Wednesday, January 28, 2004

eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "Technological first for Australian last minute web site
RatesToGo.com (www.RatesToGo.com) has become the first Australian website to introduce web services onto the Australian last minute market. Based on SOAP and XML technology, the RatesToGo.com Web Services Module now allows existing and potential content partners complete and seamless integration of the RatesToGo.com hotel content and online hotel reservation system. "

Google

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

FT.com / Business / UK: "The surge in online revenues has continued into January, with the Hitwise research agency reporting traffic to online travel sites almost doubling over a three-week period as thousands of flights and holidays are booked online....
Britain also appears to be leading continental Europe. Visa reported a year-on-year increase of 99 per cent in UK online spending in December and a 13.5 per cent increase on the previous month, compared with a 14.8 per cent year-on-year increase for the European Union as a whole in November and December."

Google

Thursday, January 15, 2004

Will check back on expedias campaign....Expedia topples lastminute in website rankings - 15-Jan-04.: "Lastminute.com has lost considerable market share to Expedia since the end of December, according to Hitwise.


Hitwise marketing manager Jannie Cahill told TravelMole: �The two vie for the top spot each week, but Lastminute has come out on top more often than Expedia in the past year. The latest rankings show Lastminute has lost considerable market share. It suggests that Expedia has been doing something to push more traffic to their site.�


The shift in share of visits could be due to the current sale being heavily promoted by Expedia.


Lastminute�s share of visits to UK agency websites had almost halved from 11.5% during the month of December down to 6.8% for the week ending 10 January. Expedia had an 11% share, up from 9.9% in December. The last time Expedia was top of the UK agency rankings was in November."

Google

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Which online site is cheaper?: "Which online site is cheaper?


January 14, 2004 | Priceline claims to often have the cheapest airfares and hotels, but the truth in their claim is difficult to figure out. Unlike Hotwire, Expedia and other online travel agencies, Priceline doesn't make their prices publicly available. Their true value has remained shrouded in mystery -- until now.

Enter Consumers Union, the clean-as-a-whistle consumer advocacy organization that publishes Consumer Reports. Their Web-based arm, Consumer WebWatch (www.consumerwebwatch.org) spent $38,000 buying hotels, car rentals and airline tickets from Priceline and Hotwire. Consumer WebWatch compared Priceline's and Hotwire's prices to Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Quikbook and the SABRE computer system used by travel agents. They searched on a variety of routes, trip lengths and advance booking periods.

Their conclusion: Priceline did have the lowest airfares and car rental rates the most often, and came a close second to Hotwire with hotels. But you still have to shop around. Priceline was only cheapest 44 percent of the time with airfares and 40 percent of the time with hotels. (Together, though, Priceline and Hotwire provided 83 percent of the lowest hotel rates.)"

Google

Scared to travel? Online travel sites prove otherwise: "Despite recent flight cancellations the online travel industry have witnessed a significant increase in traffic. From a low of 2.3% market share for the week ending December 20th, the travel category has almost doubled to 4.13% of overall traffic for the week ending January 10th. Compared with statistic from January 2003 visits to online travel sites have increased by 27% as demand for winter breaks grows. "

Google

Sender Line More Important Than Subject Line: "the unsung hero of the day is the humble sender line. Stevens told us, 'This is counterintuitive for most of us in direct marketing' who have relied on compelling teasers to get envelopes opened. But she cites research showing the sender line drives 65 percent of open rates. Subject lines drive just 35 percent.
According to Stevens, the latest in sender-line theory shows the most effective sender fields are (in descending order):
The sender's name, if it's known to the recipient. This can range from the well-known CEO of a company to a day-to-day contact, such as an account rep.


Company name, if it's known and respected.


An unknown sender's name, as long as it's legitimate. People are more likely to click on the name of a real person than something that says 'info@xyzcompany.com' or 'your friends@xyz.com.' (We usually open an e-mail with a real name on it, on the off chance it's from a prospective client or a colleague whose name escapes us.)"

Google

Internet marketers reveal what's working what's not: "At 49% and 48% respectively, house list email campaigns and paid
search ads were the only two tactics that a majority of respondents said were getting 'GREAT' versus 'moderate' or 'disappointing' results.

Strikingly, email blasts to rented lists got the absolute worst scores - with 50% of respondents saying they had 'disappointing results.' So, it's obvious that house list growth, maintenance
and campaigns will become the epicenter of email activities for 2004.

Search optimization - the art of refining your site so search engine spiders notice and rank it in the non-paid 'organic' listings - was voted to get 'moderate results' by 62% of respondents."

