Travel Weekly Blog

There were several major incidents abroad over the weekend, including bombs in Istanbul and India and forest fires on Rhodes.

Not all of these affected tourists, but they will fuel the debate over how operators communicate with holidaymakers who are caught up in, or are staying close to, incidents abroad.

The penetration of mobile devices makes SMS messaging an obvious solution (see our recent feature on new mobile services for travel companies) and technology providers like Travel Buddy are helping operators to send information direct to holidaymakers in resort.

With terrorism still high on the agenda and extreme weather events apparently on the rise, you can imagine SMS updates from operators becoming commonplace in the coming years. Is it something TW Blog readers want to see - and would you pay a premium for it?

Check out the Whiz Freedom which according to the manufacturer is "the world's first antibacterial and hydrophobic urine director". The video says more than words can describe . . .

Martin Couzins, managing editor

Ages ago I waxed sceptical about travel agencies using 'holodecks' to demo destinations - an idea floated by the then TUI new media director Graham Donoghue (now at travelsupermarket.com).

I cited technical limitations:

In the unlikely event that the technology is able to completely mask the walls and contours of the room, it would require the customer to stay stock still, since moving around would leave them suffering from simulator sickness and/or a bump on the noggin from one of the now-invisible walls.

Well, I have two-and-a-half words for you: omni-directional treadmill.

Set phasers to 'aaaah'...

Nathan Midgley, web producer

The search for the ideal travel guide model continues. Technorati founder David L Sifry is working on Offbeat Guides, kind of a cross between desktop publishing and content aggregation:

From the information you tell us, we can create a guide that includes events in the city you are visiting when you're there, the most current exchange rates, key phrases in the city's language, and even a weather forecast based on your travel dates!

The guide then comes as a pdf or hard copy. (I actually suggested something similar on TW Blog a while ago, but I think I'd have had a harder time securing funding and developers than Sifry.)

Pricing runs from $9.95 for a pdf of your custom guide to $29.95 for a hard copy and pdf ($24.95 for beta testers).

It will be interesting to see how this model works - pushing the hard copies will involve distribution costs that most travel guide sites don't have to worry about, particularly if Offbeat Guides wants to reach an international audience.

I'd imagine Offbeat Guides will also take revenue from content partners. The About page says it is already pulling in content from about two dozen 'really great' sources, but it would probably need more than that to maintain profitability and a good content proposition.

It seems unlikely display advertising will have any place in the mix, but we'll have to wait and see.

Anyway, Offbeat Guides is in beta - I'm waiting on an invitation - and is probably one to keep an eye on, if only for Sifry's pedigree... (via Triphow)

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Is this a good or a bad thing? Go holiday hunting on Flexibletrips and then hit search. While you wait for the results you get a minimal version of the classic video game Breakout.

See the dot and paddle at the bottom of the screen grab - told you it's minimal.

I enjoyed the game, but then wondered why it took so long to return the search results.

Good thing: a great way to while away the time waiting for the search results
Bad thing: the search results should not take so long you can squeeze in an old school video game.

Martin Couzins, managing editor

TW is at the Travolution Summit today. Highlights have included a talk by Robert Torres, Google MD of advertising and marketing for the North American travel sector, and an onstage interview with Steve Hafner, co founder and CEO of Kayak.

The audience has just been treated to a demo of an application that has been developed by BA.com - based on pictures, maps etc. No transaction elelment until the end of the process - very good-looking but still in development. Could be live some time this year.

Intriguingly BA.com general manager Carsten Willert said BA is working on a blog for senior execs to communicate with consumers...

Martin Couzins, online editor

The Guardian's Vicky Baker is travelling around south America using people she meets in social networking sites as her guide. What I found interesting was that this week she managed to hook up with someone through A Small World, which is a networking site for the rich.

That was some feat to get in there - unless Vicky is loaded.

And there are other similar sites too, such as Yacht6. It would seem that the long tail of travel, Travolution's ongoing project, is a wealthy one. Mercedes-Benz, for example, has just signed up to A Small World as a commercial partner.

There's a new travel start-up every day, but Zicasso is worth flagging up because it exploits the expertise of - gasp! - travel professionals.

Zicasso takes your trip requirements, pings them off to pre-approved agents and tour operators, and hits you with up to four costed itineraries. The whole thing takes a day or two.

