters, and experienced by myself yesterday in sunny Beijing, the GFW (Great Fire Wall) strikes again. The Chinese Government censors blocked access to Twitter and other popular online services on Tuesday (June 2) afternoon at approximately 5pm, two days before the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. The photo-sharing site Flickr, email service Hotmail and other services were also unavailable this evening. Blogger.com was blocked last month and YouTube has been inaccessible from the mainland since March. (more…)

Using UGC to Attract Visitors - who leads?

Anna — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:35:18 +0000

In the good ‘ole days – a mere 30 years or so ago – destination marketing was a relatively simple affair: figure out your major selling features, maybe add some positioning spin ( a “snazzy byline or
contemporary looking logo), print some brochures, run an ad campaign; ensure there was a “call to action; ” wait for the phone to ring; mail out the brochures and hope for the best. (more…)

Why Discounting Won’t Work to Survive this Recession

Anna — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:54:40 +0000

The tourism industry has often boasted of its resilience and ability to rebound after drops in demand caused by such negative factors as 9/11, SARS or natural disasters. The adaptive response most frequently deployed is generic discounting. But does this serve the individual business or the tourism community well and will it work this time? (more…)

The Social Media Trends in Travel Tourism in 2009 and beyond

Jens — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:56:14 +0000

A panel at the Phocuswright Bloggers Summit at ITB in Berlin, including Darren Cronian, Kevin May, Klaus Hildebrandt, Martin Schobert, Vasco Sommer-Nunes, and moderated by Stephen Joyce about the Social Media Trends in Travel & Tourism. It was interesting to hear that a big discussion was formulating around the use of Twitter? (more…)

Design Hotels - a new Website for a new Focus

Jens — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:28:03 +0000

For years, I have respected Claus Sendlinger - the Founder and CEO of Design Hotels. One for his vision and fun personality, and second because he is German and created a very cool concept. Design Hotels is for cool stylish hotels what Leading Hotels of the World is for the luxury hotels. (more…)

Which one is the third largest blogging nation? Iran.

Jens — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:47:50 +0000

We now know that China is the biggest and most active blogging community in the world (more information can be found in Universal McCann’s Social Media Research Wave 3 research report), but what is the third largest blogging nation…I never guessed it, but thanks to this great piece by students of the Vancouver Film School, we now know…it is Iran! (more…)

Tourism Challenges and Opportunities in the Asia Pacific Region

Jens — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:40:03 +0000

Everybody is talking about China, India, and Vietnam…what is really going on in the fastest growing tourism destination in the world?I have had the pleasure to sit down with Peter de Jong, CEO of PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) to learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the Asia Pacific region. In particular, Peter addressed the issue around climate change, and how the markets such as China, India, and Vietnam have to focus on infrastructure issues and sustainability in order to be able to cope with the increasing demand. These are all topics that will be addressed at the innovative “PATA CEO Challenge” around Climate Change, held in Bangkok from April 28-30, 2008.

The Tips from the T-List will be there with a new e-Book version for the event, having added a section on climate change and sustainable tourism, as well as with a real-live webcast in collaboration with Travelmole, to broadcast the opening and closing sessions directly from Bangkok and invite bloggers, members of the media, and travel and tourism professionals to take part in the conversation. The interactive summit, featuring Dr. Pachauri, Chair of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as keynote speaker, will be co-moderated by my very good friend Anna Pollock.

Google Universal Search and your travel industry business. Are you ready?

Claude — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:34:57 +0000

It was around a year ago when Google started going live with universal search .

The goals was to bring all the other specialised search results (from Video, Maps , Images , News , User Reviews, etc.) to the main web search portal.I think it is interesting to analyse some data and live examples, thinking about a strategy and then to give our travel readers some tips to be operational with this “new Google game”.

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Green IT

Jens — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:47:47 +0000

Green IT – Is technology helping save energy or is the increased use of the internet and the associated server usage actually doing the exact opposite?
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Yahoo! Answers and the travel space.

Claude — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:41:05 +0000

Yahoo! Answers is becoming a reference site on the Internet. Its popularity could provides an opportunity for online marketers to acquire targeted referral traffic.

Yahoo! Answers propose The Yahoo! Answers Knowledge Partners program (currently in Beta) and Travelocity is one of the partners for the travel space.

By identifying Travelocity as providing great answers, they are building credibility and positive brand image. Good move.

Yahoo! Answers might be a viable way to increase your exposure and branding as an expert in your field.

When used correctly, Yahoo! Answers can be a source of direct referral traffic, even for small Cies who have time to handle this new channel and are not afraid sometimes by some “stupid” or “strange”questions!

My tip: Follow the guidelines, and as with any other social media site, focus first on what you can give to the community rather than what you can get from it.

What do you think about this marketing channel?

More information on Yahoo Search Blog