Up to this point, the chain has not been known necessarily for design-thinking or digital aptitude; in the most recent Digital IQ report, for example, Marriott did not rank in the top 10.

And unlike some of its rivals like Starwood’s W Hotels or aloft, who have been using targeted-to-creatives promotions to boost their brand cachet across demographics, Marriott has not been addressing the changing needs of both Millennials and digital-first, design-savvy, collaborative travelers in general.

The major strategic shift is seen first and foremost in the new, simplified brand identity. Following the cross-industry trend towards clean lines, uncluttered typeface, and iconic imagery, the brand is now represented by a straightforward “M”, sans-type.

Spawned by Grey New York, the marketing centers around the concept of “Travel Brilliantly,” and is driven by some seriously aspirational content.

The launch video (below) shows how far Marriott is trying to push into territory familiar to forward-looking, trendy hospitality brands like Starwood.

The video introduces the brand’s new perspective, saying “this is not a hotel, it’s an idea that travel should be brilliant”, “the promise of spaces as expansive as your imagination”, “offering surprises that will change as often as you do” and “this is not business as usual, it’s a new way to inspire, create, connect.”

It’s nothing more than a full-tilt new mission to drive the company’s direction in the coming years.

The company says that the changes reflect “the transformative change happening at its properties”, and that the campaign will be at the heart of an extensive, multi-year global marketing campaign.

Called “Travel Brilliantly,” it is a bold move amplifying the brand’s dedication to leading the future of travel. The dynamic campaign reflects the lifestyle of the next generation of travelers, who seamlessly blend work and play in a mobile and global world.

At its core, the campaign disrupts the traditional industry idea that a hotel is bound by its four walls. Rather, the campaign shifts the focus, celebrating how the global travel experience opens minds and is inspirational. As the advertising proclaims, “This is not a hotel.  It’s an idea that travel should be brilliant… It’s not only about where you’re staying. It’s about where you’re going.” From culinary to design to technology, the new campaign draws on the personal passion points and values of the next generation guest, to create a visual that is emblematic of the new Marriott experience.

The campaign will be boosted by a full multimedia budget, with TV, mobile and digital advertising buys fueling the exposure, in addition to an extensive website chronicling the new brand perspective at TravelBrilliantly.com.

While the boldness of the move is impressive – and bound to be noticed with its brashness, especially regarding the company’s ability to actually deliver on the new brand promise – one of the most obvious commitments to evolving the company’s culture is the co-creation platform being launched alongside the marketing campaign.

Mara Hannula, VP of global marketing for Marriott:

“The iconic Marriott Hotels brand is transforming itself and reasserting its position as an innovation leader. Therefore, the campaign had to be bold in not only staking our claim, but also engaging the next generation of travelers to join us in co-creating the future of travel.”

Travelers can submit ideas in categories such as Technology, Eat & Drink, Work & Play, Health & Wellness, Style & Design and Outside the Box. So far, there are only a few ideas – many of which are actually quite intelligent. There’s the 24-hour snack bar, pre-ordering toiletries and the Hotel Jukebox.

Another well-thought out concept is the Smart Fridge, which would be a good combination with the next idea of “choose your own mini-fridge” concept.

Fostering dialogue with consumers is indeed the modus operandi of “Generation Flux,” and the company is committed to bringing the best ideas to fruition.

Ideas submitted to the co-creation platform through the end of September will be considered for one of fifteen first prize winners. One top winner will be awarded Best Overall Idea, and be invited to travel and design alongside Marriott experts.

The three-judge panel sifting through the ideas includes Shira Lazar, host of What’s Trending, Marc Kushner, co-founder of Architizer and Matthew Von Ertfelda, vice president of innovation at Marriott.

The refocus will also spread on-property via 30 touch-points, such as key cards, Do Not Disturb hangers, in-room directories, and a series of topographic maps for guests.

Other areas of on-property improvements are highlighted extensively on the Travel Brilliantly website:

• Redesigned guest rooms: with an updated look, this places Marriott squarely back in the running, competing for both the business and leisure connected traveler.

• Mobile app: Marriott is releasing an app that places control at guests’ fingertips, including a check-in feature that’s quite impressive.

• New meeting spaces: A partnership with Steelcase, means that meetings are also getting a makeover in favor of what the company calls “the new mobile worker,” and includes initiatives such as Workspring at Marriott, Red Coat Direct and Workspace on Demand.

• Lobbies are now Greatrooms: Re-designed lobbies and public spaces known as “Greatrooms,” as seen in the above video, are replacing the traditional “lobby.” These spaces are modeled after successful co-working shared spaces at hotels such as New York’s Ace.

• New dining: Known as the Goji Kitchen, Marriott is investing serious capital into their F&B. Taking queues from the farm-to-table and pop-up culinary trends, the food space will transform itself throughout the day to deliver a fresh and new experience each mealtime.

Altogether, this is a significant move on Marriott’s part to refresh a brand that has not at all been synonymous with the trend-forward thinking being introduced in this complete brand overhaul.

This is a bold, concerted effort to position the brand for success and growth well into the next decade, and although not without risk, the shift has the potential to invigorate staff and attract new customers to the brand.

Monday 17 June 2013:

• Thomas Cook to launch new app for currency info and booking. The new app is expected to be released in the next few weeks and will include feeds from Thomas Cook Money and the main travel websites. It will include what it calls an “interactive calculator” so consumers can work out how much spending money will be required as well as the ability to order currency ahead of a trip.

• Best Western unveils new To Go application. The service is available on both Android and Apple devices and includes new user experience and navigation alongside access for users to the chain’s Best Western Rewards programme.

Thursday 13 June 2013:

• MapHook, the location-based travel journaling solution, recently launched an Android version of its mobile application. The Android version of MapHook offers all of the same great features as the original iPhone app, including the ability to share Hooks via Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail.

Wednesday 12 June 2013:

• Mapquest has launched their Windows 8 app that provides the full functionality of the product: Voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions using GPS, find restaurants, hotels, and attractions, access to recent searches and favorite locations, optimal routes for both driving and walking, live traffic conditions updated every 5 minutes, and Live Tiles update based on current location.

• British Airways integrates with Apple Passbook. Similar to other carriers which have taken the Passbook step, BA passengers can place their mobile boarding pass into the Apple service and be used in more than 100 airports around the world where BA accepts mobile passes. The pass will automatically appear on the iPhone’s locked screen for up to three hours before departure.

Tuesday 11 June 2013:

• Goibibo.com, India-based OTA has launched its iOS app that has domestic and international flight section. The company’s Android app has been downloaded more than half a million times. Goibibo also said that they will be adding bus and hotels vertical shortly. Goibibo receives 10% of their transactions via Android and HTML 5 apps.

Tuesday 4 June 2013:

• Trekksoft creates white label mobile app for activity suppliers. The software company has developed the Android and iOS-device app so that tour and activity providers can allow customers to search and book products from within a smartphone. The app also lets users group tours by location or type as well as using the GPS functionality to pinpoint the nearest activity to the handset.

Previous roundups:

• DEVICES – Product news, launches and more – May 2013

NB: Mobile map image via Shutterstock.

TripAdvisor has integrated all its products with Facebook Login, the first step to being able to connect with each user’s full social graph. By allowing Facebook users to fuse their accounts, TripAdvisor gains access to said user’s friends, interest and related data available via OpenGraph.

TripAdvisor connects this OpenGraph data into its canvas app, which encourages travelers to identify cities they’ve visited and want to go to.

TripAdvisor can then provide a much richer dataset to the user, as the user can see what cities friends have visited, what places they have stayed in, and what reviews they have left.

Friends’ ratings, check-ins, and likes are also easily available for comparison. Friends can compare their results with each other, delivering a more useful experience all around.

Within the app, users can create travel maps, rate attractions, earn badges and compare/compete with friends. Each of these actions produces a related piece of content on Facebook, which can boost the app’s viral exposure.

Of course, each of these actions also creates a seamless and highly compelling way to boost viral exposure via paid advertising – a rich set of actions to spend against in order to deliver the desired result.

Here’s a breakdown of the stats seen by the TripAdvisor integration of OpenGraph via Facebook login:

• 1 in 3 new reviews come from a user logged in via Facebook login.
• 27% increase in engagement for those users linked via Facebook login – likely due to interaction with friends.
• Facebook users contribute 2x more content than non-Facebook connected users.
• TripAdvisor users have published over 1 billion OpenGraph stories.

