Thank You for 2008 #ThankYou08

The year would not be complete for me without an acknowledgment to some people who have contributed to my experiences over the last year. In no particular order, I would like to thank the following:

June Ohashi, Sentias Software
June is the COO of Sentias Software Corp. and my business partner.  She does what I cannot do at the office and that is to close the many doors that I open.  She is a smart, tenacious, and incredibly organized person with the capabilities to execute on the crazy ideas that I tend to come up with.

Phil Caines, Rezgo.com
My right hand man and traveling companion on our various misadventures over the last year. Phil is a very bright, articulate, and, dare I say it, handsome fellow. He has been an invaluable resource and has helped to organize most of the events we have attended this past year.  Lucky for me he also happens to have the same shirt and jacket size.

The rest of my team at Rezgo
You’re a great group of smart dedicated people and I couldn’t have done it without you.  Rezgo is what it is because you have infused it with your hard work and your dedication to quality.  You should all be proud of what you have accomplished.

Jens Thraenhart, Chameleon Strategies
For being a strong supporter of our joint initiatives and always there with a ready smile and an amazing array of connections. For those of you that know Jens, you also know that he knows everyone. I don’t know how he knows, but he does, and he is always ready to help out where he can.

Bruce Rosard, PhoCusWright
Bruce has been incredibly supportive of the blogger summit idea and advocated to get the first PhoCusWright Blogger Summit.  Without his help we would not have been able to build up the T-List community.

Naomi Yamamoto, North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
This year marks my fourth year being involved with the Chamber for Commerce.  I have had the priviledge of working with one of the most incredible President/General Managers I have come across, in any business.  Naomi is so capable, organized, and good with people, it astounds me.  Naomi is running for the Provincial Liberal MLA position in North Vancouver and I feel confident that she will win the nomination.  Her winning however, means a great loss for the Chamber (from an administrative standpoint).  If you want to support Naomi in the coming year, please visit her website at http://www.naomifornorthvan.com.

I also thanked a number of people through Twitter.  Take a look at the list here.  The bottom line is that none of us succeeds in a vaccuum.  We are successful because we are surrounded by those who would wish us to succeed.  Thank you to everyone who help me succeed in 2008 and if there is anything I can do to reciprocate, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Let the people you are thankful for know how you feel.  Spread the #ThankYou08 tag on Twitter!

Travel Technology Profile: Cadabra Limited

Cadabra Limited

Product Description: Cadabra is creating a worldwide online travel agency specializing in experiential tour planning by combining its innovative software with a network of destination expert inbound tour operators. Cadabra’s Web-based technology allows consumers (or travel agents) to research, plan and book all aspects of complex multidestination touring type travel itineraries in one place including accommodation, activities, transport and journey planning. These tools, together with the in-market expertise of the tour operators, give tourists the knowledge and tools to plan their perfect holiday.

Presenter: GRAEME FROST, Founder and CEO, Cadabra Limited.  Graeme has 25+ years’ experience in the tech sector including as founder and CEO of Keystone Solutions, which developed specialist enterprise software for professional services firms. Operating in the U.K., U.S., Australia and New Zealand, with over 200 personnel and revenues of US$16M, it listed on the London Stock Exchange. Prior, Graeme specialized in designing and developing software systems for the travel market for over 10 years, working with New Zealand’s largest travel companies.

Download the PhoCusWright Travel Innovator Profile for Cadabra Limited

Headquarters: Auckland, New Zealand
Product: Cadabra
Website: http://www.cadabra.com
Category: Emerging Company
Principal(s): Graeme Frost
Investor(s): The founders
Early Customer(s): Discover Travel and Tours (U.K.), Australia One (Australia), Point Travel (Poland), Indian Panorama (India), Peterson Travel (Malaysia)

Business Model: Cadabra is building a worldwide network of inbound tour operators that are licensed on a royalty basis who deploy Cadabra under their own brands as part of a networked offering.

Funding: Currently 100% funded by the founders.

Market Opportunity: Cadabra enables inbound tour operators to offer their products direct to consumers, increasing their profitability. By also offering travel agents the service, the quality of agent bookings is improved. By forming a network of Cadabra users they offer a consistent user interface for booking complex touring travel worldwide.

What PhoCusWright Says: Cadabra has a unique approach to complex multi-destination trip planning—one of the most difficult types of travel to plan and book online. It narrows options based on the traveler’s criteria and preferences and provides access to local Long Tail content as well.

