Josiah’s note: Although I was unable to be in Berlin this week to attend PhoCusWright@ITB 2010, Robert Cole of RockCheetah kindly agreed to share his top insights from the event in this guest post.

The PhoCusWright@ITB 2010 conference just concluded and, as always, provided a number of interesting points to consider within the travel industry marketing, distribution and technology landscape.

1)     PhoCusWright CEO Philip Wolf launched the conference with his keynote “Chaos Calls, Navigating the New” summarizing the disruptive forces at play that are complicating the travel industry landscape:

• Disparate Devices & Channels (new operating systems and platforms)
• Strains on Search (evolution of search changes search engine optimization)
• Tapping New Travelers (Look to the Asia Pacific region)
• See Me, Hear Me, Touch Me (new interfaces are predominantly visual)
• Significant Surprise (unexpected new player emerging)

2)     Gene Quinn, Chairman of PhoCusWright then hosted a group of analysts/investors to characterize the investment environment for travel technology companies:

• Investors are looking for recurring revenues, strong EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), company growth, long term contracts, differentiated product, and especially, strong management
• Travelport’s failure to float its initial public offering was not about travel, it was about debt – the company was severely overleveraged. Investors are suspicious of big debt.

3)     Krista Pappas of Microsoft’s Bing search engine provided five lessons for travel media:

• Be Authentic (Million dollar homepage worked only once)
• Relentless Measurement & Optimization (TripAdvisor set the standard)
• Be Social (Starbucks deepening already strong relationships with their community)
• Be Opportunistic & Responsive (Ashton Kutcher’s growth to 1 Million – now 4.5 Million – followers)
• Ads are Content (Burger King’s sacrifice a Facebook friend campaign)

4)     David Roche, President of Hotels.com and Venere.com provided a number of interesting points:

• From a financial perspective, Expedia is basically a hotel selling company
• When comparing the commission model to the merchant model, the company discovered it does not confuse the public when selling both models together.
• Roche was also very complimentary of Priceline’s Booking.com, especially how they used Google as a demand source & a method measuring performance.

Read more…

I’ll be attending quite a few conferences this year, but one of the ones I’m looking forward to most is EyeforTravel’s Social Media Strategies for Travel USA 2010 (March 24-25).

At most conferences, social media may be the topic of a few workshops, but it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves. I’m pleased to see EyeforTravel bringing together marketing directors from companies like Hilton, Fairmont, Virgin America, Google, and Facebook to talk about things like:

• Set the Right Vision, KPIs and Strategy for Your Business – and Make it Happen
• Learn How to Manage Your Brand Reputation Online
• Effectively Use Social Media Tools to Boost Customer Engagement & Loyalty
• Best Practices to get the Highest ROI on Your Social Media Initiatives
• Twitter and the Rise of Micro-blogging – What Are the Implications for your Travel Business?
• Social Media Metrics & Meaning – Are you Tracking and Interpreting Your Social Media Initiatives Effectively?
• At What Point in the Purchasing Cycle and to What Extent are Travelers Influenced by Social Media?
• Manage Social Networks to Gain Employee Company Buy-in and Build a Positive Company Culture

You can see the full conference details, agenda, and speakers. If this could help your organization, you may register here.

As with many conferences I attend, I have a press pass and will be covering the event as a reporter. My intention is to learn as much as possible about what’s happening in the industry right now, and pass along some of these ideas to you here.

Are you going to be there? Let me know, and maybe we can meet up for lunch.

[Photo credit: tibchris]

Couldn’t attend Blog World this year? Don’t worry – here are some of the best insights I took away from the event:

> When someone types in a search query, they’re giving you the opportunity to solve their problem.

> Most website traffic is from first time visitors – make sure you have a way to involve them immediately.

> Present your blog and social media presence as a way for people to connect with their peers, not just receive your marketing messages.

> Employee blogging is more powerful than executive blogging. According to Edelman research, readers find them five times more credible. Get your team involved.

> Involve your sales team in your social media marketing efforts.

> Use video to convey emotion or compelling visuals that are hard to show through written words.