By layering the social aspect on top of the already-existing user information, the product becomes more useful across the board:

• Users get more detailed information from what TripAdvisor calls “the wisdom of friends” that helps users plan, enjoy and share better trips.
• TripAdvisor can mine relationships for data that increases the stickiness of their product, and receive more reviews and interactions as friends connect via the app.
• Facebook gets access to that much more information to seed elsewhere in the OpenGraph ecosystem.

But the Russia-based online accommodation startup says it’s taking a different tack in publicising the strategy to help find new positions for those unfortunate enough to be out.

A translation of the post says it’s a difficult day for Ostrovok as a third of its team leaves the company. It provides an email address for anyone looking for “great developers, sales people and other professionals”.

The post goes on to say that the company wants to break even in 2013 and will continue to hire new people but at a slower rate.

Those leaving the business will get three-months pay and be compensated for any stock options.

Ostrovok sealed funding of $25 million back in March in a Series B round led by General Catalyst Partners and including former Expedia boss Erik Blachford as well as investment from its founders.

At the time Faguet described the business as “fairly capital intensive” and said funds would go towards building a 3rd party API and boosting the customer service team.

Tnooz has contacted Faguet for more details.

Hotwire moved from sixth to fourth spot between April and May this year with an increase in market share of 0.5%. CheapoAir performed even better with a jump of almost 1.5% over the same period.

Expedia remains the market leader in the agency category.

Most popular travel websites in Canada for May 2013:

Agency

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Expedia Canada	www.expedia.ca	15.32%	1
2	Flight Network	www.flightnetwork.com	6.11%	2
3	www.cheapoair.ca	www.cheapoair.ca	4.06%	9
4	Hotwire	www.hotwire.com	3.71%	6
5	Priceline.com	www.priceline.com	3.29%	8
6	itravel2000	www.itravel2000.com	3.18%	4
7	Red Tag Vacations	www.redtag.ca	2.95%	5
8	Sunwing	www.sunwing.ca	2.88%	3
9	Tripcentral.ca	www.tripcentral.ca	2.81%	-
10	VacationsToGo.com	www.vacationstogo.com	2.64%	7

Destinations and Accommodation

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	TripAdvisor Canada	www.tripadvisor.ca	9.87%	1
2	Booking.com	www.booking.com	8.63%	2
3	Hotels.com	www.hotels.com	3.36%	4
4	TripAdvisor	www.tripadvisor.com	2.98%	3
5	Gosur.com	www.gosur.com	2.16%	5
6	City of Toronto	www.toronto.ca	2.07%	9
7	TripAdvisor France	www.tripadvisor.fr	2.04%	6
8	Princess Cruises	www.princess.com	1.71%	7
9	Vacation Rentals by Owner	www.vrbo.com	1.52%	8
10	InterContinental Hotels Group	www.ichotelsgroup.com	1.46%	-

Airlines

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	WestJet	www.westjet.com	28.44%	1
2	Air Canada	www.aircanada.ca	27.84%	2
3	Air Transat	www.airtransat.com	5.36%	3
4	Allegiant Air	www.allegiantair.com	3.34%	4
5	Porter	www.flyporter.com	3.26%	5
6	acaeronet.aircanada.ca	acaeronet.aircanada.ca	2.95%	7
7	United Airlines	www.united.com	2.29%	8
8	WestJet online check in	checkin.westjet.com	2.20%	6
9	Delta Air Lines	www.delta.com	1.91%	-
10	Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air	www.alaskaair.com	1.79%	10

NB: Data courtesy of Experian Hitwise

NB2: Canada image via Shutterstock.

That sound you’re hearing is the sound of a thousand app developers clattering away on their keyboards as they attempt to retrofit all of the existing apps out there to be compatible with Apple’s re-vamped operating system for its mobile devices, iOS7, which debuts this fall.

When announcing iOS7 last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook described iOS7 as the most significant change to the company’s operating system since 2007.

I believe that the most exciting part of the new operating system is not its re-designed user interface — which the mainstream media has focused on — but its new set of APIs and features for app developers.

I had the chance to try the beta version of the iOS7 and research its new capabilities and features, trying to determine which ones are relevant and useful for travel companies.

I was deeply impressed by the new support for map directions API, Air Drop of photos and itineraries, the new Apps Near Me tool and other promising bits of functionality.

Here are my favorite features and how I think they could be harnessed by developers of mobile travel apps:

Map Directions API
The new Map Kit enables apps to guide users to their destinations from within the app. Previously you were forced to push the user out of the app to a maps app if you needed to guide them with directions.

Despite the accuracy problems that Apple maps still have (although accuracy has been improving a lot), this is a great feature because “map snapshots” retain the user within the app, increasing the in-app engagement.

This feature can be useful for travel apps where you often need to guide your user to a destination, be it a hotel, a restaurant or a tourist attraction. Turn-by-turn walking directions will be available.

Additionally, the new API allows your users to rotate and move around the map in 3D using updated views and controls, which looks very cool.

And as a developer, you have “even more control of overlays,” in the words of the company, because you can now place items on different layers or replace portions of the map.

Multitasking
The Multitasking feature allows your app to update information and download content in the background without draining the user’s phone battery. This can be great for travel apps that generally need to refresh content with real-time availability, rich images, and geo-location.

This can also finally allow services that rely on scanning geo-located items on a regular basis to provide location specific information.

As an example, Highlight, an app that aims to inform you via push notifications if there are people around you with friends or interests in common, has failed so far to gain traction because their constant background activity drains the phone’s battery. With “multitasking” support, the problem is reduced, which is good news for this app, which was named one of the “App Store Best of 2012″, and other apps.

Travel-specific apps have a chance at scanning local information and sending the users push notifications relevant to their location. All the travel guide apps aiming to reinvent Lonely Planet will have a better shot at doing so.

AirDrop
AirDrop is a feature that is already available for Apple devices and allows the sharing of documents between different devices. Now you can add AirDrop support to your app. This way your users will be able to easily share photos, documents, URLs and other types of data with multiple devices nearby.

For travel apps this can be a great way for travelers to share travel itinerary details with their fellow travelers without leaving your app. The device user is automatically visible in AirDrop to his or her contacts also running iOS 7 and can optionally be visible to anyone nearby using iOS 7.

This can also be a way to finally make “social travel” happen on mobile by easily allowing instant sharing with your peers within close proximity.

The functionality use Bluetooth and wi-fi. Tap the “Share” icon and select the person with whom you want to share. No network or setup or NFC or “bumping” of devices needed, and transfers are encrypted.

Apps Near Me
The App Store will now have an “Apps Near Me” feature that will show users the most popular apps based on his or her location. This continues to show Apple’s emphasis on harnessing location to the fullest.

This feature can be highly useful for travel apps: accommodations booking apps near airports, tour-booking and taxi apps near hotels, travel-guide apps near museums, etc.

By making your app relevant to a location, you will gain the visibility and the ability to acquire new users that will discover your app on the go.

iOS in the Car
Apple has announced that iOS7 will be available for car manufacturers as an operating system within their cars. iOS in the Car is set to be released in 2014 and will be supported by a wide range of car brands including Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Ferrari, Chevrolet, Infiniti, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, and Jaguar.

This can be an amazing opportunity for travel companies to develop apps that are native to the car. Priceline recently shared that a high percentage of their mobile bookings were made from within a car and 20 miles or closer to their hotels.

It will also make a lot of sense to provide apps that help travelers discover destinations, and serve as a “tour guide” inside of their cars.

Rental car companies and the dominant sellers of GPS systems will be deeply affected by this functionality.

The disruption of mobile-first

In short, you should ignore the widespready mockery of the new user interface for iOS7. (Though I admit that the Tumblr “Jony Ive Redesigns Things” is definitely amusing in the way it satirises the visual redesign, which was spearheaded by Jony Ive, Apple’s VP of design.)

I’ve only touched on some of the functionality that could benefit app developers. Others include audio-only FaceTime calls (potentially making customer service live chat practical via apps); a barcode scanner for acquiring passes via Passbook” thanks to a new developer API; Apple’s iBeacons allowing apps to pinpoint the micro-location of a user within, say, a building, via Bluetooth;

From a broader perspective, iOS7 is part a momentous and positive change for the industry.

It is Apple’s first step into the “internet of things”. At some point every object in which we interact will be connected to the web, a trend that underlines the point I recently made on Tnooz about how mobile represents a technology enabling disruptive innovation.

I’m delighted to see how every new step on the way of development of this technology increases the possibilities of innovation and confirms the revolutionary nature of the change.

Travel companies that set up divisions that are mobile-first, or that begin with a mobile-first approach, will have a definite edge in adapting to this new world.