What T4 Says: Cadabra is an interesting approach to trip planning because it focuses on a single destination rather than trying to cater to all destinations worldwide.  The solution lends itself particularly well to destination marketing organizations who are looking to create a full rounded approach to on-line marketing.  The site attracts the user and the system engages them by providing deep links into interesting and unique local content.  The access to local content is key in a system like this and partnerships with local suppliers will be important for future growth.

Competitors: Tiscover, Newmind

Graeme Frost presents Cadabra at the Travel Innovation Summit @ PhoCusWright 2008 in Hollywood on November 17th, 2008.

Graeme Frost Interviewed by PhoCusWright after TIS Demo, November 17th, 2008

Breaking Travel News Interview of Cadabra during PhoCusWright 2008 in Hollywood, November 18th, 2008.

Disclaimer:

The information sourced for this profile were acquired from PhoCusWright as well through YouTube.  For more information about the Travel Innovation Summit or the PhoCusWright Conference, please visit the PhoCusWright website.

Road Warrior Chronicles: Top 10 Business Travel Tips

With the last of my Conferences behind me for this year, I am looking forward to (and not looking forward to) another conference packed year.  This past year was one of my businesses travel years to date with almost one conference a month (excluding the summer vacation).  They included:

1. Enter Conference- Innsbruck, Austria
2. ITB - Berlin, Germany
3. Global Travel & Tourism Summit - Dubai
4. On-line Revealed - Calgary, AB
5. BC Chamber of Commerce AGM - Whistler, BC
6. Florida Association of CVBs - Gainesville, FL
7. Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM - Quebec City, QC
8. Ensemble Travel Conference - Las Vegas, NV
9. PhoCusWright - Hollywood, CA

I found myself, over the course of the year, improving my travel packing habits and streamlining my processes in order to reduce my stress while traveling.  I want to share what I have learned with you because I know these tips work: 1. Carry-on Only - If you can, use carry-on luggage only.  I always carry a carry-on, a garment bag, and my laptop bag.  Most of the time, the flight attendants can find a place to hang up your garment bag, but if not, you can fit it in the overhead bin.  In either case, I have never had a problem with those three items.  If you are looking for an incredible carry-on bag, check out the Zuca. I’m hoping Santa will bring me one of these babies. Bringing carry-on only also means packing strategically and making sure you pack your things in an orderly manner.  Which brings me to tip number two. 2. Pack for convenience - Keep your liquids (soap, shampoo, etc.) in a Ziploc bag and in your toiletries bag at the top of your carry-on.  When flying domestically, security generally doesn’t ask you to remove your toiletries but in Europe, you have to.  Save yourself the hassle and plan for easy access to your liquids.  Use a laptop bag that is easy to access, you ALWAYS have to remove your laptop at security, so save some time and get a bag that is easy to access. 3. Dress for Success - By this I mean success in getting through security as quickly as possible.  Keep your belt, watch, wallet, change, etc. in your carry-on until after you have passed through security.  Wear slip-on shoes or shoes that can be laced quickly.  Trust me, this saves you having to take everything off in the line up at security. Oh, and wear pants that will stay up without a belt (that’s for all you low pant wearing home boys out there), I don’t really want to see your underpants in the security line. 4. Charge your mobile before you go - You never know when you’re going to need your phone and pulling out your trusty Blackberry or iPhone to find that the battery is low is just awful.  I suppose you can pay $3 to charge it up using one of those airport charging stations but seriously, just make sure you plug it in the night before so you have a full charge, it makes life so much easier.  For making long distance calls, use Skype. I used Skype to call home on my EEE PC and Nokia E61 and saved a bundle in hotel long distance fees and International roaming charges. 5. Downsize the Laptop - I made the switch this year from my full-sized Acer to an ASUS Eee PC .  For business trips, the reduction in weight and the ease of carrying around the EEE far outweigh the functionality loss.  I even updated my EEE with the full KDE desktop mode so I have a full Windows style desktop.  I purchased an external 250 GB external drive to store documents, music, videos, etc.  I can now pass the time at the airport with full length movies stored on my drive instead of on a CD or DVD.  Also, consider consolidating your electronics into as few devices as possible.  Unless you are a photographer or you plan on taking HD quality video, you can probably get away with using a combo device that does a good job. 6. Consolidate your itinerary - Use a site like TripIt to consolidate your itinerary into one easy to read document.  I’ve only just started using Tripit, but it is already proving to be a valuable planning resource.  I have even been able to give my wife access to my travel schedule so she knows when and where I’ll be. 7. Print copies of tickets & itineraries - I’ve made the mistake of keeping my itineraries and email confirmations in electronic form thinking that I can get access to them at anytime.  This, as I discovered, is a myth.  I highly recommend you print out your itinerary and confirmations and keep them in a travel document holder along with your passport and your travel insurance.  If anything gets lost, stolen, or otherwise misplaced, you’ll still have your important documents close at hand. 8. Avoid connections - CONNECTIONS INCREASE STRESS. In my experience, the fewer connections you have the better. Each time you have to connect to another flight, the greater your chances of missing the flight should something happen early on. Not to mention, if you do have to deal with a missed connection, you will have to reschedule all your subsequent connections (especially if you booked it yourself). To avoid this, use a meta-search tools like Yapta.com, Kayak.com, or FareChase.com for prices on direct flights across multiple suppliers or use an experience travel agent to find you the best routing. 9. Get a WIFI Membership or Lounge Pass - If you are a web junkie and can’t stand going for more than one flight without checking your email or writing a blog post and don’t want to spend a huge amount on your mobile data plan, then you will want a wifi connection or a pass to the airport lounge.  I just found out that I have been upgraded to Aeroplan Select which gets me into the AirCanada lounges but if you don’t travel business but want the airport perks, you might want to check out Priority Pass. They’re lounge pass is a yearly subscription that gets you into most of the major lounges in the World.  A highspeed wifi connection, a cup of coffee, and a comfy chair can definitely reduce your stress during a connection.  Barring the Lounge, you can also use a service like Boingo, which has hotspots in thousands of locations.  If you want more information on available hotspots, take a look at the airport wireless guide on travelpost.com. 10. Don’t sweat the small stuff - Take a deep breadth, give yourself plenty of time, and don’t sweat the small stuff.  The better prepared you are before you go, the smoother your travels will be.  Remember, there are things you can control (like the things I’ve mentioned in this list), but there are things you cannot control, like the weather, airport security, or natural disasters.  Mitigate your stress by planning ahead and taking small steps to reduce your own burdeon.  The rest will happen with or without you, just enjoy the ride.

