Online Travel Marketing Blog

Consumers accessing travel sites via mobile browsers soars

2009-07-02T13:50:00.002Z

ComScore data reveals that across the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, there were almost 7 million mobile browsers that accessed remote services or information related to travel, a significant shift given that only a few years ago this number would have been very close to zero. However, EyeforTravel Research clearly shows that is not just mobile web browsing that is impacting the travel industry. Mobile has started to impact across all the consumer touch points.

Read more at EyeforTravel.

Google Travel Search Volumes Rise Despite Recession

2009-06-16T12:52:00.005Z

Despite the economic problems, Google is reporting that overall travel queries have increased by 12% year-on-year to date and 11.2% for the week beginning May 21. Searches for car-hire and hotels are attracting the strongest growth in search volumes.

Read more in Travolution

Microsoft Launches New Search Engine with Enhanced Flight Search Tools

2009-06-05T08:02:00.005Z

On Monday, June 1st, Microsoft launched its new search engine named Bing. While Bing is unlikely to take much market share from Google it does offer some innovative new tools and applications that will be of interest to the travel trade.

Microsoft has integrated the Farecast travel search engine which it purchased back in 2008 into Bing. Bing Travel now enables users to find low price flights and then compare the results against many of the top travel sites like Expedia, Cheapflights, Priceline etc.

Read more in Tech Fragments

New Internet Video Marketing Service For The Holiday Rental Sector

2009-06-03T09:41:00.014Z

Turismotec Ltd (http://www.turismotec.com/) have announced the launch of a new low-cost internet marketing service called VillaTube, designed specifically for holiday rental property owners and agents.

VillaTube enables holiday rental owners and agents to access the huge and lucrative online video market through YouTube and the other major video portals such as Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video, Myspace Video and many others.

Mark Scriven, MD of Turismotec, said "In the current economic climate it's crucial that holiday rental agencies and property owners find new and innovative ways of generating additional bookings. Our VillaTube service is designed specifically to enable holiday rental agencies and owners to put their properties in front of thousands of potential new customers through YouTube and the other major online video portals."

He continues "YouTube is now the 2nd biggest search engine in the world after Google and millions of video searches are made every day. VillaTube will enable any agency or property owner to access this fast growing and highly lucrative market."

VillaTube works by uploading and promoting a high quality video slide show to the main video portals like YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video and MySpace Video as well as the main travel video portals such as Travelistic, TripFilms and Holiday Rental TV.

The company has produced a brochure PDF for VillaTube at http://www.turismotec.com/VillaTube-Presentation.pdf.

How to increase your site traffic by 1,100% in just 24 hours for free!

2009-01-29T13:39:00.010Z

As an online marketing professional how would you go about increasing your website's traffic by 1,100% in just 24 hours without spending a penny? The answer is by implementing a controversial viral PR campaign.

An amazing thing happened to UK based adventure holidays specialist Activities Abroad over the last 2 or 3 days. A controversial promotional email sent to the company customer mailing list sparked a nationwide controversy by offering 'chav-free' vacations.

For the benefit of our non-UK readers, Wikipedia explains the word Chav as generally referring to a "white aggressive teen or young adult, of working class background, who wears branded sports and casual clothing who often fights and engages in petty criminality and are often assumed to be unemployed or in a low paid job." The company mailing promised that on its holidays you wouldn't meet anyone with Chav-like names such as "Britney, Dazza, Chardonnay and Candice".

Although Director Alistair McLean insists "It was a tongue-in-cheek e-mail", a media storm soon ensued with coverage in major national newspapers like The Times, and McLean was also interviewed live on a major BBC radio show.

The result of all this media coverage was a massive surge in visitors to the Activities Abroad website which eventually threatened to engulf the servers. Over the period of just 24 hours the number of visitors to the website exploded by 1,100%.

The equivalent value of this additional visitor traffic in Pay Per Click terms is approximately £4,000 ($5,600) a day, however, the real value is in the additional vacation bookings that will undoubtedly result from this mass media coverage. As McLean explains, "We have had £300,000 worth of PR from this. We had a few nervous moments and knew it was a bold piece of PR but we're getting great results."

So, what can we online marketers learn from this experience? Well, first of all, it demonstrates the huge potential influence that Blogs have and how Blogging has empowered people to such an extent that they can now start a national media storm from their own kitchen table.

This whole controversy was sparked by one single blogger who received the company email and was so angered by its contents that he wrote about it on his travel blog. This was eventually picked up by news outlets across the UK and the rest, as they say, is history.

The second lesson is the amazing power of viral marketing. What started as one man's online rant evolved into a national controversy within a matter of hours. Viral marketing is nothing new, but it takes an event like this to remind us of just how powerful a tool it really can be.