What fun things do you think travel app developers might do with the new toolkit?

NB: This is a guest post by Diego Saez-Gil, founder of WeHostels, the mobile-first global booking platform.

Monday 17 June 2013:

• Travelport and Oman Air unite for seat selection service. The Interactive Seat Assignment tool gives agents connected to both Galileo and Worldspan the chance to use seat maps to secure and manage seat selections on the Omani carrier for customers.

Friday 14 June 2013:

• Travelport selected to handle GDS duties for Smart Helpline in Poland. Smart Helpline is the Polish division of GAMA Business Travel, a US-based business travel management company.

Thursday 13 June 2013:

• Travelport integrates of Galileo RoomMaster into TravelSky. The Chinese state-owned GDS will feature around 90,000 properties via RoomMaster on its system, allowing its connected agencies to search and book any of the hotels around the world.

• Amadeus launches Spanish language version of Agenta platform. The product is initially being used by three host agencies in the US – Dan Travel, Acapulco Travel and IberoAmericana Travel – and is designed to support the growing number of Spanish language agents, mostly in the independent or home-working sector.

• Ryanair to sell open-top bus tour tickets from City Sightseeing. Passengers will be able to book tour tickets in over 40 cities around Europe on the airline’s main website as well as on-board flights.

Tuesday 11 June 2012:

•  London-based Supranational Hotels has chosen RateTiger as their online channel management partner.

• GTA and Preferred Hotel Group have partnered to increase visibility of the Preferred Hotel Group member portfolio among travellers worldwide. The new agreement gives Preferred Hotel Group enhanced distribution opportunities from GTA’s wholesale and retail HTML and XML systems, its expertise and a global network of over 2,300 local professionals worldwide.

Monday 10 June 2013:

• Travelport signs new content agreement with WestJet. The long-term deal will see agents connected to the Worldspan, Galileo and Apollo GDSs given access to the Canadian carrier’s content, fare families and some ancillary services (such as prepaid seats).

• On Holiday Group is putting together hotel deals for the newly launched Kayak package holidays service. The service, unveiled two weeks ago, now enables consumers to compare traditional packages, dynamic content and individual travel components from third parties as well as the OHG product which the OTA says will be exclusive deals with hoteliers.

• Dusit International, Thailand-based luxury hotel group has selected RateGain‘s PriceGain (rate intelligence tool) and RezGain (Distribution Management Solution) across all its properties to provide advanced rate intelligence and inventory distribution.

Friday 7 June 2013:

• Amadeus takes control of travel advertising business Travel Audience. The deal sees Amadeus become full owner of the company after upping the stake already held by off-shoot business TravelTainment. Travel Audience allows travel companies the chance to place targeted ads on other travel brands, such as metasearch engines and content sites. Current customer base is mainly online travel agencies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Travelport agent customers in India to get SIM card booking tools. The partnership with Matrix Cellular, by way of Travelport’s local distributor, InterGlobe Technology Quotient, allows agents to secure overseas SIM cards during the existing booking process through the Galileo desktop.

Wednesday 5 June 2013:

• HomeAway.com will add an additional 11,000 rural European vacation rentals from Toprural.com. HomeAway acquired Toprural.com in April 2012.

Tuesday 4 June 2013:

• Travelport lays out plans for investment in Egyptian travel sector. Specifically, Travelport says it introduce the Rapid Reprice and Document Producer Plus in the country, following the release of Agentivity earlier this year. A 24-hour call centre for agents using Travelport has been established and will soon be bolstered by a “floor walker” personal service for new customers.

Monday 3 June 2013:

Tnooz asked me to share my experience on the Ungrounded trip last week – it was an intense experience, and as I’m experiencing intense jet lag it has taken a while to pull my thoughts together!

For those who don’t know the so-called Ungrounded flight was put on by British Airways as a way to create solutions that might solve the gap between global STEM demand and resources.

In other words, we need more people working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to create the innovations that increase the productivity that drives the global economy.

The idea was to put 100 innovators from Silicon Valley and across the US on an airplane where we would have 11 uninterrupted hours to come up with solutions to the previously mentioned problem.

Once we landed we would meet with the ITU (part of the UN) and the G8 so they could help turn the ideas into reality.

The problem was broken into four areas to be tackled by four teams.

• Bringing more women into STEM careers
• Encouraging the growth of STEM in emerging economies
• Bringing other specialties like art into collaboration with STEM
• Working on finding ways to meet the US demand for STEM (this was the group I was in)

The trip began on a beautiful San Francisco day at the Clift hotel. We were greeted by British Airways staff in full uniform. Simon Talling-Smith from British Airways kicked things off before going introducing panels and speakers outlining the task ahead.

Gavin Newsom sent us off with a speech that was both brief and funny, something all politicians should aspire to.

We were then whisked off to San Francisco Airport and the British Airways lounge for a cocktail and getting to meet the flight crew before we boarded. When you have 130 people divided into four teams on a 747 logistical issues will arise.

IDEO was brought into organize the process. Unfortunately that meant I was in economy, but I did get a row to myself!

Because of the narrow aisles, noise, and lack of places to gather it turns out that modern commercial jets are not the optimal environment for interpersonal interaction.

But the groups made it work and came up with a winning idea from each.

After landing and being awake for 24 hours we were treated to a cocktail reception at the House of Lords hosted by the Baroness Scotland (including a tour).

[Note for tourists that would like photos in places where photography is not allowed - guards do not know what Google Glass is yet.]

We awoke early the next morning to attend the G8 innovation summit with presentations by leading entrepreneurs and executives, as well as the UK prime minister David Cameron, among others.

The winning ideas were presented there and at the DNA summit that followed. Based on those meetings and with the support of the ITU and the enthusiasm of their creators the ideas will soon be coming to fruition.

So what does this have to do with travel?

I think the key takeaway is that an airline with a storied history is finding new and interesting ways to innovate. Clearly British Airways understands that a rising tide raises all ships.

Creating solutions to the problem of global STEM misalignment will drive economies upward and create more demand for their service.

British Airways also understands that the convergence of disparate specializations is the place where new ideas come from. Because their advisory board chose entrepreneurs, idealists, writers, and lawyers different perspectives came together to create a great whole.

Because British Airways also represents a nation they looked beyond themselves and their borders to Silicon Valley.

The Valley often thinks of itself as the source of innovation but hopefully this trip has shown that new ideas come from anywhere, but sometimes a little prodding is needed to shake them loose.

NB: This is a viewpoint from Kyle Killion, co-founder of Flights With Friends.

NB2: Who is the last guy you would expect to meet at a British Airways-hosted event?

It argues that opportunities exist for agents to service travellers better if they take a deeper dive into new technologies and processes, such as mobile and social media.

Major trends impacting travel agencies in ANZ today

First, the web brought transparency to the travel process by dramatically improving access to information and enabling consumers to compare prices.

Now, the always-connected traveller is changing the way travel is planned, purchased and serviced. Mobile technology is untethering the planning process, providing a new opportunity for travel agents to actively support the planning process.

The business traveller has been an early adopter of mobile technology. Though the trip goals are quite different between leisure and business travel, the access to immediate information enabled by mobile devices provides an opportunity to travel agencies and TMCs (travel management companies) to offer new services to business travellers.

The common denominator across both segments is the need to have both comprehensive content and the ability to leverage the travel agent’s expertise to augment the travel planning process and in-destination experience.

Delivering personalised content and services to smart devices is a key strategy for travel agents to prosper in this always-connected age. Travel agents now have an excellent opportunity to extend personalised services by providing relevant and proactive information and support to the traveller’s smart device.

Whether by providing in-destination guides or ground transportation to business travellers, smart devices have ushered in a new era of personalised digital communication.

Providing location-based services helps travel agents extend their businesses, enhancing the travel experience for the traveller and offering new revenue opportunities.

Opportunities for travel agents with technology changes

Keeping up with the pace of technological change is a daunting task for anyone. The rate of this change is accelerating since the introduction of smart mobile devices.

The travel industry is particularly impacted by mobile-based innovation, as travel, by its very nature, involves mobility. Any device that is portable can automatically be part of the travel experience.

The opportunity for the travel agent is to insert the offline channel into this mobile, digital environment to provide expertise and added value to the travel experience.

The impact of social media

User-generated content increasingly drives consumer behaviour with regard to supplier choice, especially when it comes to hotels and traveller reviews.

Corporate tools that allow social interaction between company employees have a similar effect, but are often only accessible on the corporate network.