Travel Technology Profile: AdventureLink.com

AdventureLink Inc.

Product Description: AdventureLink is the first global distribution and reservation network for the adventure travel industry estimated to be worth $150 billion globally. This industry is continuing to grow at 10 to 12% per year as the baby boom generation ages and demands more experiential travel opportunities. AdventureLink has created the largest database of its kind with over 50,000 trips currently and will grow to over 100,000 trips by the end of the year. We provide a massive marketplace that connects to leading
online and traditional travel agents to give adventure tour operators access to a global market of millions of consumers and thousands of travel agencies.

Presenter: KELLY TOMPKINS Founder and CEO, AdventureLink Inc.  Kelly has over twelve years of experience in developing leading travel applications for Sabre, Expedia, GetThere and Tickets.com. Kelly also founded LeisureLink, the leading GDS for booking vacation rentals. Kelly founded AdventureLink in 2006 with the goal of creating the first global reservation network for the adventure travel industry.

Download the PhoCusWright Travel Innovator Profile for Adventure Link Inc.

Headquarters: Pasadena, CA
Product: AdventureLink Inc.
Website: http://www.adventurelink.com
Category: Emerging Company
Principal(s): Kelly Tompkins
Investor(s): Anthem Ventures; Mail Room Fund; Farhad Mohit, Founder of BizRate/Shopzilla; Kamran Pourzanjani, Founder of PriceGrabber
Early Customer(s): Trisept Solutions—VAX Vacation Access. Next implementation will be with a leading OTA—most likely to be announced at PhoCusWright!

Business Model: AdventureLink is an aggregator, charging transaction fees for each booking generated, with gross margins ranging from 18% to 30%.

Funding: Recently closed a Series A investment with Anthem Venture Partners and The Mail Room Fund which will drive the company to a market-leading position.

Market Opportunity: $150B global market and growing by 12% per year as the baby boomer generation ages.

What PhoCusWright Says: Adventure Link is a great idea. It supports the growing trend of small specialty travel agents working out of their home and travelers looking for new and exciting things to do. Super way to monetize the Long Tail.

What T4 Says: I really like Adventure Link as well.  It is head and shoulders above the competition in terms of interface, ease of use, and product mix.  The focus on distributing the products through a strong agent base and in the implementation of a VOIP system for Adventure Experts is a smart way to penetrate the market and build agent loyalty.

Competitors: Adventure Central, Ekoventure, Adventure Engine

PhoCusWright post presentation interview with Kelly Tompkins.