The final lesson is that controversy sells. Whether deliberate or not, the content of the email shot was definitely controversial. Even though the company claim that the overwhelming response has been one of support, it only takes a few outraged individuals to create the kind of national level controversy that we have seen in this case.

Was this really a "tongue-in-cheek" email that threatened to backfire but eventually paid off brilliantly, or was it a piece of clever but highly cynical viral PR? Only a few people within Activities Abroad will know the answer. What is not in doubt is that the results were phenomenal and would delight any online marketing professional.

15% drop off in UK-US flight search traffic

2008-11-21T11:30:00.002Z

Flight search engine Skyscanner is reporting a 15% drop off in UK-US flight search traffic over the last 30 days despite an overall high level of flight search traffic on the site. This is likely due to the decline in the GB Pound compared to the US Dollar making holidays in the US is about 25% more expensive than the same time last year.

Read the full story in Travelmole.

Vacation Rental Business Dependent on Internet

2008-10-24T08:07:00.002Z

Endless Vacation Rentals by Wyndham Worldwide and PhoCusWright recently released a report on the $24 billion US vacation rental industry which it described as "one of the untapped travel segments that is poised for significant change and growth".

What becomes evident from "PhoCusWright's Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for Change" is that this huge travel market sector is dependant on the internet for its growth. According to the report two thirds of vacation rental guests researched online for their last trip and 20% of online travel shoppers booked a vacation rental in the past year

The report suggests that vacation rental guests are well-off, well-traveled, well-educated and savvy Internet users.

Why You Don't Rank on Search Engines

2008-10-22T07:26:00.003Z

Ever wondered why your business is not ranking well in the search engines? Have you spent valuable time and resources reworking your website and pouring more money into SEO and still not improved your rankings?

Mike Grehan posted a great feature on Clickz recently which points out something which every good search engine marketing prefessional knows, but which few would ever tell their clients, and this is that very often the reason a website does not perform well in the search engines is down to a flawed business model and not the code or SEP.

As Mike Grehan explains "I ask clients to be very honest about whether they believe they have a business concern online or just a Web site. If we discover they truly have a genuine business that can differentiate itself, we look at the Web site."

Read the rest of the articles at Clickz.

Google UK Revenues "Flat"

2008-10-22T07:21:00.006Z

Google's UK business generated revenues of $776 million in the three months to end-September, according to the Q3 08 earnings statement from the search giant.

Chief financial officer Patrick Pichette told analysts that the "UK showed some softness" with the $776 million equating to a 17% increase on Q3 07.

However, compared with April to June this year, "the UK return is essentially flat...including the impact of currency."

Read rest of story at Travolution.

We're All Going On a Virtual Holiday

2008-10-10T12:29:00.001Z

From Yahoo News

A new study out today showed that despite the credit crunch, 64 per cent of holidaymakers have or are still planning to take a holiday this year, and over three quarters (77 per cent) of UK internet users said that they use the net to research the holiday they've booked before they leave.

Online advertising to beat the credit crunch?

2008-10-09T12:56:00.005Z

Travel marketers remain bullish about the performance of online advertising in the face of the current global economic woes. At Google's TravelThink event in New York recently, JupiterResearch reported the results of a travel marketing survey which showed that 94% of travel executives thought online advertising would provide the strongest return on investment compared to other media in the next 12 months. In addition, the study commissioned by Google suggests that some 20% of travel advertisers will spend more than $10 million on online marketing alone.

When questioned about individual marketing tactics, search engine optimisation came out top along with e-mail. "Search is like your Yellow Pages, billboard--everything all wrapped up in one," said Emily Riley, a senior analyst at Jupiter.

Agents' websites score badly on search engine optimisation

2008-10-08T09:49:00.001Z

From Travel Mole.

An analysis of the websites of 115 Advantage agents in the UK found only 12% scored well when it came to search engine optimisation. According to Click with Technology (CWT), which carried out the analysis, the majority of the independent agents’ websites did not appear at all in searches with Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Only 35% had enough links pointing to their domain to maximise their search engine optimisation and only 49% scored well when CWT looked at indexed pages.

Websites scored better when judged for their content, with 82% of homepages having a clear purpose. But only 29% of websites did a good job of displaying offers and pricing.

Looking at all criteria – content, design and appearance, usability, web-user interaction, e-commerce and search engine performance – Advantage agents scored 63% overall.

More than half of UK travellers now book online.

2008-10-08T09:31:00.004Z

From Travel Mole.

A recent Ipsos MORI poll for ABTA shows that more than half of UK travellers book their holidays and travel online. A total of 57% of people booked their last foreign holiday online, with just 19% doing so by telephone.

The 25 to 44 year old age group were the most web-savvy with 68% saying they booked their last holiday online.

The survey of 702 people found that holidaymakers in the Greater London region were the most likely to book a holiday online (68%) compared to the West Midlands, where holidaymakers were least likely to book online (45%).