Earlier this year I asked Travolution readers how small travel agencies with limited technology resources can sell their expertise to customers who can't or won't go along to a shop (here's my pick of some of the responses).

A service like Zicasso clearly isn't the whole answer, but couldn't it help?

(Via the Dot Tourism blog.)

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Interesting point on whether menu options on web sites will soon disappear . . . and how search will develop on travel web sites.

Keep up to date with Travolution blogger's live blogging from Phocuswright at ITB.

This week is show time in Berlin with the huge travel show ITB and its integral travel technology conference Phocuswright.
This year Phocuswright includes a Bloggers Summit featuring panel discussions and sessions.

Basically, Europe's travel bloggers are in Berlin to look at what they do and how they see things developing. There is an impressive list of bloggers taking the panel slots and we at TW Blog are proud to say that Kevin may at Travolution is representing the UK.

Here are other panellist bloggers:
Jens Thraenhart - Tourism Internet Marketing (Germany/Canada)
Klaus Hildebrandt - FVW (Germany)
Annalisa Ballaria - Reflections (Italy)
Claude Benard - Les Explorers (France)
Stephen Joyce - Travel and Tourism Technology Trends (Canada)
Dr Klemens Waldhör - Blogs in Tourism (Austria)
Yeoh Siew Hoon - The Transit Cafe (Singapore)
Henri Roelings - Hospitality (The Netherlands)
Ram Badrinathan - Phocuswright (India)
William Bakker - Wilhelmus (The Netherlands/Canada)
Vicky Brock - Tracking Tourism (Scotland)
Joe Buhler - Travel Marketing In The Age Of Web 2.0 and Beyond US
Jens Oellrich - Tourismuszukunft.de (Germany)
Karin Schmollgruber - Fastenyourseatbelts (Austria)

Darren at Travel Rants is also attending the conference. Looking forward to seeing what gets discussed . . .

Martin Couzins, online editor

That's what I asked the panel (pictured) at last night's Travolution Question Time, held at the lovely Charlotte Street Hotel. Thanks to Travolution for letting Travel Weekly get a question - the last one of the night in fact.

The answers to the questions were interesting in the fact that all of the panel apart from one would so something different to what they are currently doing. This is what they would like to do:

Alan Josephs, Ebookers: set up a vertical search company.

Kristie Goshow, Jumeirah Hotels: a widget to enable users to move their profiles from one online community to another.

Steven Freudmann, ITT: set up an online travel agency.

Chris Roe, Virgin Holidays: set up a destination marketing company.

Kevin Edwards, Affiliate Window: set up an affiliate network.

Pic Credit: Andy Huntley

Martin Couzins, online editor

This is a plug as Travel Weekly and Travolution are media partners for this year's Travel and Technology Show, being held at Earl's Court 2 on 5/6 Feb. Kev over at Travolution has set up a blog dedicated to the show, so if you want to find out all the news, why you should attend, who is saying what etc, you know where to go.

There is a strong seminar programme plus more than 120 exhibitors - so lots to see and do. Hopefully see you there.
Martin Couzins, online editor

Security firm Websense has published a list of the top 10 online security threats for the year ahead. If you run a web site this will be of interest. Looks like social networking sites could be in for trouble. The Beijing Olympics tops the list.
martin Couzins, online editor

Beta site qdos.com is offering adults that live in the UK the opportunity to measure their internet status. All you have to do is put in your name and postcode and then it gives you a number - and this is your status. Your status is based on: popularity, impact, who you know and individuality. Could this be ultimate online vanity or just a way to get hold of your postcode?
Martin Couzins, online editor

Big congrats to Kev for Travolution's place in The Times 50 best travel sites for 2007.

It's a list worth a look. These are the sites to look out for in 2008, according to The Times.

WorldReviewer.com
CruiseCritic.co.uk
Travelmag.co.uk
Travelintelligence.net
Gowander.com

Martin Couzins

If I told you that Google (yes, them again) had announced a tie-up with a petrol pump manufacturer, would you believe me?

Of course you would. Rightly so: a new deal will see Google Maps delivered through the 'Applause' media system embedded in certain of Gilbarco Veeder-Root's pumps in the US.

Lost motorists will now be able to find and print directions while replacing the fuel they wasted driving around in circles. Great fit.