Travel Innovation Summit Presentations V.2

Part of the purpose of being at the PhoCusWright 2008 Conference was to get the word out about the travel innovations that were being demonstrated at the Travel Innovation Summit. To that end, I’ve finally been able to add the videos of the demonstrations to YouTube and gathered them together into a single playlist. Feel free to view, embed, link, comment and otherwise share the videos with others. For some of these innovators, the Travel Innovation Summit was the announcement of their launch. A perfect example of this is Interactive Mobile Advertising, which won the Best of Center Stage. Enjoy the presentations if you have not seen them before and if you have, now is your chance to actually comment on the videos in a more social environment.

Google Friend Connect + Travel Websites = :-)

I just received my beta invitation this morning for Google’s Friend Connect, social network widget platform.  I have been waiting for this for a while, and here is why:

1. Friend Connect allows website owners to drop the social widgets into websites that are not socially aware.  By this I mean that you can add social networking to your blog or even to your corporate site.

2. The user management is handled by Google and uses Yahoo, Open ID, and Google user logins.  This means that most users will not have to sign-up for another login account on your social site.

3. You can build your own widgets to add into your site (and potentially others).  This means social widget distribution is open to anyone who wants to create a cool widget to add on their own site or potentially others.  Basically, this could be anything from a feed reader to a more complex ratings, reviews, photo sharing, or intinerary building app.  The potential for the breadth and depth of widgets is huge, even more so then Facebook or LinkedIn.

4. It adds a whole level of interaction that was missing from blogs and other sites for a long time.  For example, corporate sites might consider adding the widget to their corporate blogs to make the interactions a little more personal.  Uptake.com for example just launched their twitter feed in an effort to connect in a more social way.  Although I was against the idea of a corporate twitter account, I realized that the account is only a vehicle and that the people behind the account are the ones that drive whether or not the content coming out of the feed is relevant and interesting.  I think that Friend Connect, along the same lines as Twitter, is an interesting opportunity to draw people to the site and interact with them in a more directed fashion.

I have already integrated the membership gadget, wall posts, and ratings and reviews into the Tips from the T-List site.  This seemed to be a great place to try out the features because it is a community driven site but, until now, has had very little community interaction.  I think the added social components will help to drive more conversations and bring the community closer together.

I have no doubt that the features available through Friend Connect will increase now that it is in open beta.  I think that more member to member messaging as well as more support for existing social networks (including Facebook) will be critical to its long term success.  I expect that many more sites will jump on board and that we can expect to see a Friend Connect site list coming out soon.

If you are a travel blog or travel website that does not have support for member login and social networking, I recommend you try out Google Friend Connect and let the rest of the travel blogging community know by posting on the Tips from the T-List Wall.

The T-List in 2009 and Beyond

It’s amazing to me how much the T-List has grown since it was launched by Mathieu Ouellet back in March of 2007.  It has been about a year and half now and the most recent list was posted by Happy Hotelier in his “Happy Halloween: Happy Hotelier’s 300 T-List Travel Related Blogs Ranked according to Technorati“.  Here is a recap of how much the Travel Blogger community has grown over the last year:

• March 2007 - Mathieu Ouellet creates the T-List
• July 2007 - Jens Thraenhart and I decide to team to create the Tips from the T-List book.
• Sept 2007 - 30+ bloggers contribute to the Tips from the T-List book project.
• Nov 2007 - The Tips from the T-List book is launched at Canada-e-connect in Vancouver.
• Nov 2007 - The FIRST travel blogger’s summit is held at PhoCusWright Orlando (11Bloggers participate)
• Nov - Dec 2007 - E-book versions of the T-List book are distributed at the Travolution Conference, London and Web-in-travel, Singapore.
• January 2008 - Happy Hotelier updates the T-List with Technorati rankings.
• February 2008 - Tips from the T-list site launches, starts aggregating posts from authors.
• March 2008 - The FIRST International travel blogger summit is held at ITB Berlin (20 Bloggers participate and receive full press credentials).
• March 2008 - Second print version of T-List book (ITB edition is sponsored and published at ITB Berlin.
• April 2008 - Canadian travel blogger summit held at Online Revealed in Calgary.
• April 2008 - Elliott Ng from Uptake.com sets up the T-List Twitter Feed
• August 2008 - Tips from the T-List site is recognized as an official news source by Google News.
• November 2008 - 2nd Annual Blogger Summit at PhoCusWright, Hollywood (30+ Bloggers participate). Bloggers are provided full press credentials and exclusive media access.  PhoCusWright provides exclusive video and photo content for bloggers.
• November 2008 - The #phocus08 tag becomes the 6th most popular tag on Twitter.