As reviews become more pervasive for both leisure and corporate travellers, travel agents have an opportunity to balance user-generated content with trusted travel agent advice to ensure that the traveller’s needs are met.

A superior room to one individual may be considered substandard by another client. The key is to understand each individual’s requirements so they can be matched with the amenities offered by the property.

Opportunities specific to the Australian / New Zealand market

Online penetration in ANZ will reach 41% of the total travel market for bookings of air, car rental and hotel in aggregate by 2013 – one of the highest penetration rates in the Asia Pacific region and globally.

The penetration of smartphones within the total population is at over 50% in Australia and over 40% in New Zealand.

There is typically a great deal of overlap between travellers and mobile device owners. Therefore, penetration of smartphone ownership among Australian and New Zealand travellers is likely to be much higher than among the general population.

Tablet ownership is also high and adoption is growing rapidly. 20% of Australians between the ages of 15 and 65 currently own a tablet, and 33% of all Australian households include at least one tablet owner. The highest level of ownership is in the 25-44 age group.

The lesson here is simple. Australians and New Zealanders have embraced online travel and are early adopters of mobile technology.

ANZ Total Travel Market (US $B) and Online Penetration (%), 2009-2013

Smartphone Penetration in ANZ, 2012

Travel agencies must adapt their businesses to support emerging platforms and evolving traveller behaviour. Mobile represents a new communication channel for travel agents to connect with their customers.

The opportunity to cross-sell and upsell products based on the traveller’s location is significant. Travel agents can also partner with local providers to offer location-based sales for restaurants, tours and entertainment.

Online travel agencies (OTAs) and suppliers have been quick to embrace mobile as a booking channel.

PhoCusWright’s Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition says:

“As the OTA space becomes more crowded, mobile distribution is also up for grabs. Between January 2010 and December 2011, traffic to Wotif’s mobile website shot up 366% and its mobile bookings jumped 228%. Webjet estimated mobile traffic would represent 25% of all its traffic in July 2012.”

Clearly, OTAs understand the importance of mobile.

Tracking future trends

As mobile technology evolves into wearable devices and intelligent assistants, inserting travel agent expertise and advice into the digital process presents an enhanced opportunity to provide relevant and meaningful services to all types of travellers.

This new level of competition is all about the delivery of smart services that are relevant to the traveller.

No agency – whether a traditional travel agency, a TMC, or an OTA – can survive if customers believe they have better information than the agency, but access to unlimited information does not translate into travel expertise.

Travel agents, who have deep knowledge of destinations, need to use this knowledge to provide expert insight into the travel planning process and deliver location-based services that enhance the travel experience.

Travel agents will survive and prosper if they are able to demonstrate their value to the consumer. In the mobile age, that value must translate into flexible, rapid response that marries the always-connected traveller with information that matches the traveller’s personal preferences and is tailored to the traveller’s location.

Strategies to benefit from emerging trends

a) Integrating consumer web and mobile travel planning with agent expertise

As more travel planning moves to web and mobile platforms, travel agents need to embrace the always-connected reality of their customers.

The key is to recognise that the traveller may be planning online at any time of day on multiple devices; supporting that planning process is critical.

Providing a mobile web-optimised tool for smartphones and tablets can help customers organise their searches and save travel elements for review by the travel agent. This is an excellent strategy to embrace and meet this unrestrained travel planning phenomenon.

b) In-destination services

Travel agent’s role no longer ends with the issuing of documents. Progressive travel agents are in ongoing communication with their customers and offer tips and suggestions across the entire trip life cycle through web and mobile channels.

This communication not only provides relevant services to the customer, but enhances the bond between agent and traveller.

Itinerary aggregation tools will also provide a joint platform for travel agents to provide their customers with in-destination suggestions backed by agent expertise.

c) Social media for promotions

The prevalence of travel agencies, both offline and online, promoting specials of all types via social media will continue to gain momentum.

Whether by creating a Facebook fan page or a Twitter following, successful travel agents will embrace both a broadcast model to offer promotions as well as a segmentation strategy that provides promotions to select followers based on their social media preferences.

d) Social media for customer service

With mobility allowing social media postings during the trip, progressive travel agents will monitor traveller activity and proactively provide customer service when something goes wrong and is expressed via social media.

e) Social media to provide user-generated hotel rating

Travel agencies must embrace user-generated reviews and encourage customers to rate their travel experiences with hotels, cruises and tours. Agencies must also be open to allowing customers to rate agencies’ own services.

Deploying a user-generated platform for the ratings to be shared either on the web or mobile devices is becoming a requirement.

User-generated reviews from a travel agency’s actual customers can be more influential than reviews from unverified sources, and the travel agent can ensure that only actual travellers have the ability to create a review. As a result, other agency customers are more likely to trust the reviews.

Google is launching balloons into near space to provide internet access to buildings below on the ground.

About 30 of the super-pressure balloons are being launched from New Zealand from where they will drift around the world on a controlled path.

Attached equipment will offer 3G-like speeds to 50 testers in the country.

Access will be intermittent, but in time the firm hopes to build a big enough fleet to offer reliable links to people living in remote areas.

Read the full story on BBC News

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Breakaway has hit the cruising industry like a whirling dervish — receiving great reviews from her early passengers and creating some serious buzz.

I was one of the lucky travel industry professionals to be offered a place on the 2-day Pre-Inaugural Cruise onboard the Breakaway, and took advantage of it by checking out as many areas as possible, eating at five different restaurants, and, of course, inspecting the technology of the new vessel.

Let’s break down the Breakaway.

Norwegian Breakaway Mobile Application

Before even boarding the Norwegian Breakaway, my colleagues and I sampled the technology of the new cruise ship.

The ‘Norwegian Breakaway Rocks NYC’ application for both Android and iPhone was announced for those attending the Norwegian Breakaway’s inaugural events.

It includes outrageously helpful and attractive features such as an onboard schedule-maker for passengers (on which you can ‘favorite’ events and set reminders), a ship map, location pictures and descriptions, news, photos, and more.

This application helps passengers to plan and execute a schedule for their time onboard, keep all photos in one place, navigate around the ship, and get up-to-date event info.

Given the success of the app, other cruise lines may take note. From the post-event press release:

The result generated more than 429,755 Facebook visits over the five-day period, and Instagram registered more than 56,862 visits and 1,715 pictures uploaded with the hashtag #NorwegianBreakaway. Guests utilized Twitter on board, and as a result, Norwegian received a record number of mentions and retweets about the content shared from Norwegian Breakaway.

By focusing on ways for guests to capture and share memories while on-board, Norwegian is able to create a much more significant amount of cruiser goodwill.

The idea with the inaugural event was to “offer the best possible social media experience onboard a ship, which generated buzz among the travel agents, media and guests at the inaugural events,” which was indeed a success. The question is: how can – and will – this be replicated at scale with everyday cruise-goers?

Onboard Touch Screens

A very popular technological feature of the Norwegian Breakaway was the collection of over 50 touch-screens found around the ship.

These screens allow you to search for information about and book reservations for both entertainment and dining, as well as obtain directions to different areas onboard. A very useful feature that not only looks cool but puts customer service in the hands of cruisers, liberating crew members to focus on other customer needs.

One of the best features of these screens is their capability to offer availability for each restaurant (from ‘Plenty of Room’ to ‘Worth the Wait’).

They make placing reservations a breeze, assist passengers in navigating the megaship, and offer real-time information on restaurant availability. I used one to book reservations at ‘Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy & Dinner’, ‘Teppanyaki Japanese Steakhouse’, and ‘Le Bistro Restaurant’. You can visit The Cruise Web Blog to read our reviews of each restaurant, as well as an onboard service review.

In addition, there were some touch-screens in the lobby to take a look at pictures from around the ship, and save them to purchase for later (pictured above).

Touch Sliding Doors

One of the first technological intricacies I noticed onboard the Norwegian Breakaway was the existence of the auto-touch sliding doors pictured above. With a simple touch of the finger in the circle, the ‘button’ would light up and the doors split to the sides for the passenger.

Benefits: These speedier, more easily opened doors keep the temperature regulated, require less effort from passengers, and are visually pleasing. Staff is able to open doors with less effort (or a few dishes in each hand).

Electricity Slot in Stateroom for Key Card

This is pretty straightforward: in an attempt to save energy and increase efficiency, the staterooms require you to place your key card in a slot to turn on electricity in the room, charge your electronics, use the television, etc.

Hotels, especially in Europe and Asia, have had this feature for many years; the advantage to cruise ships is that it allows a reduction on power load, which means less taxed systems and a lighter overall fuel load.