Source: Engadget via Gadling.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Travel Weekly has got itself indexed on Google News, but not without a short and surprising to-and-fro with the omnipotent brand.

Its first response read:

We reviewed travelweekly.co.uk and are unable to include it in Google News. We don't include sites that are purely news aggregators, and we weren't able to find any stories on your site that weren't from outside sources.

And there I was thinking the news team that sits not ten feet away was writing articles for us. Heaven knows what they were really up to.

So back came TW:

We are not a news aggregator...I suspect Google may have based its assessment on one of the daily round-ups of travel news that we publish...there are less than ten of them on the site against over 18,000 original articles...

This did the trick.

Thank you for your reply and for providing us with this additional information about your site. We've reviewed your site again and will be adding it to our index for Google News.

Ultimately, Google's service was pretty good when you take into account how much it must have to process - I know Travolution had a far worse time with the Digg customer service team. But as anyone with a stake in a website will know, being unfairly assessed by the big G is scary stuff...

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Travel Weekly's web producer, Nathan Midgley, is blogging live from today's Travolution Autumn conference in London.

Keep an eye on developments - there are some big names speaking.

Martin Couzins, online editor

Our front page poll this week is on mobile phone use on aircraft. Ofcom gave the technology the thumbs-up last week, though it will be up to airlines whether or not to implement it.

Either way, there is a lot of strong feeling about this - a Yougov poll found that the majority are opposed to it, and the Telegraph is running a petition against mobile use in the air.

Those in favour are making less noise (isn't it always the way?) but I'm sure they're out there.

It'd be interesting to know how opinion is divided among Travel Weekly readers, so cast your vote on the homepage...

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Kevin, editor of our sister title Travolution, predicted in his current editorial that Travo's 'Power Edition' - listing the 50 most powerful people in online travel - would attract some controversy.

Guess what?

An open thread on the topic attracted over 20 comments in one day - some by the dreaded 'anonymous'. Worth a read.

The Global Language Monitor has published the top 10 Most Confusing (yet widely used) High Tech Buzzwords for 2007.

And here they are:

iPOD
Flash (as in Flash Memory)
Nano
Cookie
Kernel
Megahertz
Cell (as in Cell Phone)
Plasma (as in Plasma Television)De-duplication
De-duplication
Blu-Ray

Martin Couzins, online editor

The Guardian has an article on 'Personal Rapid Transport' systems - an approach to public transport based on networks of private, driverless pods that you use rather like taxis.

The ULtra PRT system, developed by Advanced Transport Systems, will be piloted at Heathrow, where it will ferry users between the car park and Terminal 5 when the latter opens next year.

BAA signed an agreement with ATS back in 2005, and if the system comes together the airport operator could end up with a £7.5 million equity investment in the company - so if this works at Heathrow it could well be introduced at other BAA airports.

Here are some mock-ups from the ATS site:

Advanced Transport Systems Ltd | atsltd.co.uk

Nathan Midgley, web producer

My faith in customer service and the human condition has been restored today. Following video work on MS Prinsendam yesterday, I managed to leave the bag of video kit on my train to work.

Once I had realised I rushed down to Sutton station where the staff called through to stations further down the line to see if the bag had been handed in. They also asked for someone to check the carriage when it had reached the end of the line.

No news from all that. It all went quiet for an hour or so and then Tony Louth called. He was the driver of the train who had found the bag, opened it up and clocked the large Travel Weekly stickers on the kit.

I was reasonably happy to take his call informing me he had the camera. Here is the man.

Thanks to Southern station staff at Sutton for all your help. And thanks to Tony for saving my bacon.

Congrats to Kevin and Tricia on Travolution. The latest issue is an indepth look at how different age groups interact with travel brands on the internet and it includes loads of exclusive research. Well worth a read.

While wandering around Google Earth (Just like Earth, but without the noise and odour^TM) TW Blog was astonished by the number of 3D buildings on display in Hamburg.

A few searches later I discovered that the 'virtual city' is the brainchild of Hamburg@Work, a 'joint initiative of the city and private business'. More in this Spiegel article (via Google Earth Blog).

A bit over the top? At least it guarantees accuracy. In most cities buildings are added piecemeal by independent users, and that's how mutant clock towers happen.

Eek. Should UK cities follow Hamburg's example, or is a well-crafted Google Earth presence sheer vanity?