So, here we are about a year after the T-List and the bloggers on it have become “mainstream”, thanks in part to the dedication and commitment of the travel blogging community.  The Tips from the T-List site has aggregated over 2,570 posts from over 40 contributing authors.  The fact that the site has been recognized as a news source by Google News has only added to the credibility of the T-List community and the work that we all do collectively.

Let’s keep the momentum going in 2009! If you would like to add your content to the Tips from the T-List site and have it syndicated through Google News, I invite you (especially if you are on the following list) to email me at stephen.a.joyce [at] gmail.com with the feed you would like to syndicate.

If I have forgotten anything in my chronology, please let me know and comment on this post.  Thanks again to Happy Hotelier for putting together the following list.

** UPDATE: I am not convinced that the Technorati ranking is the best way to rank the blogs and since this is more about inclusion then elitism, I have removed the rankings and re-sorted the list alphabetically based on Blog name.

Blog Name	Subject	Language	Country
A Luxury Travel Blog	Luxury Travel	En	UK
Absolut BCN - Blog de Barcelona	Destination	Sp	Sp
Adirondack Base Camp	Destination	En	US
ADV Italia (new)	Travel Agents	It	It
Afrika Tourism	Destination	En	Afr
Air France Mexico - Weblog	Air Travel	En	Mex
Albert Barra	Marketing	Sp	Sp
Amateur Traveler	Travel	En	US
Andalucia for Holidays	Destination	En	Sp
Apartment Therapy Kitchen	Food	Sp	Peru
Aquela Passagem	Destination	Port	Brasil
Argentina’s Travel Guide	Destination	En	Arg
Artist At Large	Travel	En	US
BA Spotting	Destination	En	Arg
Bajo Coste	Air Travel	En	US
Barmaid Blog	Waiter	En	US
Bart Cat Travel Blog	Destination	En	Afg
BedJump.com	Bed Jumping	En	Can
Better Living Through Travel	Hotels	En	US
Bird to the North	Destination	En	US
Bitacora de Viajes	Travel	Sp	Arg
Blog City Trip	Destination	Ger	CH
Blog De Sao Paolo	Destination	Sp	Peru
Blog de Viajes	Travel 2.0	Sp	Sp
Blog on Travel	Travel 2.0	En	UK
Blog Travello	Destination	Ger	Ger
Blog Trippers	Aggregator	-	-
Blog Untangle My Web	Marketing	En	Aus
blog.entornao	Travel 2.0	Sp	-
Blog.rydges.com	Destination	En	US
Boldly Go Solo	Travel Solo	En	US
BootsnALL Company Blog	Travel	En	US
Brand Canada Blog	Marketing	En	Can
Brasilien	Destination	Ger	Brasil
Brave New Traveler	Travel	En	Can
Brazil Travel Blog	Destination	SP	Brasil
Buenos Aires Argentina Guide	Destination	En	Arg
Buenos Aires Daily	Photo	En	Arg
Buenos Aires Faded Elegance	Destination	En	Arg
Buenos Aires through my eyes	Destination	En	Arg
BuhlerWorks by Joe Buhler	Travel 2.0	En	US
Bull City Muttering	Mice	En	US
CampingCoop.org	Travel Stories	En	US
Canadian Tourism	Destination	En	Can
Canary Nightlife	Destination	En	SP
Chanters Lodge	Hotelier	En	Kenia
Cheap Travel from Seattle	Travel	En	US
Chileno-Living in Santiago	Destination	Sp	Chile
City Guide-cc	UGC	En	-
Clan Destinos	Destination	Sp	Sp
Commercializacion Hoteles	Marketing	Sp	-
Cool Hotels	Hotel Reviews	En	-
Cool Travel Guide	Travel	En	Dub
Cruise Bug Chatter	Cruise	En	-
de viaje a Brasil	Travel	Port	Brasil
De Viajero.com	Destination	Port	-
Delicious Baby	Travel	En	US
Der Barcelona Blog	Destination	Ger	Sp
Der FVW Blog	Destination	Ger	Ger
Despegar	Travel 2.0	Sp	Arg
Destination Essentials	Travel Agents	En	UK
Diane Clarkson	Marketing	En	US
Diario del Viajero	Travel	SP	SP
Dimitious Journeys		En	UK
Discover the French Riviera	Destination	En	Fr
DondeViajar.es	Travel	Sp	SP
Dot Tourism Blog	Marketing	En	Can
E Hotelier Com	News	En	US
E Tourism Info	Tourism	Fr	Fr
Edu Williams	Travel 2.0	En	US
El Blog de un Hotel	Marketing	Sp	Sp
Elliott	Travel	En	US
En Trancision	Destination	SP	AR
Entreprendre dans le e-Tourisme	Travel 2.0	Fr	Fr
Epoca Alta	Air Travel	Port	-