In the Spa—Salt Room at Sea (Industry First)

The Norwegian Breakaway, in an effort to mimic Eastern Europe’s salt cave systems, developed the first-ever Salt Room at Sea in the onboard spa. This special treatment releases dry aerosol micro particles of salt through the room in a session which improves the immune and respiratory system, and leaves the passenger healthier and refreshed.

In an industry of constant innovation and competition, Norwegian took a strong step forward in the spa category. One of our veteran cruising colleagues described it as “cool, pleasant and bright – great for relaxing and detoxing.”

What do these advancements signify for cruise technology moving forward…

As you can see, the trend of integrating user experience and social sharing is becoming more and more popular.

…more sharing via expected channels

Onboard Wi-Fi will still cost you a pretty penny (for the most part), but Norwegian has communicated that they believe the best way to earn more business is to make sharing memories and experiences easier. They’re doing this via with mobile applications that help passengers connect easier with the outside world, and a touch-screen that makes saving your onboard photos (and memories) simple.

Nonetheless, people still want to be able to use their devices as if they were on land. People love to see real, unadulterated opinions, experiences, and images that show what life will be like on vacation with a particular company. Other cruise lines will most likely follow suit..

…more ‘Own Device’ apps

But why would passengers share their experience if it were anything less than stupendous? That’s why cruise technology will focus on differentiation and, put simply, making passengers’ lives onboard easier and more relaxing

How did the Breakaway do that? The mobile application allowed for a multitude of activities to be done from the palm of your hand. Small touches like the sliding doors made things smooth and even fun at times. The already impressive spa offerings were augmented even further with a thermal spa and salt room treatment. Onboard reservation screens both increased information available to passengers on each deck of the ship and made reserving entertainment and dinner a breeze. That seems like an experience worth sharing.

…continued implementation of cost-saving green technologies

Lastly, never forget about the green movement. Saving energy and increasing efficiency have become absolutely essential in almost every industry in the world. The cruise industry is no exception. If anything, it’s a focal point, given the large amounts of energy consumed. To combat this, the Norwegian Breakaway featured the card slots in rooms that will undoubtedly save a massive amount of energy (lights, TV, electricity are all connected to it). Guest rooms and much of the public lighting is also LED, offering improved efficiency and reduced emissions.

The actual construction of the ship, including many of the navigation and steering functions, was also made from a technical efficiency approach. From improved turning to the PureDry system that removes usable fuel oil from waste oil, the list of improvements is exhaustive.

Have you experienced technological features on the Breakaway that you think should have been included in this article? Tell us in the comments below.

NB: This is a viewpoint by Austin Gambino, Marketing Assistant, The Cruise Web Team.

Facebook has finally announced clickable hashtags will be available on the social media platform, similar to other services such as Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Hashtags on Facebook will allow users to add context to a post or indicate that’s it’s part of a larger discussion (pretty much the same as all other platforms that use them).

No reinvention of the wheel!

Facebook has stated that this is just the first step to help people discover what others are saying about specific topics and enables people to participate in public conversations

Twitter may have to watch out… But what does it mean for brands?

Read the full story on SocialMediaToday

NB: Hashtag image via Shutterstock.

Vine is the newest application to sprout from the Twitter family and into the social media scene and is essentially to video what Twitter is to text.

The free mobile application is a platform built around a content constraint via video clips which promote creativity and, hopefully, viral sharing.

Vine’s six seconds of video (and sound! Take that animated gifs!) creates a plethora of possibilities for rapid reach, engagement and influence.

High profile Vines include everything from comedy to sports…

Why Vine?

Blue Magnet has previously covered strategies and tactics for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Foursquare. With a robust market of social media apps, why should hotels consider adding Vine to their social media marketing mix?

Social applications are developing into increasingly influential factors of consumers’ brand affinity and purchasing decisions as digital and mobile technology become more pervasive in our daily lives.

A 2012 Nielson study of 28,000 global consumers found that the top two most trusted forms of media are earned media (word-of-mouth, recommendations from friends, etc) and online consumer reviews.

These two sources garnered a 92% and 70% trust rating respectively compared to approximately a 45% trust rating for traditional media such as television, magazines and newspapers. Consumers are listening to their friends and family and their friends and family are highly engaged in social media.

Digital Marketing Ramblings has a post regarding recent (May 2013) social media usage stats. The numbers may shock you (hello 1.11 billion Facebook users)!

With this in mind, marketers need to focus on tactics and platforms which best reach their audience. Regardless of the target, video is the clear cut king when it comes to influence across social networks.

A new study from Adobe reports social video engagement has risen to 70% from 42% the previous year. Video content accounts for 77% of all viral reach. Hubspot has posted an excellent infographic which shows that videos on Facebook are shared twelve times more than all text and link posts combined.

As the Adobe report points out, offering more video should be the prime objective to fully realize social media potential.

Size it up: The good and the bad of Vine

PROS:

• Easy to use!
• Consumers love video
• Easily shared on Facebook and Twitter
• Guests generate buzz about your hotel
• Engaging content

CONS

• Challenging to consistently create good content
• Cannot edit what guests are saying
• Another channel to monitor and manage

Let’s get it started!

Download the app and start creating video content right away! When setting up a Vine account, a user can link their Twitter and/or Facebook account. Once registered, on the home screen, select the camera icon to begin.

When the viewfinder opens, simply tap and hold the screen to begin recording. Release the screen to stop. After capturing six seconds of video, checkboxes allow you to easily integrate your snippet of video with your Twitter or Facebook profiles.

For a more in-depth look at setting up a Vine account see the CNet video tutorial:

One hotel’s Vine success story

The hospitality industry has already made its mark on the Vine scene. The Cavendish London hotel’s #ValentineVine contest has been recognized as the first ever Vine contest:

The contest asked for romantic submissions via Twitter to @Cavendish_Hotel tagged with #ValentineVine. The winning Vine received an overnight stay at the London hotel along with cocktails, dinner, and breakfast.

This contest was a great way to engage potential customers.

It created a call to action, engaged consumers’ creativity, incorporated a popular holiday, and highlighted the property. In addition, it also generated a significant amount of international press, inherently creating powerful backlinks (from blogs like this one!) to the hotel’s website.

Wow! But how can I use Vine for my hotel?

Vine’s fledgling landscape is still untapped. Your hotel marketing team can utilize this opportunity to showcase their imagination, the uniqueness of the property and become a pioneering leader of this social media channel.

There are several additional ways in which hotels can differentiate themselves and exercise their creativity by maximizing Vine’s video platform:

• Renovations – Has your property recently undergone renovations? Provide a mini-tour or sneak peeks and build excitement for the new additions.
• In-House Restaurants – Do you have a restaurant you would like to highlight? Use Vine to showcase new dishes, weekly specials, Chef profiles, catering, or events recently hosted at the restaurant.
• Welcome Guests and Groups – Filming a “welcome” Vine for visiting conferences, business meetings, wedding receptions, or family reunions is a great way to show your hospitality, engage attendees, and hopefully receive shares in their social circles.
• Unique Selling Features – On a cold, snowy day, maybe your Denver hotel shows off the crackling fire in the lobby to warm guests up, on a hot day, maybe your resort would do a video of kids splashing in the pool – how else can your hotel show off their best assets and evoke envy on people who are not at the hotel?
• Live Events – Showcase live events at your hotel or bar to use for promotional material. Do you have a live band playing weekly? A themed happy hour during certain holidays like Cinco De Mayo or Halloween?
• Pet Policies – Are pets allowed at the hotel? Show this off with a video of pets checking in!

Be sure to include hastags on every Vine post! People can search for your posts (using tags such as #HotelName) directly on Vine as well as Twitter.

The future of Vine

Although Vine was only launched in late January 2013, it has enjoyed a more rapid and sustained growth in its first four months than other less robust competitors.

According to Onavo Insights, April alone saw Vine take nearly an 8% market share and a 96% active user increase from March! Similar offerings from Gifboom and Cinemagram have seen their user base steadily decline during this same period.

Active Vine users will stay on the rise if developers remain responsive and continue making improvements based on feedback from the community.

For example, an April 29 update included user mentions and the much clamored for support of the iPhone’s front facing camera. At the writing of this post, Vine is the #3 free app on iTunes.

Vine is the next step in social media. The statistics support this–users crave and share videos! Many major hotel brands currently have Vine accounts, but beyond a couple initial posts, few are active.