Holiday Rental TV – the first video portal for vacation rentals.

2008-10-08T09:26:00.001Z

Turismotec Ltd announces the launch of Holiday Rental TV (www.HolidayRental.tv), the world’s first video-sharing portal dedicated exclusively to vacation rentals.

Internet video is the ideal medium for vacation rental owners to use to showcase their property and for consumers to get a real feel for the layout and character of a holiday home before they book. Until now it has been difficult for property owners to get their videos in front of potential customers.

The launch of Holiday Rental TV provides a single source of worldwide vacation rental videos for people looking to book a vacation. For vacation property owners, Holiday Rental TV offers an opportunity to broadcast their holiday home video to interested consumers from around the world – and free of charge.

Holiday Rental TV has just completed 3 months of successful beta testing and is now ready to accept video submissions from vacation property owners worldwide.

“People just don’t trust photos anymore - they’re static and easily manipulated”, explained Mark Scriven, Turismotec Ltd M.D – “Video is a much more effective medium for presenting a vacation rental and its 360° perspective reduces the risk of a consumer paying thousands of dollars for an unsuitable property. Consumers are increasingly expecting a more informative and dynamic experience when they look to make expensive purchases online and Holiday Rental TV will provide just that.”

Property owners and agents are able select from a number of paid advertising options if they wish to enhance the visibility of their video on Holiday Rental TV. In addition, a video editing service is available to property owners who do not have the time or expertise to produce their own video presentation.

Brits search Google for 'packages' in July

2008-06-20T11:51:00.002Z

From Travolution.

Search queries are increasingly aligned with holiday periods, claims the latest research from Google.

The "Searching For Sun" study reveals a surge in queries post Easter coinciding with the school holidays and reaching a peak in the seven days to 12 April. A 39% growth in queries year-on-year was recorded during the period.

However, according to Google the surge was a missed opportunity for the industry because it was not met with the corresponding investment.

The search giant predicts July will once again be the highest query month in line with 2007's figures.

It also highlights that queries on packages outperformed the travel sector as a whole in July 2007.

Both Paris and Barcelona retained their popularity year-on-year in terms of destinations being searched although long-haul regions are showing consistent growth despite economic concerns.

Queries for both North America and the Middle East showed the strongest growth with an increase of 20%.

The research also shows potential opportunity in August when monthly cost-per-click is lower than January, so while CPC's are declining throughout the summer queries and ad clicks remain high because people are nearer the purchasing decision.

How to build site links without upsetting Google

2008-06-18T08:06:00.002Z

Over the last few months there has been so much online chatter about what incoming links are useful and which ones are considered to be spam by the search engines. If you are confused about how to build incoming links to your website without using techniques that could attract a Google penalty a useful interview by Eric Enge with Matt Cutts, the head of Web Spam at Google, clarifies a few points.

When asked what type of links have the best longevity Cutts replied "Those links are typically given voluntarily. It is an editorial link by someone, and it’s someone that’s informed. They are not misinformed, they are not tricked; there is no bait and switch involved. It’s because somebody thinks that something is so cool, so useful, or so helpful that they want to make little sign posts so that other people on the web can find that out.."

Cutts goes on to suggest that article distribution and social media site promotion are acceptable forms of generating incoming links. On reciprocal linking (link swaps) Cutts suggests that it is natural for most sites to have a few link exchanges with related or complimentary businesses, however, Cutts warns "avoid the excessive reciprocal links".

The full Matt Cutts interview is here.

Yahoo and Google agree online ad deal

2008-06-13T08:14:00.002Z

Yahoo and Google have reached an agreement which will see Yahoo use the search engine giant's advertising technology. Under the agreement, Google ads will appear alongside some Yahoo search results in the US and Canada. There are no announcements as yet as to when this arrangement will roll out in Europe.

Yahoo said the agreement with Google could be worth up to $800m (£410m) in additional revenue every year.

"This commercial agreement provides Yahoo with the opportunity to deliver more relevant ads to users and provide advertisers and publishers with better advertising technology," said Eric Schmidt, Google chairman and chief executive.

"We believe that the convergence of search and display is the next major development" in online advertising industry, said Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang.

The partnership will initially last for three years, but could last up to 10 if Yahoo decides to renew.

More details will follow.

Online Ad Spend Unaffected by Economic Woes

2008-06-11T07:25:00.004Z

Despite difficult trading conditions across the globe online ad spend is continuing to hold up, in the USA at least. According to new data released by IDC, total online ad revenue increased by 23.9% to $7.1 billion in the first quarter - up from $5.7 billion in Q1 of 2007.

IDC projects online advertising to continue growing at a rate of 15-20% this year despite their expectation for ad spend across media to decline by 7%. IDC anticipates online advertising to double over the next five years.