Es Mi Peru	Destination	Sp	Peru
Escapadas Europa.	Destination	SP	Sp
Euro Cheapo Blog	Indusrry	En	En
Europe A La Carte Blog	Destination	En	UK
Europe String	Destination	En	NL
eurotrip	Travel	Sp	Arg
Explorando Peru	Destination	Sp	Peru
Exposed Planet	Photo	En	NL
Family Travel	Family Travel	EN	US
Farecastblog.com	Air Travel	En	US
Fasten Your Seatbelts	Marketing	Ger	Au
Flickr Scotland Group	Destination	En	UK
Focus Barcellona	Destination	It	Sp
Foodaholic	Food	En	Aus
Football Travel Blog	Travel	En	Uk
Foreign Perspectives	Destination	En	Fr
Fox Nomad	Travel	En	-
France This Way	Destination	En	Fr
Future Gringo	Travel	En	US
Gadling	Travel	En	US
Geeky Traveler	Gadgets	En	US
General Manager (Opus)	Hotelier	En	Can
Get a Room!	Hotels	EN	-
GletcherBlog	Destination	Sp	Peru
Globorati	Luxury Travel	En	US
Gourmet Station Blog	Food	En	?
Gridskipper	Destination	En	US
Grub Street NY Mag Food	Food	En	US
Guardian Travel	Travel	En	UK
Happy Hotelier	Hotelier	En	NL
Hawthorne Hotel	Hotelier	En	US
High Culture on a Low Budget	Things to do	En	-
Hole in the Donut	Travel	EN	US
Holiday Pad 2.0	Accomodation	En	UK
Home Based Travel Agent	Travel	En	US
Hoosta	Hotels	En	UK
Hostel buenos Aires	Hotel Reviews	Sp, En, Fr, Pt	Arg
Hot & Cool Blog	Travel	En	Aus
Hotel and City Blog	Destination	En	Can
Hotel Bathrooms Exposed	Hotel Reviews	En	Can
Hotel Beds	Travel	En	Can
Hotel Blog Esp	Marketing	Sp	Sp
Hotel Blogs by Guillaume	Hotel Reviews	En	UK
Hotel Blogs by Guillaume Thevenot	Hotel Reviews	En	UK
Hotel Blogs Org	Aggregator	En	US
Hotel hotsheet	Travel	En	US
Hotel I Tour	Travel 2.0	En	Fr
Hotel Industry Pros	Hoteliers	En	US
Hotel Law Blog	Destination	Sp	Peru
Hotel Marketing Strategies	Marketing	En	US
Hotel Warrior	Hotelier	En	US
HotelChatter	Travel	En	Us
Hoteles	Hotel Reviews	SP	Sp
Hotelmarketing Com	Marketing	En	US
Hotels and City Blogs	Hotel Reviews	En	Can
Hotels of the Rich and Famous	Hotels	En	US
Hotels, Friends and more	Marketing	Sp	Sp
I Love Indonesia	Destination	En	Ind
I Travelnet	Destination	-	-
Ibiza a pie de foto	Photo	SP	Sp
Idea Hatching	Marketing	En	US
InflightHQ	Air Travel	En	US
Intelligent Travel (Nat Geo)	Travel	En	US
Intermundial	Travel Insurance	Sp	Sp
Island Life	Destination	En	US
Japan Probe	Destination	En	Jap
Jaunted	Destination	En	US
Jetset Away	Luxury Travel	En	US
Joe Nguyen	Hotelier	En	Mal
Juan Lopez Sobejano	Marketing	Sp	Sp
Ken Burgin	Marketing	En	Aus
Kenya Holidays Blog	Destination	En	Kenia
Killing Batteries	Hotel Reviews	En	Eur
Kirkland Weblog	Destination	En	US
Kulinarisch Reisen	Marketing	Ger	Au
La Coctelera: ZuHause - Inicio	Photo	Sp	Sp
La Descricion del Mundo	Travel	-	-
LadyBug & Co	Destination	Sp	Peru
Le Gourmand	Food	Ger	Ger
Les Explorers	Travel 2.0	FR/En	Fr
Life Cruiser	Travel	En	Sw
Line of sight	Travel	En	Arg
Living in France	Destination	En	FR
Living with Legends (Chelsea NYC)	On Site	En	US
Lonely Planet | Travel Blog	Destination	En	-
Los viajes de Jota	Travel	Sp	-
Luxury Spain Travel	Luxury Travel	En	Sp
Luxury UK Travel	Luxury Travel	En	Sp
Luxury Vacations @ Suite 101	Travel	En	-
m-Travel.com	Air Travel	En	US
MACO Caribbean Living	Destination	En	Carrib
Mapplr	Destination	En	NL
Marketing Turistico	Marketing	SP	Sp
Marriot on the Move	Hotel Reviews	En	US
Me-go: Around-the-World	World Travel	En	US
Megustaelturismo	Air Travel	Sp	Sp
Miss Expatria	Destination	En	It
Most beautiful Hotels	Hotel Reviews	En	-
Musings on Travel E-Commerce	Travel Industry/Travel 2.0	En	UK
My Marrakesh	Destination	En	Mor
My Pueblo Bonito	Destination	En	-
My Travel Backpack	Backpackers	En	Can
Nautilia in English	Travel	En	Sp
Nerds Eye View	Travel	En	US
New York Hospitality	Hotelier	En	US
New York Traveler	Destination	En	US
New York Traveler.net	Destination	En	US
Newyorkology	Destination	En	US
Nile Cruise 4U	Cruise	En	Uk
Nomadic Matt	Travel	En	US
Nos vamos de turismo!	Destination	Sp	Arg
Notes From The Road	Photo	En	US
