How we get our travel inspiration May 9, 2012
Posted by janeefraser in Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: Facebook, tourism, Travel, travel technology, travel trends, Twitter
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Where do you get your inspiration for holidays?
If you look at where travel companies are investing their efforts, you’d think social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter are playing a big role in our plans and choices. But are we paying much attention to these platforms – aside from clicking on the occasional “like” button in the hope of winning a holiday?
Only 8 per cent had used Facebook for planning a holiday in the previous 12 months and only 5 per cent said Twitter had any influence on their decision-making. Newspapers, holiday brochures, websites and television continued to be the most used sources of information and inspiration.
However, the use of social media is still in its early stages in travel and its influence is likely to grow as travel companies get more innovative with their social media offerings, rather than just using the applications to throw marketing information at consumers.
KLM recently launched a “Meet & Seat” service that allows travellers to… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Enter the human being March 2, 2012
Posted by janeefraser in Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: online travel, PhoCusWright, Travel, travel technology, travel trends, Zuji
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Online travel might be booming but it seems many of us still need a human being.
Leading online travel website ZUJI Australia has introduced a telephone line to help travellers make their bookings. The company says the telephone service will work “in conjunction” with its extensive online booking engine, which offers 67,000 hotels, 400 airlines and more than 1 million holiday options.
The managing director of ZUJI Australia, James Gaskell, says the service will help customers individualise their trips and be particularly useful for those making complicated bookings such as multiple stops. ”We hope it will also help our customers who mightn’t be as confident online, or for those who just want the reassurance of a human voice,” Gaskell says.
While some are still looking for human contact, online travel is (more…)
Onboard dating: matches in the sky February 7, 2012
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: dating, flying, Travel
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It seems many an airline traveller takes a fancy to the person in the seat next to them.
Hundreds of people have left their details on a new website that aims to reunite people who have met on plane journeys. In its first few weeks, wemetonaplane.com has had more than 20,000 page views, as people search for that attractive someone with whom they never traded numbers.
Stories have been logged by people from all over the world, leaving the flight number, date and other details of the flight to help identify the person they are trying to find. A search algorithm is used to find any stories posted by other passengers from that flight, in the hope the attraction was mutual.
The site, which is the brainchild of Sydney businessman Will Scully-Power, is yet to declare a match but he says (more…)
Chip fat to fuel our planes? January 23, 2012
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: airlines, aviation, biofuel, green travel, Qantas, Travel, Virgin Atlantic
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If there’s something we can expect to see a lot of this year, it is airlines talking up their green credentials. From chicken fat to algae, carriers are busy looking for new ways to fuel their planes and reduce their emissions.
Several airlines have already claimed “world-first” initiatives such as the first commercial biofuel flight, the first scheduled biofuel flight and the longest distance biofuel flight, and Qantas has announced its intention to operate Australia’s first biofuel flight early this year.
IATA has declared work on biofuels to be a major priority for the industry in the year ahead, with the association’s chief executive, Tony Tyler, saying it is “one of aviation’s great challenges” to reduce its carbon emissions. ”Sustainability is our licence to grow,” Tyler says.
The problem with biofuels and other green initiatives is that they… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Top travel trends for 2012 January 17, 2012
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Hotels, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, China, Facebook, Frommer's, near field communication, Travel, travel technology, travel trends, Twitter, voluntourism
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In a fast-changing world, here’s five things you’ll need to keep up with in 2012.
1. Prices are rising
We’ve had a fantastic run with cheap travel in the past few years but expect to pay a bit more in the next 12 months. Strong demand for business travel is expected to drive up prices of both airfares and hotels.
American Express predicts economy class airfares will rise between 6 per cent and 10 per cent on short-haul routes and 5 per cent to 9 per cent on long-haul routes, despite airline competition and the growth of low-cost carriers.
Hotel rates are also on the rise, with American Express predicting mid-range hotels will increase their rates by 3 per cent to 8 per cent and upper-scale hotels will add between 6 per cent and 10 per cent to their prices.
Global forecasts by Carlson Wagonlit Travel show we can also expect to pay more at overseas hotels, with modest increases in North America, Europe and Africa and increases of about 10 per cent in Latin America.
2. Channels are changing
Travel deals and information will be released in different ways as social media and other technology-based channels continue to grow. Hot deals are increasingly being sent out through… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Space travel: don’t start packing just yet November 28, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Adventure travel, Airlines, Hotels, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: KLM, space hotels, space tourism, space travel, Travel, Virgin Galactic
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We seem to have been hearing about space travel for a long time and the stories keep getting better. Space flights, space “hotels” and the ability to zoom from one side of the planet to the other in a matter of hours are all being promised as entrepreneurs fight to be the first to bring “space tourism” to the people.
The executive chairman of the CAPA Centre for Aviation, Peter Harbison, says it’s “definitely going to be the latter for quite some time”.
“It is not something that is going to be commercially viable in the short term,” he says. ”Quite probably by 2030 or 2040 we will be starting to see some [wider] consumer benefits from it but it’s highly unlikely it will be before then.”
One of the big talking points of space travel has been its ability to get travellers from Sydney to London in less than two hours. It was this concept that made the headlines when the formula one racing tycoon, Michiel Mol, recently announced his aim to launch sub-orbital flights in three years. Mol, who has teamed up with the Dutch airline KLM, expects the first flights to take off in 2014 with a price tag of £60,000 ($94,000).
The bigger picture is… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
What’s new in travel apps? November 8, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Hotels, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: apps, Hotels.com, Travel, travel apps, travel technology, TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, Webjet
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From a trickle to a torrent, the release of new travel apps has become such a regular occurrence, it is hard to keep up. Destination information, booking services, trip planners and niche travel apps are lining up to challenge App Store favourites such as TripAdvisor, Urbanspoon and Webjet.
Apps for booking
Hotels.com recently launched a user-friendly iPad app that allows travellers to search and book about 140,000 hotels around the world in a choice of more than 30 languages.
The free app provides fast access to about 20,000 last-minute deals, more than 2.5 million user reviews and last-minute bookings based on location, so it should prove a strong rival to other hotel booking apps.
The emerging trend for hotel booking apps is… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Is there no end to TripAdvisor’s influence? October 7, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Hotels, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: GPS, TomTom, Travel, travel technology, travel tips, TripAdvisor
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From this month, users of selected TomTom navigational devices will be able to look up TripAdvisor reviews as they travel, helping them find the most highly recommended hotels, restaurants and attractions in the local area.
TripAdvisor, which claims to be the world’s largest travel site, now contains more than 50 million reviews posted by travellers (and the odd muckraker) and is widely regarded to be one of the most influential factors in travellers’ decision making.
TomTom says it is the first time TripAdvisor content has been provided on a navigation device and it represents “a new level of connectivity to drivers by providing information in the most effective platform”. A recent survey by the company found the majority ofTomTom users were already using their unit to (more…)