"What happens is that the current economic crisis puts pressure on advertisers to save money and find more effective marketing channels," said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Marketplace and New Media at IDC. "Effectively, the crisis accelerates the shift of advertising budgets from traditional media into new media."

Google Dominates UK Search Market

2008-06-11T07:19:00.002Z

Hitwise report that Google's stranglehold on the UK search market has tightened even more. Google generated 87% of UK searches in May 2008, which represents a 12% increase year-on-year. Yahoo! accounted for 4.09%, a 2% increase. MSN saw 3.72%, up 2% and Ask.com saw 3.07%, up 6%.

In the USA Google is less dominant with 68.29% of the search market over the same period.

US Online Advertising Grows by 27% in 2007

2008-02-13T08:24:00.004Z

Online advertising in the US grew 27 percent last year, according to an IDC analyst. Internet ad spending totaled $7.3 billion for the fourth-quarter of 2007, about 28 percent more than the same period in 2006, according to IDC. For the 2007 calendar year, it reached $25.5 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 27 percent.

However, there was less positive news for Google as for the first time ever, IDC's research found Google actually lost market share. "Their domestic sales growth has slowed down," the analyst said. Google's net U.S. market share was down 0.5 percentage points to 23.7 last quarter compared to the prior quarter.

Mobile web set to unleash a "huge revolution" says Google CEO

2008-02-12T15:34:00.000Z

The arrival of a truly mobile Web, offering a new generation of location-based advertising, is set to unleash a "huge revolution", Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Although consultancy firm Forrester predict mobile ad revenues of under $1 billion by 2012, Schmidt countered this figure by claiming that the mobile Web was reaching a tipping point.

"It's the recreation of the Internet, it's the recreation of the PC (personal computer) story and it is before us -- and it is very likely it will happen in the next year," Schmidt told a panel at the World Economic Forum.

Google aims to be a prime mover by launching an open U.S. wireless network.

51% of U.S. Travel Booked Online in 2007

2008-01-11T15:52:00.000Z

According to the PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey the year 2007 was the first in which more travel was purchased online than off-line in the U.S.

The report goes on to predict that "the gap between online and off-line will continue to widen as more and more travelers shift behavior to online shopping and buying." The study said that 51% of U.S. travel was booked online in 2007, and it projected that percentage to increase to 56% in 2008 and 60% in 2009.

Interestingly, the survey also suggests that the more complex travel products, such as package holidays, are being purchased less frequently online, while simple products like plane tickets and car hire are being purchased more frequently.

Omni Hotels Launch Brand-wide Mobile Web Site

2008-01-11T15:47:00.000Z

Omni Hotels announced today the launch of a new, brand-wide mobile Web site. Guests can now conveniently access hotel information from any Web-enabled mobile device. The mobile Web site can be used to book a reservation, get hotel information or look at special offers. In addition, Omni Hotels is the first hotel brand to feature online check-in as a mobile Web site function. This unique feature enables travelers to check-in before they even arrive at their destination, ensuring that guestroom keys are ready and waiting upon arrival.

“Our goal was to give travelers the means to check-in to the hotel while on-the-go, obtain maps and get directions to the hotel,” said Kerry Kennedy, director of e-commerce for Omni Hotels. “Today, these are becoming necessities for the busy business traveler.”

Omni Hotels’ mobile Web site is powered by Usablenet Mobile. The technology employed for the mobile Web site automatically detects what type of mobile device is being used. When a guest visits omnihotels.com, a mobile-friendly version of the site optimized for the wireless device, provides a rich user experience with speed, ease and all major functions of the full Web site for the mobile user.

"Users visit 22 sites before making a travel booking" says Google UK MD.

2007-11-30T08:52:00.000Z

Speaking at the recent Internet Advertising Bureau's annual Engage conference in London Google's UK MD, Matt Brittin suggested that 25% of all searches end in a purchase.

However, this does not appear to be the case in the travel sector as Brittin goes on to say that an average user looking for a travel product would make 12 searches, visit 22 sites and take 29 days before they ultimately made their booking.

"67% of online searches are driven by an offline "impression"

2007-11-22T12:32:00.000Z

According to David Feldman from Iprospect, speaking at SMX Travel@PhoCusWright, 67% of online searches are driven by an offline "impression" such as word-of-mouth, TV, Radio, brochures etc.

In other words, online searches are heavily impacted by offline marketing activities. Most search marketers are aware of the power of offline promotion to drive traffic to websites, but 67% does seem to be a suprisingly high percentage.

Presumably this is a global average and includes the huge volume of searches that are stimulated by news and media coverage. For example, the most used search phrases at any one time are often related to news events or to celebrity names.

The percentage of traffic to most travel websites that has been generated by offline "impressions" is likely to be much less than 67%.