Travel Weekly is always on the look out for pics of our print title being read in unexpected places. But we have stiff competition from Travolution. Check out this film of a Travo reader taking the mag for a skydive. Kev, who is your crazy reader?

Tim Elkington over at Enhance Media is running a test to check a person's e-credentials. It's for a good cause so find out how E you are.

I scored 65 which makes me an e-vangelist but I only ranked 3,220th out of 11,325.

TW Blog was subscribing to a few cruise feeds yesterday when something appeared that made me choke on my tea.

Here comes a wicked whisper...

• Which cruiseline's community portal community site dedicated to a particular cruiseline is inadvertantly publishing adult spam in its RSS feed?

We will be contacting the company to notify them - there should be some follow-up in Travolution.

UPDATE: Kevin at Travo has contacted the cruiseline, who are naturally horrified but inform us that the site is run by an independent agent - I've altered this post and its headline accordingly. More soon.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Fans of the Lonely Planet guide series will know that it recently launched a download service called Pick & Mix, allowing travellers to buy single chapters.

Lonely Planet's Tom Hall sent me a couple of samples, and they do what it says on the tin - you get exactly what you would in the full book, including a few small maps, in a pdf format.

They don't include any photography, but that will keep the file size down and make the documents easier to print - and Lonely Planet guides aren't picture-heavy anyway.

Static, professionally written travel content is under pressure online, so I asked Tom whether Pick & Mix is a direct response to competition from the likes of Tripadvisor and Wikitravel:

Free content is one component of an increasingly competitive market for travel information, comprised of traditional print and and new online competitors. The strong and varied competition is one of many reasons to try new approaches, such as Pick & Mix.

Most travellers are familiar enough with guidebooks to have a strong sense of what they need, and now they generally expect to get what they want, when they want it. My own feeling is that successful products like iTunes have really contributed to changing expectations.

It will be interesting to see how much success this has. I was critical when the Telegraph lauched downloadable city guides earlier in the year, and I still think the format has problems - but it's a step in the right direction, and the LP brand has enough firepower to carry it off.

Any thoughts from readers?

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Over at Travolution Kevin recently posted the results of the title's first Facebook poll.

It asked users where they go to find out about travel deals, and it will be no surprise to find that travel websites weighed in at 77%.

Social networking sites only accounted for 2%, but given the growing number of travel networking sites there is likely to be some overlap that isn't accounted for here.

Agents? They took 10% - the same amount as recommendations from family and friends, which may be great when planning a trip but not much use when it comes to finding the right package at a good price.

Travo plans to run a new Facey B poll every week, so keep your eyes peeled.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Travel is the sector most at risk of losing sales as a result of negative consumer reviews posted online.

So says recent research by Tamar, as reported on Hotelmarketing.com (tip of the hat to Buhlerworks for the spot).

Apparently 58% of consumers would abandon a travel purchase based on negative reviews on a forum or social network.

That's more than would abandon a consumer electronics purchase (in second place with 51%).

Joe Buhler comments:

...travel purchase is often a higher expense and more importantly the product can't be tried before consumption, unlike a TV, camera or DVD player

So keep those service levels high if you want to avoid getting stung. And if you can't keep your service good, at least keep an eye on your online reputation...

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Confession: Second Life has always got on my nerves. So I am taking malicious pleasure in the news that Starwood is closing its Virtual Aloft hotel.

What's my problem with the supposedly all-conquering role-playing game? Well, it sorely lacks focus, and that makes two things happen.

Firstly, it gradually bores straight-laced users, who want purpose (these are the people who are choosing streamlined Facebook over chaotic MySpace).

Secondly, it attracts users who want the freedom to do freaky stuff.

Sure enough, the Relactions blog reports some research by one Ian Schafer of online marketing firm Deep Focus:

[Schafer] started at the Aloft hotel and found it empty. He moved on to casinos, brothels and strip clubs, and they were packed. Schafer found that "one of the most frequently purchased items in Second Life is genitalia."

Ech. And apparently usage of and economic activity in SL are showing signs of decline - while usage of social networking sites continues to explode.

So.. a future for travel in Second Life? Or will the game slowly become the preserve of programmers and fantasists alone?