Ofertas de Viaje	Destination	SP	Arg
Online travel Review	Air Travel	En	US
Open TS	Database	Ger	Ger
Passions of a Zealot	Hotel Property	En	US
Perceptive Travel	Destination	-	-
Prepara Tu Viaje	Travel	Sp	Sp
Primera Clase	Air Travel	SP	SP
Radar On FR	Travel	Fr	Can
Radaron	Travel 2.0	En	Can
Rambling Traveler	Travel	En	US
Randy’s Journal	Air Travel	En	US
Real Travel	Travel	En	-
Reise Tafel	Destination	Ger	Ger
Relactions blog	Travel	En	US
Relactions Blog	Marketing	En	It
Restaurant Girl	Rest. Reviews	En	US
Rick Seaney	Air Travel	En	US
Road Gladiator	Air Travel	En	US
Rolling Rains Report	Travel	En	US
Round Trip	Marketing	Ger	Ger
Rumboperdido	Destination	Sp	Aus
Select World Travel	Travel	En	UK
Serious Eats	Food	Sp	Peru
Social Diva	Destination	-	-
Soul Travelers 3	Travel	En	-
Tango Diva Travel Blog	Solo Woman	En	US
The Boot	Air Travel	En	Aus
The Cottage Lake Placid	Hotelier	En	US
The Cranky Flier	Air Travel	En	US
The Delicious Llfe	Food	En	US
The Hague Daily Photo Blog	Photo	En	NL
The Informed Traveler	Hotel Reviews	EN	US
The Lobby from SPG	Hotel Reviews	EN	US
The Lost Girls	Backpackers	En	US
The Materialist (Concierge)	Travel	En	US
The McCluskey Blog	Marketing	En	US
The Perrin Post	Travel	En	US
The Preferred Guest	Destination	En	Gr
The Suite Life	Hotels	En	-
The Sydney Morning Herald	Backpackers	En	Aus
The Travel & Hospitality Diaries	Hospitality	En	US
The Travel Cooler	Photo	En	US
The Travel PR Blog	Travel 2.0	En	Uk
The Trippist, Amsterdam	Destination	En	NL
The Wine Camp Blog	Wine	En	US
This non-American Life	Expat	En	Ch
Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations	Destination	En	US
Tips From The T List	Aggregator	En	Can
Toni Mascaro Blog Barcelona	Destination	Sp	Sp
Tour Cochise County	Destination	En	US
Tourism Internet Marketing Blog 2.0	Marketing	En	Can
Tourism Tecnology Trends	Technology	En	US
Tourism Tide	Destination	-	-
Tourisme et Internet	Tourism	Fr	Fr
Tourismus - Zukunft	Travel 2.0	Ger	Ger
Touristikblog.de	Travel 2.0	Ger	Ger
Trabber Noticias	Air Travel	Sp	Sp
Tracking Tourism	Travel Solo	Eng	UK
Travel Advice and Guides	Travel	En	US
Travel Alltop	Linksite	En	US
Travel and Web 2.0	Marketing	En	US
Travel Babel	Travel	En	US
Travel Blissful	Travel	En	UK
Travel Blog 24	Travel	Ger	Ger
Travel Blogger CH	Travel	Ger	CH
Travel Blogs Com	Aggregator	En	US
Travel Horizons	Destination	En	Aus
Travel LA Times	Travel	En	US
Travel LA Times	Travel	En	US
Travel Pod	Destination	En	US
Travel Rants	Travel	En	UK
Travel Technology	Hotelier	En	US
Travel Weekly UK Blog	Marketing	En	UK
Travel Wonders of the World	Travel	En	Aus
TravelBlog.it	Destination	It	It
TravelerWIRE	Hotel Reviews	En	US
Traveling Cari	Travel	En	US
Traveling Mamas	Travel	En	US
Travels With Two	Travel	En	US
Travelvice	Air Travel	En	-
Travolution Blog (new)	Marketing	En	UK
Travolution Blog (old)	Marketing	En	UK
Trip Advisor	Hotel Reviews	En	US
TripCart :: The Travel Blog	Destination	En	US
Tripinator	Travel 2.0	En	US
Trusted Places	Destination	En	UK
Two Dog Zoo	Travel Stories	En	US
UK Airports Blog	Airports	En	UK
Under The Rotunda	Marketing	En	Aus
Upgrade Travel Better (New)	Air Travel	En	US
Uptake Blog	Destination	En	US
Vacant Ready (COM)	Hotel Reviews	En	Can
Vagablogging	Travel	En	US
Vagablond	Luxury Travel	En	US
Vagabondish	Travel	En	US
Viajar Asia.	Destination	SP	Sp
Viaje na Viagem	Destination	Port	Brasil
Viator Travel Blog	Travel	En	??
VibeAgent Blog	Hotels	En	US
Vinography: A Wine Blog	Wine	En	US
Waiter Rant	Waiter	En	US
Wandalust	Travel	En	UK
Web 2.0 Travel Tools	Travel 2.0	En	??
Weekendhotel Weblog	Hotel Reviews	Dutch	NL
Well Done Fillet	Destination	Sp	Peru
What A Trip	Travel	En	US
What The Waiter Knows	Destination	En	Ire
Where the Hell is Matt	Travel	En	US
Wilhelmus	Travel	En	Can
Wine Goddess	Wine	En	US
WiWiH Blog	Aggregator	En	NL
World Hum	Travel	En	US
Your Daily Vacation	Travel	En	-
Zeitgeist	Marketing	En	US