> Content is the most important element of a good online community. Making sure that content is easy to find in search engines is next.

> Don’t spend time on the technology – focus on the content.

> People probably don’t want to join your social networking “club” – but they do want solutions to their problems. Provide free access to your answers.

> If you want to win the search rankings game, write in the language of the customer.

> The greatest selling tactic is the similar situation story.

> The web is a perfect market research environment. Ask your fans what they want, and they’ll tell you.

> Publishing rhythm is important online: find a schedule and stick with it.

> Consider using multiple sites/blogs for each of the niche audiences you’re trying to reach.

> To succeed online, you must keep re-inventing yourself. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

> People admire complexity, but reward simplicity.

> Sometimes, blogs are a better discovery mechanism than a selling platform.

> Don’t force your readers to leave one network (ex: Facebook) for another (ex: your blog). Figure out a way to be where your readers already are.

> We are natually visual learners. Create content appropriately.

> Create relationships with “firestarters” – influencers that can quickly spread your message.

> Leverage social proof. Everyone likes what everyone likes.

> Never burn bridges – the travel industry is a very small world.

> Spend time building your expertise and core competencies. Study and learn.

> Don’t do something unless you’re the best in the world at it. If someone else does something better, use their services. Focus only on what you do best, and outsource everything else.

> Giving all the time without selling is an unhealthy relationship. (Your hotel needs to monetize your blog and social media presence.)

> Internet marketing isn’t really that difficult. It’s all about consistent execution on the tactics you know work.

> Do something consistently good every day.

I just touched down in Las Vegas, where I’ll spend the next three days at the Blog World Expo. This is probably the conference I looked forward to most this year, and I’m really excited to be here.

As I try to do for every event I attend, I’ll be blogging the best ideas from each session – so you can learn along with me. Additional coverage will be over at our blog about blogging: BlogforGuests.com.

Anyone else here for the event? I like to meetup with you in person whenever possible…

Well I’m back from the 2009 EyeforTravel North America Travel Distribution Summit, and gathered some insights on where the industry is heading.

Here are my top 10 13 takeaways:

> Infrastructure is a challenge for small, independent hotels. To overcome that, build a solid training program for your staff.

> Never ask a guest “Have you stayed with us before?” Build a great recognition system so you know that answer already.

> Partner with other established brands if you’re trying to reach up-market segments

> OTAs offer international distribution and significant marketing budgets that can supplement hotels’ budgets when times are lean. Small & independent hotels should ride the backs of OTAs for these benefits.

> On metasearch sites, hotels should move away from price commoditization by providing product-level custom messages to differentiate their offers

> OTAs get first-time consumers in the door for new brands. They may book later directly & become brand loyalists. According to Expedia research, for every booking made on their site, they send the supplier two extra direct bookings.

> To encourage bookings through direct channels, hotels should build a strong loyalty rewards program and invest in comprehensive SEO & SEM marketing efforts.

> When given the chance, consumers often prefer booking with the brand for perceived flexibility and options.

> Many times, mobile devices are used by make last-minute bookings. 48% of consumers willing to buy a hotel room via mobile (eMarketer).

> In mobile search, if you’re not in the top 1-3 results you’re invisible. The search algorithm is unique for mobile results, so optimize appropriately.

> Apart from groceries, consumers go to the internet first before buying any product. Plan your marketing strategy accordingly.

> SEO (organic search) can give much better returns than SEM (paid inclusion). According to Yen Lee of Uptake, 86% of travel sales leads are generated by organic search listings.

> Consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their web search. This gives marketers the opportunity to provide content in context. Invest in landing pages to support your SEO & SEM efforts.

[Photo credit: PhotoDu.de]

A presentation at EyeforTravel by Scott Bacon, Senior Revenue Account Manager, Preferred Hotel Group.

Infrastructure is a challenge for small, independent hotels. To overcome that, build a solid training program. Build a library of information. If you don’t make that investment, you hurt your hotel’s profitability.

Invest in efficiency. If you have to track multiple data dashboards, you waste time.

If you’re small, you can be quick & nimble. Capitalize on that.

