TripAdvisor Launches “Friend of a Friend” Feature
TripAdvisor, the popular travel site helping people plan their trips, launched the “friend of a friend” tool, deepening the link between the site and social network Facebook and hoping to transform holiday planning into a more personalized experience.
When searching for a certain tourist attraction, hotel or tourist destination, each visitor will first see reviews of friends and those of friends of friends ahead of those of generic TripAdvisor users. Read more…
Travel Trends 2012 – A Changing Industry
by J Brew
The growth of Expedia, and other popular OTAs didn’t help traditional travel agents like Thomas Cook cope, and 2011 saw many of these companies at the verge of a crush. While in September 2007 Thomas Cook had a cash reserve of £394m, the company’s debt was about £900m in September 2011. This was not the only failure in the industry last year, but one of the most resounding. What lies in store for travel agents in 2012, and more importantly, how would the trends affect travel consumers?
The travel industry is known for innovation in marketing and promotion, but mostly using traditional means, including TV ads, direct mail, radio commercials, magazines and pamphlets. The online world is still dominated by the likes of Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. Smaller industry players struggle for a place in the spotlight, employing various strategies to boost ROI and to secure new business. Here PR and social media strategies play the most important role, as the ad market is saturated by those with the big bucks. Read more…
Jetsetter Launches Online Personal Travel Planner Service
Jetsetter.com, a membership travel website, has taken personal shopping online and adapted it to travel. The online agency has just launched a new Personal Travel Planning service which offer personal consultations to travelers and pairs members according to interests and some personality traits. The Jetsetter.com personal planner creates a travel itinerary based on each individual’s expectations and sends it to the client.
Jetsetter correspondents/planners, such as award winning journalist Paul Rubio, frequently share their impressions on various locations and tours to outlets such as Conde Nast Traveler, Fodor’s Guidebooks, Travel + Leisure and Vogue, and are situated around the world, thus the newly introduced service is only provided by travel experts. Read more…
