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I read a post today by Joe Buhler about the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the excellent job being done by Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace. The part of the post that resonated the most with me is the following quote: “What I also applaud him for is the strong focus on web based initiatives to get the message out and stimulate market demand. It is today the most effective means of communications with any audience. Also, the tight integration of information with a direct online booking functionality for the entire region will only increase the effectiveness of effort and improve the ROI of... Read more »

By Scott MacGregor Director of Marketing and Client Services Search Intelligence Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is now a serious marketing consideration for travel marketers with three-fifths of all online travel shoppers reporting that they rely on search engines as their research and planning resource (source: PhoCusWright). Clearly, search engine visibility can be a major determinant for online success. There is a great deal of good information written on the subject of search marketing, however little focuses on some of the more unique characteristics of travel and even less specifically for... Read more »

I’ve been asked recently how sustainability impacts local tourism and how local tour operators can benefit from the latest initiatives around economic and environmental sustainability. For many local tour operators, the questions surrounding sustainability usually focus on costs and impact on profits. For example, what can a tour operator do to be environmentally active and remain profitable? The answer depends on the operators geographic location and their market. In North Vancouver, for example, which is a rather affluent tourist destination there are a number of local van and bus... Read more »

I’ve had several people ask me about the T-List, primarily other bloggers who have heard about it but can’t find the most recent version of it. Quite simply,the T-List is an evolving list of travel related blogs from around the World. The concept was started by Matthieu at the Radar Blog back in March of 2007. Honestly, I have no idea where the most recent list is, and I suppose that is part of the fun of the list. It is moving, evolving, and growing independently in various places around the Web. Jens Thraenhart at the Canadian Tourism Commission started a group on Facebook to... Read more »

I just received my latest newsletter from STI (Sustainable Travel International). In the newsletter was a really interesting article about a new global survey by Lonely Planet. The survey shows that travelers world wide are concerned about their travel impacts on the climate and will support neutralizing their travel related emissions through legitimate offset programs. The survey, which polled over 24,500 people worldwide, “showed 84 percent of respondents said they would consider offsetting their emissions in the future, where only 31 percent had done so in the past. Seventy percent of... Read more »

Here is an excellent post from the Travolution Blog about the top 10 errors of International SEO. The article is very informative and covers some excellent points. I have experienced many of these same issues working with English and Japanese clients over the years, so it is nice to see that the lesson learned were not solitary. You can read the original post here. Sphere: Related Content Read More →

I just read an interesting post on Tim Hughe’s blog about some comments from Rob Cuthbert at Viator about how hard it is for consumers to travel . In the last sentence, Tim writes something that I think is vitally important to the travel purchase experience and that is “the need to keep the purchase and consumption process simple for consumers.” The travel industry, especially the airfare and hotel sides of the industry are rampant with overly complicated pricing models, rates, discounts, commissions, and such. In the end, I think that everyone loses out because the traveler... Read more »

So it certainly didn’t take long for TripAdvisor to rebrand their latest million dollar purchase. The “Where I’ve Been” app is now the TripAdvisor Cities I’ve Visited application on Facebook. Although the application is pretty much the same, it has been rebranded with TripAdvisor branding and now includes a less than smooth integration with the TripAdvisor website. The overall feedback from users has been positive although the forum shows quite a bit of dissappointment with adding cities. I can see why TripAdvisor would want to buy the application. They have... Read more »

I am so excited to promote the first Canada-e-connect conference to be held in Vancouver. The goal of the conference is to profile Canada’s tourism industry and to highlight innovations in online marketing and technology that support tourism. This is especially exciting because this conference would normally have been in Ottawa or Toronto prior to the CTC’s move to Vancouver. This conference marks a milestone in the development of online marketing and tourism technologies because it is an acknowledgment and an acceptance that internet distribution, marketing, social media, and new... Read more »

Over the years I’ve worked with dozens of travel agencies and tour operators who have tried and been unsuccessful at getting a merchant account which allows them to accept credit cards for payments. In this credit driven world, it can be difficult to do business if you can’t accept credit cards for payments, especially on large travel related purchases. Some have come back to us in frustration to try and determine why they are being singled out by the banks and merchant processing companies. Many processors categorize travel with gambling, pornography, and online lotteries. For... Read more »

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