The “average-ness” of averages.

Industry research can be construed & misleading. Don’t rely on it completely. Look at data in a way that is meaningful, and use frequency distribution.

How can hotels price competitively to gain exposure while maintaing rate integrity?

Package with value-adds. Stay “under the radar” with private pricing offers (semi-opaque channels).

How can hotels build guest loyalty with a rational pricing strategy?

Build a guest recognition program. Never ask “have you stayed with us before?” – you should know that answer already.

You don’t have to give away upgrades…just recognize your loyal guests.

How do you increase revenues when you’ve got high occupancy rates?

Raising the rates seems obvious, but it could backfire at times.

So, test. Develop interesting tests and play with the market.

How do you raise your appeal to higher-rated segments?

Not a lot of hotels know where their market position is. Define and position yourself.

Ride the coattails of partner brands that have already spent lots of resources establishing themselves.

Presentations by the following executives…with a lot of good research data to follow:

• Krista Pappas, Microsoft Bing Travel
• Gary Jackson, Google Travel
• Anne Payne, BeDynamic
• Yen Lee, Uptake

Yen Lee of Uptake – “The Long, Fat Tail of Search”

Numbers that really matter

• 73% of consumers search before they make a booking
• They search an average of 10 times
• 86% of leads are generated by organic search (there IS a free lunch)
• Typical travel search is 3.1 keywords
  • It’s becoming more specific: was ‘chicago’…then ‘chicago hotels’…now it may be ‘chicago family hotels’
  • (this means they give us more context now)
  • Always tailor unique content to consumer preferences

Krista Pappas of Microsoft – “Maximizing SEM In a Tough Travel Economy”

• Read more…

We start off today with a discussion about metasearch distribution in travel.

Sam Shank, DealBase.com

Thinks UGC sites have ethical responsibility to link to the hotel site…instead of only3rd-party vendors.

Consumers really like travel meta search. It’s growing 40% annually, and gaining more buzz in social media.

How sites can move away from just low-price competition (taking ideas from commodity retail comparison):

1. Seller reviews (reputation, service records, etc)
2. Product-level custom message to differentiate (special deals & offers)
3. Adding a best-value indicator (takes into consideration a number of factors)

Fixing meta-search is a shared responsibility:

• Suppliers need to provide content to differentiate products
• Meta-search engines need to show this content to travelers

Tammy Peter, Wyndham Hotel Group

Meta-search should bring people to our brand website. When given the chance, consumers prefer booking with the brand (more flexibility & options).

Read more…

Google and Microsoft explain how consumers are interacting with mobile…and how suppliers can reach them.

Thomas O’Neil, Google Travel

Mobile landing pages: designing the user experience

• landing pages are evolving
• 4 great examples
  • Hotels.com/iPhone
    • being first moving has big advantage
    • have 1 million+ app downloads
  • m.toyota.com
  • m.cnn.com
  • iPhone.fandago.com
• key take-away: there needs to be optimized landing pages for the consumer
• not everyone has an smart phone…design for less
• search google webmasters: “mobile seo”
  • search algorithm is different for mobile sites

Mobile search: what consumers are doing

• not usually willing to do more than one search
• probably won’t go beyond top 2-3 search result listings
• they search for roughly the same amount of words…but search less often
• SEO is extremely important. If you’re not in the top 1-3 results, you may as well not even be there.

Advertising on the go: opportunities to reach individuals

• 4 types of Google advertising opportunities
  • WAP search
  • HTML search
  • content network (on other sites)
  • YouTube videos
• understand which apps your audience is using to choose advertising opportunities
• Google provides a high level of reporting options

Read more…

I’m here in Chicago for EyeForTravel’s Travel Distribution Conference. Over the next two days, I’ll be liveblogging each of the major sessions to share the best insights with you.

We start off with…

The Distribution Landscape: Who’s Running the Show – Suppliers or OTAs?

Presentations by:

• Melanie Ryan from Orbitz
• Julie Atkinson, Starwood
• Jake Stein, Expedia
• Ashwin Kamlani, AboutAnywhere.com

Read more…