Local properties, such as Cavendish London Hotel, which utilize Vine in its infancy, will likely garner extra buzz and credibility for being early adaptors. This novel new app, with the muscle of Twitter behind it, has the potential to be the next ubiquitous piece of the social media landscape.

Bringing it all back home

Consumers have always trusted friends and family when it comes to purchase recommendations, but with the increased reach of social media this source is becoming even more influential. Video is the most significant medium on social media when it comes to viral marketing.

Users are drawn to brief, easily shared video clips. Vine is all of the above, essentially everything today’s social media users are looking for.

Hotels can use the platform to highlight amenities, renovations, restaurant offerings, special events, and engage customers in contests, promotions, or reviews.

Vine, with an appealing and engaging content offering, can raise the profile of your hotel, build a stronger reputation, start earning recommendations from travelers and, over time, drive more bookings!

NB: This is a viewpoint from Dave McGovern, internet marketing account manager at Blue Magnet Interactive. More from the team here.

Friday 14 June 2013:

• Air France-KLM starts on-board connectivity programme. Passengers on two routes (Amsterdam to Panama and Paris to New York) will be able to send text messages, check emails and use the web after the airlines signed an agreement with AeroMobile and Panasonic.

• Travelport releases Document Producer Plus tool for MEA agents. The service allows customers to create branded travel documentation such as itineraries, fare quotes and customer confirmations straight from an agent’s Galileo platform.

Tuesday 11 June 2013:

• Australia’s Melbourne Airport has made a $1 billion investment with SITA to introduce latest in passenger self-service technology. This initiative will reduce queuing time, maximize the use of its terminal facilities and enhance the overall passenger experience. The airport will implement SITA’s AirportConnect Open, common-use platform, supporting common use self-service (CUSS) kiosks, along with self-service bag-tagging and automated self-bag drop units.

• Amadeus will be implementing its Airport Sequence Manager solution in Munich airport. This solution optimises the flight departure runway sequencing and provides a common situational awareness for all participants in airport operations.

• Amadeus will be implementing its Airport Fixed Resource Optimiser solution in Copenhagen airport. This solution is designed to determine the best possible fixed resource allocation against the flight schedule and attributes based on an airport’s and the airlines’ business drivers, including passengers

• nuTravel Technology Solutions, a corporate online solutions provider has been selected by JetBlue Airways to develop and deploy the airline’s business travel portal. This corporate traveler solution will allow the airline to rapidly expand its base of customers in the corporate arena, allow its corporate partners to shop and book online for air, car rentals and hotel, and earn valuable rewards on future travel.

Wednesday 5 June 2013:

• Amadeus secures web services agreement with Air France-KLM. The long-term extension to the existing partnership between the pair will see both brands use the Amadeus ecommerce shopping tools for their domestic and international websites. The Flex Pricer technology will also be integrated to handle “revenue and award shopping flows” on all networked routes.

Tuesday 4 June 2013:

• Nor1 expands to Asia-Pacific region and makes key hire. Allan Taylor will become vice president of business development for APAC, based in Singapore. He was previously managing director for Great China at IDeaS.

• Datalex appoints Brian Borg as new head of airline retail. Borg arrives from Sabre where he was responsible for product marketing across its airline, agency and corporate businesses. He has also worked for a number of airlines over the course of his 20-year career in the travel industry.

Previous roundups:

• SYSTEMS – Product news, launches and more – May 2013

NB: Tech systems image via Shutterstock.

Back in October 2011, chief executive Valentin Dombrovsky had just sold his share of a internet marketing consultancy and joined up with a couple of web developers, Vitaliy Korobkin, CTO and Denis Volkov, CCO, to explore revenue opportunities from affiliate programmes. They then decided to focus on travel and the online experience.

The team is also advised by Leonid Pustov, boss of online travel consulting company, TravelTeCo.

So far Travelatus has raised $10 000 from Prague-based accelerator StartupYard and is seeking angel investment in the near future.

In terms of the event market size, Dombrovsky says it’s hard to estimate:

“We have encountered that at least 4.7m people travel to see music concerts in the US and UK. If we speak about the whole world, the number is a lot bigger. And, if we take sporting events into account, then again the number would be much bigger.”

Travelatus sees competition from the likes of Cheaptickets, which offers event tickets along with travel inventory, as well as local services including India’s Yatra, Skiddle in the UK and NYC.com for New York, but feels sites like these fall short because they have no recommendation mechanism and for the most part tickets and travel are sold separately.

Meanwhile, Festicket and Eventtravel sell event travel packages and Travelatus is considering including them as an inventory source down the road. Fantrotter is also focused on event travel but from the metasearch point of view.

The Travelatus revenue model is affiliate commissions from inventory providers (currently Expedia for hotels and Seatwave for event tickets) but the startup is looking to add more inventory in the near future as well as establish direct connections with selected hotels and event organizers.

“The strategy is simple – getting users for a low price and trying to make them our loyal customers. We also want to build a B2B solution developing our own affiliate programme for hotels, fan clubs and OTAs.”

Q&A with Travelatus CEO Valentin Dombrovsky

Describe what your start-up does, what problem it solves and for whom?

Travelatus offers a solution to problems when trying to plan an event trip online. We want to bring up services that are necessary for the trip (event tickets, accommodation and transportation) on one website via a simple search and single window sale system.

One of the core features is our recommendation system – we gather information about the user from different sources (eg Facebook) and integrate the data with activities on our site. Basic recommendations are recommendations of events according to user’s interests. Second level of recommendations is filtering of events according to their distance from the user.

And finally we want to provide really personalized solution using all the data we gather. So if we find out that Justin Bieber fans of ages 20 to 25 prefer to stay in hostels, we will present these offers to them first.

Why should people or companies use your startup?

We see our product as a good solution for those who:

• Don’t want to lose time while searching for events and additional services like accommodation and transportation
• Don’t want to lose nerve cells trying to get through lots of outdated interfaces
• Don’t want to lose opportunities and want to stay informed on what’s going on and what interesting events are worth visiting

Other than going viral and receiving mountains of positive PR, what is the strategy for raising awareness and getting customers/users?

The main part of our users will come from search engines through organic search and PPC ads. We can say that there’s a big range of ‘long tail’ keywords in online travel niche so we always have the chance to drive some traffic by using search engine optimization methods to promote low-frequency keywords.

We are using some social media marketing techniques already and are going to continue their development. We plan to encourage our users to share our offers, for example, as well as using some viral mechanics and word of mouth marketing.

We plan to develop an affiliate programme. We want to create our own API to let developers to use our platform for building their services. We’re also thinking about working with sites of hotels and musicians through the widget model (eg, a hotel could show some events that happen nearby or musicians could offer hotel booking on the period of his/her concert in a city).

We also see travel bloggers as one of the main sources of growth and plan to develop good relationships with them.

How did your initial idea evolve? Were there changes/any pivots along the way? What other options have you considered for the business if the original vision fails?

The original idea was building an ‘Amazon of Travel but then we decided to build a more focused solution for event travel, so we pivoted to that.

We have many opportunities to scale both for B2C and on B2B markets. We may try to sell other inventory or to offer Travelatus as a planning tool to tour agencies, for example.

Where do you see yourselves in 3 years time, what specific challenges do you hope to have overcome?

We hope to make a solution that will be really for everyone in general and each one in particular. We want to make recommendation algorithms that will be enable not only the planning of a single trip but a whole year filled with event travel experience. We also want to cover more niches establishing Travelatus as a solution for those who prefer smart travel – travel with some goal.

We think the opportunities of event travel are still underestimated and the market really lacks someone whose name will be associated with the whole event travel concept – we want Travelatus to become that company.

What is wrong with the travel, tourism and hospitality industry that requires another startup to help it out?

The opportunities of event travel are underestimated because still there’s no solution for easy independent event travel planning. We want to bring this solution to the market and to make the idea of event travel more popular. In fact, event travel gives the opportunity of choice – it gives the freedom of doing what you want to do at a time when you want to. So the final idea behind Travelatus is giving people this freedom.

Tnooz view:

The judging  panel at DemoEurope in Moscow (clip below) put pertinent questions to Travelatus around how it will be different enough in events and travel to be successful and how it will optimise results.

The key will be in how successful its recommendation engine proves to be in terms of filtering events and hotels to individuals by integrating their social media data and whether Travelatus can attract some B2B attention.

The service, lets not forget it has been launched on $10,000 of accelerator funding, is looking at many opportunities for revenue – affiliate commissions, direct connects, its own affiliate scheme, B2B opportunities and other niche travel elements that could be integrated.

It is also thinking wide in terms of promotion, long-tail search terms, social media, PPC advertising and, bloggers etc.