Vote Now and Vote Often for Open Web Awards Travel Category

The push is on for the Open Web Awards and specifically the travel category. You have the ability to vote once a day for the website of your choice. Make sure to let your colleagues know that you are voting and get them involved. Remember that this is like voting for your favorite idol, the more votes the better!

Mashable Open Web Awards

Battle of the Trip Planning Sites

The PhoCusWright 2008 Travel Innovation Summit was a showcase for two major types of websites.  The first was Vacation Rentals, undoubtedly because of the recent PhoCusWright study about Vacation Rentals, and the second was trip planning.  There were a number of trip planning tools represented at the show including:

• Cadabra
• FoggLight (Home & Abroad)
• TravelMuse
• Uptake
• TripSketch
• PlanetEye
• Triporati
• NileGuide

This graph shows trends in popularity (according to Alexa.com) for Uptake.com, TripWolf.com, and TravelMuse.com.

TripWolf.com was not a participant in the Travel Innovation Summit, but they were at the PhoCusWright 2008 Conference.  I included them in this comparison because it is interesting to me that both TripWolf.com and Uptake.com have a very similar growth pattern in their ranking and almost identical current Alexa rank given their start times were also almost the same.  What I find intriguing is that Uptake.com is US only and TripWolf.com has a very strong Europe focus and they both aggregate destination data in totally different ways and yet they would appear to both be very successful (at least in traffic).  Uptake uses search mechanisms to aggregate and pull together information in an automated and almost mechanical way wherease TripWolf.com uses user generated content and community contribution to aggregate reviews and unique content.  Which model will win in the end?  What do you think?

Trip Planning Site TravelMuse.com an Open Web Award Nominee

I mentioned in my previous post that TripIt and Yapta, who both won the emerging category innovator awards at the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit, were also nominated for the Open Web Awards in the Travel Category.  Another innovator TravelMuse.com is the only trip planning site from the Travel Innovation Awards to also be nominated in the awards.  This is a particularly satisfying nomination because I think it speaks to the quality experience that Travelmuse is promoting on their site and some of the really interesting innovations they are rolling out on their site.

The trip planning mechanism is very new on the TravelMuse site and, from my understanding, the team at TravelMuse is going to be spending a lot of time and energy on innovating the features.  I look forward to seeing what happens over the next few months and wish them all the best in the Open Web Awards.

If you would like to vote for TravelMuse, use the widget in the right side bar.  Note that the widget will be available until November 30, when voting will officially close.