Google

Monday, January 12, 2004

Sir Richard Branson interview - Finance - New Year New You - Virgin.net: "Any tips for budding entrepreneurs out there?
RB: I think get a great bunch of people around you. Go into businesses that you have a fascination for - and only go into businesses where you think you can make a real difference. Try to create the best quality businesses in whatever area you go into - and the best value.
Also try to go into businesses which you can take overseas - don't just think of the UK as one small market - it's a great big world out there. And of course have fun in whatever you do."

Google

Winning Vacation Shoppers Online: "Are travel packages necessarily important online purchases? Well, according to a 2002 America Online and RoperASW report, 71% of US Internet users use the Net as their primary source of research for plane tickets, hotel reservations and travel packages. "

Google

eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and AnalysisPPC marketing is an ideal direct-to-consumer channel and when necessary serve as an effective “distressed inventory disposal tool” without tarnishing my branding and pricing. I know the right PPC strategy will help me capture new markets and customer segments, and allow me to associate my hotel with local events and happenings, and market it to unique and specialized audiences.

Google

eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis: "In 2004 16% of all revenues in hospitality will be generated from the Internet (14% in 2003). By 2006, the Internet will contribute over 24% of all hotel bookings (CSFB). This year 54% of all Internet bookings in hospitality will be direct-to-consumer (i.e. via hotel-owned websites). Some major brands (e.g. Marriott, Hilton) and proactive hotels and resorts already enjoy Direct vs. Indirect online distribution ratios of 75:25. Hoteliers like what they see: direct online distribution cuts costs, attracts affluent customers and lessens the dependency on online discounters and more traditional and expensive channels. "

Google

It's feeling like 2000, but Nets look good in January: "Reports out on Monday from Goldman Sachs and ComScore show that online commerce grew 30 percent in the holiday season. And, broadband and handset prices are falling, suggesting more content will be consumed on the Internet, which in turn drives more usage and in turn drives more advertising and commerce activity.
These are all good signs that there is money to be made by investing in Net companies, over the next month at least, and especially after some reasonably good news."

Google

Thursday, January 08, 2004

3 Iron-Clad Rules of Direct E-Mail Marketing: "3 key rules of e-mail marketing to friendly lists:
1. Use a short subject line.Your subject line should be a maximum of five words long. 'Our headline was something like 'Learn the Inside Story on Profits from Voice on the Internet.' It was too long, and sounded like a pitch. Something like 'Voice/Net Offer' or 'Make Voice Work' would have been lots better.'
2. Keep text short. 'Ten lines is near perfect,' Moore says. 'If you can't make a compelling case quickly, your offer isn't good enough to send to your list yet. In this lousy campaign, we had about five paragraphs of text. We'd have been better off with five lines, and then a link to a strong Web page.'
3. Link from the e-mail to a Web page with the real pitch. 'The e-mail box is a poor selling environment. It's dry, colorless, and has no emotional leverage. But Web pages are terrific selling environments. They amuse people while they sell, and can communicate positive feeling through the right design. So use the e-mail to sell the Web page. Then use the Web page to sell the product.'"

Google

Travel Industry's Online Advertising in 2003: "Nielsen//NetRatings reports that in the week ending 7 December, the top online advertiser in the travel indsutry was InterActiveCorp with over 196 million online ad impressions"

Google

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

E-Mail Marketing: A Weekly Perspective: "E-Mail Marketing: A Weekly Perspective"

Wednesdays are the most popular days of the week for opening and clicking-though on e-mail marketing messages...Tuesday was the most popular day ... to send e-mail marketing messages in 2003

Google

Monday, January 05, 2004

Why Ad Agencies Fail at Search Marketing: "Why Ad Agencies Fail at Search Marketing"

Not all ad agencies and marketing firms fail at SEM. But for many agencies, formal education and traditional marketing experience are barriers to SEM success.

If ad agencies truly comprehended SEM's uniqueness and kept personal preferences in check, maybe the search experience would improve for everyone

Google

eMarketer: Travel Market Research, Business Statistics

Selected Findings from Travel Industry Worldwide:

Travel ad spending totaled $3.80 billion in the US last year, representing 3.96% of the total $95.93 billion spent by US companies. Print media accounted for 60% of the outlay.

Worldwide online travel sales are projected to reach $80 billion in 2003
74% of corporate travel managers surveyed cited the need for improvements in the balance sheets of their companies as essential factors in the rebound of business travel
It’s predicted that by 2008, 28% of managed corporate travel bookings will be made on the Internet (up from 12% in 2003)
During the same period, sales will triple, rising from $8.5 billion in 2003 to $26.4 billion in 2008
Although the travel industry spends heavily on advertising, travel companies put less than 15% of their advertising budgets online
Business for low-cost airline carriers (LCCs) is booming, with the top six US LCCs enjoying a 17% increase in passenger traffic in the first half of 2003

Google
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.