One sticking point might be this idea of a ‘whole year of event travel’ – would people really book all their trips for a year based on events? It would probably be more like a summer of concerts and festivals or travel and tickets based around your football team.

That said, the potential is huge for Travelatus to widen it out to other niches.

Travelatus recently particpated in DemoEurope, here’s a clip:

NB: TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.

CEO Marissa Mayer is primarily interested in companies that make products that relate to users’ “daily habits” — a criterion that knocks many travel startups out of contention.

She also appears to want to improve Yahoo’s expertise in its mobile offerings (especially in how its travel offering works on mobile devices) and to expand the company’s reach geographically.

So far, frequent flier search startup MileWise is the only travel company Mayer has added to her basket.

Here are some candidates that travel industry insiders are proposing:

HotelTonight
Pros: No tricky back-end relationships to manage. Suppliers do the heavy lifting of loading inventory. Could extend the model of the last-minute mobile-first sale of hotel rooms to other categories.
Cons: Might cost a pretty penny while antagonising larger ad buyers, such as Priceline.

Hipmunk
Pros: Would immediately let Yahoo differentiate from Google in flight and hotel search while also strengthening the engineering team on Yahoo’s travel site. Might be relatively cheap.
Cons: Hipmunk needs help with monetization, and it’s not clear anyone inside Yahoo would know how to add that missing ingredient.

Travelzoo
Pros: It has 26 million email newsletter subscribers, hundreds of thousands of whom open its messages near-daily in markets outside of North America. It already runs a paid search strategy in partnership on Yahoo! Search. Yahoo could make travel ads richer, so they look alive and match the the dynamic content found elsewhere and expand the reach of ads beyond the newsletters, such as by pumping them in to a new travel a Tumblr-like feed or by serving the ads up in a locally relevant way to mobile users.
Cons: TravelZoo appears to be a technologically backward company. Fighting with its corporate culture and outdated legacy systems could turn into a time sink.

Feel free to chime in with a comment below.

NB: Image of Marissa Mayer this spring courtesy of Le Web/Flickr/Creative Commons

For many travel brands, these trends apply equally, as they demonstrate ways that any travel brand can cross-market, boost ancillary revenues, and develop engaging strategies to accomplish goals.

Airports have traditionally been stale transit hubs, places to be tolerated on the way from A to B. However, things began to shift in the last decade as the organizations running these spaces began to realize the great opportunities inherent to a captive audience.

The scale of airports also began to change over the same period, with the emergence of superhubs that functioned simultaneously as regional hubs and shining showpieces for local governments. See Changi Ariport and Dubai International, two airports that have become thriving aviation hubs in addition to large contributors of income for their respective nations.

As air traffic increases, so will competition from neighboring airports, cities and regions. When a customer has the world to choose from, it can be a challenge to compete. But as airports such as Singapore’s Changi have shown, there is value in becoming not just a way station but a stand-alone destination.

The report identifies seven current trends in the airport marketing ecosystem. Altogether, these trends underlie the continuing necessity for airports to forge their own identities.

1. Advocacy

Airports are increasingly competitive, as travelers seek out travel deals across different routes, airlines, airport amenities and itineraries. By striving to develop a relationship with travelers via solid reputations for service and amenities, airports are able to differentiate their specific location.

In addition, airports must pursue active strategies to target evangelist travelers who are likely to share their experiences with others. Providing interesting, memorable and shareable experiences is the key to making these sorts of shares a reality – so amenities, design, customer service and ease-of-use all come to the forefront as priorities for savvy airport marketers.

An example used here is Eindhoven Airport’s Facebook VIP program, were select Facebook users were given perks – that they then share with their friends, creating a virtuous circle that creates advocates.

 Eli Lejeune, the airport’s marketing manager:

Through Facebook, people normally get money off or they are able to win tickets. But this VIP programme actually plugs into the actual customer journey. We couldn’t find any other airport in the world that does this. Facebook is an important way for us to stay in touch with our guests. Normally these passengers are in touch with airlines or booking agencies, since the actual deal is between them.

2. Social care

Aka customer service, social care points to the fact that the airport can sometimes be one of the most stressful points of entry to the travel experience.

For airport management companies without direct control over the customer service capabilities of the various tenant airlines, and without control over unknowns like weather delays, there are ample opportunities for the airport to become the saving grace.

The ability for an airport to help manage customer needs – from last-minute gate changes to places to eat to lost items – is vital to a successful airport marketing operation. The report notes that 88% of all tweets to airports are customer service related.

Customer service also becomes a means to boost additional revenue, as a seamless airport experience not only means more time to shop but also a better mindset for the leisure spending that drives airport financials. By combining Advocacy with Social care, brands actually achieve a far greater return, as the two intertwine and create a stronger experience for users – and not to mention, the process of shifting customer care online saves big bucks when compared to staffing multiple counters throughout an airport.

3. Story telling

Travel has always been the best industry for story telling, as the product is inherently emotional, captivating and story-rich. Airports have the opportunity to capitalize on the sheer amount of story passing through each and every day.

One recent example from Changi Airport is the “Be a Changi Millionaire.” While the promotion actually touches on several trends mentioned here, the best part was the focus on the story – “become a millionaire” rather than “win a million.” And the story was making the rounds – shop clerks mentioning excitedly to customers that someone recently one – a “Chinese traveler.”

The opportunity to take these stories, and seed them to social media, means that the airport can fold many of these key trends together.Most importantly, as the promotion is tied to a set dollar amount purchase on site, the airport manages to also increase ancillary revenues and excitement around shopping. This is a key point, because as airports get bigger and more expensive, the pressure to generate more revenue is significant.

Other great examples include “Live@YVR,” where a storyteller was stationed for 80 nights exclusively in the Vancouver Airport complex and Dublin Airport’s TV3 Life Stories. They each bring a bit of life to the now-stale travel process, putting a bit more romance and humanity into a space that has taken a reputation beating over the past decade.

4. Crowdsourcing

Airports are increasingly complex, with new terminals sprouting in many different cities. Crowdsourcing the best spots in these changing landscapes is a great way to not only engage evanglists but to ensure the best possible experience for users.

Tech companies have been crowdsourcing customer service for years, and airports can also connect those who want to help to those with questions. There are plenty of airport geeks that revel in sharing their knowledge across forums; capitalizing on this thirst is something airports can consider.

Other areas of crowdsourcing include instant feedback that allows for fast deployment of resources – rather than guessing what areas need to be improved, ask!

A travel through Singapore’s Changi Airport will reveal an army of touchscreens, at places such as the toilets, immigration and the ticket check-in counters, where customers can provide instant feedback on their current experience.

Provided the airport pays careful attention to the live feed, managers can deploy resources accordingly while identifying areas of potential improvement. Success stories can also be revealed, highlighted and promoted among staff, in order to create a culture of excellence that propels itself.

5. Red carpet

Everyone wants to feel important while traveling, especially those frequent, loyal travelers of high-worth to both airports and airlines. Creating special programs to recognize these folks is one giant way that airports can increase their competitiveness in the market – why would a customer choose lame Airport X if Airport Y is the one that remembers her, and treats her well while in transit.

In addition, the ability to make the world’s cultures feel welcomed is a key competitive advantage for international airports. Developing country-targeted apps, such as Auckland Airport’s first-in-category travel planning app in partnership with Chinese microblogging site Weibo, means that cross-culturally welcoming airports will have a leg up in passenger acquisition.

6. Virtual shopping

Ancillary revenues have become a lynchpin for almost every travel business – and airports are no exception.

By using technologies such as smartphone apps and QR codes, airports can actually decentralize the shopping experience while still providing the selection of duty-free items travelers enjoy.

QR code stands can be created in boarding areas, with scanned goods to be purchased and delivered before departure; smartphone apps can engage and gamify shopping, allowing travelers to shop without having to find a specific store.

Examples here include the virtual grocery store by Tesco at London’s Gatwick, and the Duty Free Wall – where QR codes take place of products – at Frankfurt’s Heinemann Duty Free.

7. Innovative air service development

The sheer numbers of travelers serviced by any given important makes it difficult to specify one particular demographic that is the most valuable to target. By developing detailed demographics and profiles of travelers, airports can actually create specific campaigns and services that target each audience. The messaging will be heard by those that are primed for it, while a less interested demographic will find appeal in their own areas of interest.