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Came across a new travel startup while browsing TechCrunch - Yapta allows you to bookmark fares you're interested in, then compare and track them from its desktop software.

Price comparison is already pretty well covered by sites such as Travelsupermarket.com, but they only pull in data when you run a search; the idea of Yapta is to display real-time updates, rather like an air fare RSS reader.

Tracking prices helps you get hold of fares at their cheapest, also the aim of fellow US startup Farecast, which uses historical data to predict when prices will rise or fall.

But should you miss out on the lowest price, Yapta has another trick up its sleeve. Says TechCrunch:

If you make a purchase by clicking through to the airline or travel site from Yapta, they’ll continue to monitor the price. If it falls, they’ll ping you and suggest you contact the airline for a refund or flight coupon. All airlines offer these on price drops but few consumers follow up...

The downside, of course, is that both Yapta and Farecast are US services and still in development - so not much practical use to us in the UK. But they're interesting and a glimpse of how holidaymakers could be shopping for flights in the coming years.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Boeing unveiled its long-awaited 787 Dreamliner yesterday (07/08/07 - geddit?) in an elaborate ceremony at the manufacturer's Everett, Washington base.

The Boeing Company

The extensive media coverage will be welcome to Boeing after European rival Airbus grabbed the limelight by closing an astonishing number of deals at the Paris Air Show last month, including many orders for the A350 WXB, its hitherto troubled answer to the Dreamliner.

You'll know the Dreamliner pitch by now: the body is mostly carbon fibre, so it's lighter; it uses 20% less fuel than comparable aircraft; it's also rather nice to look at.

All good stuff, although the environmental lobby is already speculating that the 787's low operating costs will encourage airlines to buy and fly more of them, effectively negating the aircraft's fuel-efficiency benefits.

We'll see. Cheap to operate it may be, but its technical advances apparently make it a headache to manufacture, so concerns about 787s buzzing around like fruit flies are perhaps a little premature.

Personally, of all the pin-up aircraft currently making their way to market it's the Dreamliner I'm keenest to fly on, because I think the enormous windows are a great enhancement to passenger experience. But then I've never been an aisle man...

The Boeing Company

There's some video knocking around on the web, though nothing I can embed unfortunately - have a look at this Dreamliner search on Truveo for some of the best.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

There's an episode of South Park called "The Simpsons Already Did It" in which every idea that the character Butters comes up with is met with the titular phrase.

It's easy to feel that way when new travel community sites pop up.

So the cynic in me winced at news that Cheapflights VP head of international Hugo Burge is joining this crowded space with Hereorthere.com, a place for (all together now) sharing and rating travel experiences.

The start up says: "Our mission is to uncover the secret source of travel inspiration. We are on a mission to make it easy, enjoyable and fast to share your travel experiences!"

Simpsons did it.

To be fair one feature did strike me: the ability to filter reviewers by 'lives here' and 'tourist here' on destination pages. Nice.

Hereorthere also promises 'a long list of plans to create innovative tools,' and a tie-up with Cheapflights is obviously a possibility. So you never know: my cynicism might come back to bite me.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

Right on cue after the iffy 'stay away from agents' advice published on MSN last week (read reactions by Travel Weekly and on Travel Rants) Classic Collection Holidays managing director Nick Munday emails this piece of virtuoso sarcasm...

My barber recently told me of a fantastic idea he'd had that would completely revolutionise the hairdressing industry: Haircutonline.com.

The benefits to the customer would be immense, he assured me. A new style and cut would be just a click away!

Step 1: Download your choice of style. As a convenience to its customers Haircutonline.com would only make three basic styles available online owing to the difficulty of certain haircuts.

Step 2: Grab your scissors and follow the online instructions. At this point a flashing disclaimer would warn the customer that as Haircutonline.com was acting solely as an agent, rather than a principal, it could not be held responsible for any accidents that might occur during the process.

And the greatest benefit of all? Haircutonline.com cuts out the middleman, saving the average male customer a massive £7.00!

While telling me this my barber gave me a cut that was executed with all the expertise and experience that a professional acquires during years of personal service, and which seemed such good value for money at just £7.00.

I wondered whether he had been sniffing too much setting lotion, or been reading up on the benefits of bed-banks and dynamic packaging. Was it purely a coincidence that I went home and registered the domain name Dontbookyourholidayonline.com?

Nick Munday, managing director,