See Manchester’s ongoing #FlyManchester efforts to re-capture capacity from London’s larger airports, which showed real success – an extra 847,000 people used the airport last year, bringing the likely passenger count to over 20 million in 2013.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Frame rate is the speed at which a device produces consecutive images to a screen. A low frames per second (FPS) means that individual frames can be made out by the eye. A high FPS gives users a more responsive feel.

You’re probably used to this concept from the world of gaming, but it applies to the web, too.

Long image decoding, unnecessary image resizing, heavy animation and data processing can all lead to dropped frames, which reduces the frame rate, resulting in janky pages.

We’ll explain what exactly we mean by “jank” shortly.

Read the full story on Smashing Magazine

NB: Picture frame image Shutterstock.

PathWrangler, a San Francisco-based company has created a platform where tour operators or guides can create a trip plan (along with itinerary, map, travel gears), define the parameters (description, cost, dates etc) and publish it for travellers to view.

Tour operators will be able to selectively invite people to view the itinerary. The platform also enables traveller to collaborate among themselves as well as with the organiser (tour operator).

Post trip, tour organisers can enable the option of ‘storytelling’ where travellers will be able to share their feedback on the trip.

We asked Doug Heinz, CEO of PathWrangler about why he started the company, he says:

“I moved to the Bay Area in 2000 after college because I wanted to have my own startup one day. After working for some great software and web companies, it all came together in 2009 to head out on my own.

“As a lifelong world traveller and a passionate climber, I felt there was a significant problem in planning and organizing trips. I met Eric Remza, a 16 year International Mountain Guide, on Mt Everest.

“He helped me to validate that as a business owner in this market, it was an extremely significant problem for his business and that solving his trip planning problems was commercially viable.”

PathWranger has three full time employees,

• Doug Heinz, CEO
• Mikey Clarke, CTO
• Eric Remza, Client Development

Advisors/investors of PathWrangler,

• DG Elmore, Elmore Companies
• Christina Heyniger, Vital Wave Consulting
• Brad Wisler, Sproutbox & RunUp Labs
• Neal Patel, Google

The company raised a seed round supported primarily by DG Elmore.

Q&A with Doug Heinz:

Describe what your start-up does, what problem it solves and for whom?

Simply put, PathWrangler simplifies and eases the process of creating experiences and telling stories about them.

Planning an adventure trip or an outdoor excursion is like herding cats. It is maddening to get everyone and everything prepared. Our web app brings the conversation together in an interactive place designed specifically for adventure and outdoor enthusiasts to dream and organize their trip together. It works for everyone from Himalayan guides to weekend warriors.

We take the conversation that normally occurs over emails, spreadsheets, PDFs, Word Docs, etc and put it into a central place where your team/group interacts with each other from a single version of the truth. It is interactive, dynamic and a way to get everyone involved.

It doesn’t end there. All that hard work turns into a place for everyone to tell their personal stories and share photos after the trip. They can be private to you, your team, or broadcasted via Facebook to friends, family and other followers afterward.

Why should people or companies use your startup?

PathWrangler has proven to reduce the costs of operations and increases word of mouth referrals (which typically comprise 70 – 90% of all bookings) for tour operators, clubs and university wilderness programs.

Other than going viral and receiving mountains of positive PR, what is the strategy for raising awareness and getting customers/users?

We almost exclusively sell directly to tour operators and other outdoor organizations. Trade shows and member organizations have been key in helping get the word out. Partnerships with some key companies and distributors have also been a great source of new clients.

How did your initial idea evolve? Were there changes/any pivots along the way? What other options have you considered for the business if the original vision fails?

The core idea has essentially remained the same. We built our product from prototype to unskinned Alpha, to Beta and to Production release with up to 20 different tour operators and outdoor guides who gave us lots of feedback and direction as we built on a 1 – 3 week release schedule over time.

We have pivoted on how we charge customers, though. We’re in the process of optimizing our subscription revenue stream by not charging clients on the basis of number of trips they run.

We’re moving towards a premium model that is similar to LinkedIn, where the commercial clients pay for the ability to manage their organization’s trips, clients and personnel, while being able to apply their own brand and integrate with their websites.

What is your revenue model and strategy for profitability?

• Subscriptions: Tour operators pay a subscription each month to use our product
• Affiliate gear sales from recommendations about gear
• In our upcoming release, our big revenue opportunity will come from sales leads generated from operators offering open inventory

Where do you see yourselves in three years time, what specific challenges do you hope to have overcome?

In three years time, we would like to create the marketplace for adventure travel.

Most aggregators currently fail in this model because they have a chicken and egg problem. In our case, we own the chicken (the tour operators). Tour operators use us to manage not just their trip logistics, but also their inventory.

Since our tool has become very powerful at generating word of mouth and referral sales, we hope to create a marketplace where there is constant inventory being offered, but also a place where individuals can search and find trips more suited to them based on the stories other people tell.

Secondly, we are selling quite a bit of gear through our site. We hope to have a wider network of online distributors around the world that can tap into our trips and expeditions that need constant outfitting.

What is wrong with the travel, tourism and hospitality industry that requires another startup to help it out?

Existing business models are insufficient for the next generation of travel.

Travel is such a personal experience and people seek out “Adventure” or “Experiential” travel because they want something that is unique to them.

Almost all travel tools today are built with a goal that optimizes volume, which commoditises offerings.

Our tool brings the human element back into the game. It allows not just travellers, but those that serve them to diversify their offering and differentiate themselves in an ocean of other experience providers.

This isn’t just a neat technology, but one we hope helps to support and increase the margins on this side of the business.

Tnooz view

PathWrangler is a tool that can be used quickly to create an itinerary, associate a cost, enter day-wise details and publish to clients (travellers).

It looks like the target market is small/medium-sized tour operators or individual tour guides.

Though PathWrangler claims that the discussion feature is their USP, its competitors have much advanced features.

PathWrangler says that their competitors are GetConcourse and Peak15. All those various reservation systems built exclusively for tour operators are direct competitors of PathWrangler.

Also, all platforms that connect locals to travellers are related competitors: Triip, Peek, Toursbylocals, Localguiding, Pigafe, Meetrip, Govoyagin.

PathWrangler estimates the adventure travel market at $100 billion and outdoor recreation at $800 billion. But, given the number of similar players existing in the market, the question is the share of PathWrangler in this huge market.

The platform is easy to use, self explanatory and simple. There was no need to go through any documentation to create a trip and publish it.

NB: TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.

Over the past eight months or so the hotel search landscape has shifted and a gathering of the meta engines is now well under-way.

It started back in November of last year with Priceline’s acquisition of Kayak, followed shortly by Barry Diller selling his TripAdvisor shares to Liberty Interactive and, to top it, when Expedia bought a controlling stake of Trivago.

There is a game afoot to control metasearch and TripAdvisor just fired the latest round when it officially unveiled the upgraded rate comparison metasearch at the end of last week.

With its tongue planted firmly in its cheeky, Trip Advisor also announced that it’s getting rid of the pesky pop ups, and – as the self proclaimed “number one travel website” – is now maximising revenue by fully integrating live rates and availability feeds to customer searches.

TripAdvisor is enhancing the user experience by offering up metaearch and charging properties for pay-per-click advertising around rate comparison.

With the traffic volume TripAdvisor commands, this move to a more sophisticated monetization looks like a winner for both TripAdvisor and the customer experience.

So, great news for customers as now they can match up the most favourably reviewed property with live rates and availability feeds. But what of the property owners?

TripAdvisor has been broad with its feed access, so along with the big name OTAs, a number of booking engines have been selected to provide rates and availability.

This gives properties the choice to advertise indirectly by being listed with an OTA or to use a connected booking system to advertise directly.

Watch out!

Who will be the winners and who will lose out with these changes? Clear losers will be small properties who haven’t yet grasped online booking.

You have to wonder if this truly could be the final death knell for them?

Many of these properties have done well out of TripAdvisor referrals without the need to have live rates and availability. But with these changes are they going to be marginalised and lose bookings?

For the majority of smaller properties who are online, there is now a huge opportunity to take advantage of their TripAdvisor profile and display their rates to gain bookings directly.

TripAdvisor has certainly made a vast improvement here and with some further work it could improve the feed functionality so properties could instantly switch their advert on and off (updates are currently delayed by at least a day).

In short, TripAdvisor could get better advertiser functionality. Which neatly leads to that other elephant in the room.

Google’s Hotel Finder appears in some respects to be just an experiment, waiting to get a full release, and one can’t help but think that many of the moves in the metasearch game so far have been to position against Google and it rate comparison offer.

A result might not be too far off.

NB: This is a viewpoint by Craig Stewart, director at Freetobook, an online booking system and channel manager.