Why Painting CrossWalks is a lot like building Websites

Which one of these line painting companies would you hire to paint a crosswalk across your pavement? A:  These lines lead clearly from the parking area to the door of the store: B: These lines lead from a lamp post, shrubs and a curb to some more posts: Before you put lines on your pavement, watch where people walk. Then you’ll know where to paint your lines to get people safely into your store: Painting a crosswalk is a lot like building a website Before your design your next site, use a keyword search tool and find out where people are letting their fingers do the walking! You’ll... Read more »

Kayak CEO Steve Hafner on PhoCusWright Center Stage

Here is a quick list of quotes from Kayak CEO Steve Hafner that I Twittered during his PhoCusWright Center Stage Interview with Philip Wolf."Kayak's traffic was three times Sidestep when they bought them""The jury is out for the media model on retail sites""Bartels at Travelzoo has $80mm of revenue in their P&L. I want it. Of course they are a competitor""brought out a great mobile product a few years ago. Was used by 1000 people""next year will be talking about consolidation in OTAs (online travel agents), new faces at the top of some, cost cutting and site improvements. Can't believe how... Read more »

Priceline CEO Jeffrey Boyd on PhoCusWright Center Stage

Philip Wolf has just finished interviewing Priceline CEO Jeffrey Boyd at PhoCusWright 2008. Here is my summary.On US v InternationalAlready have more than 50% of business outside of US (see Expedia CEO's comments from yesterday). The international hotel business overtook US in terms of size at the end of 2006; andInternational split is reflected in staff numbers with 1,600 total staff but only 340 in the US (but note another 6-700 more in outsourced US customer service).On moving away from the opaque model and doing acquisitions in Europe Was an easy decision to move away from the opaque model... Read more »

The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel wants more money

I have been at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel this week as part 1,000 people attending the PhoCusWright 2008 Conference at this hotel. I have tried to be a good guest - no unnecessary demands of staff, tipping everyone that looks my way. I asked very nicely to be able to check out at 3pm rather than the 1pm they offered. "I am sorry sir but that will be an extra $25 per hour" was the reply. "But, I have been staying here for six days as part of a very large conference, surely you can be nice to me and extend my check out for no charge" was my polite reply. "Can't help you sir, we have to... Read more »

Donau.Tourismus.Gespräche 2008 - meine Präsentation

Donau Niederösterreich Tourismus hat mich eingeladen, bei ihren jährlichen Tourismus-Gesprächen auf Schloss Grafenegg, Schloss Hof und im Stift Göttweig vorzutragen. Das freut mich besonders, weil ich selbst Stammgast der Region bin! Wenn Sie sich die Webseiten anschauen, verstehen Sie auch wieso. Meine besondere Herausforderung bestand darin, die unterschiedlichen Interessen der Teilnehmer abzudecken. Denn im Publikum saßen nicht etwa nur 4-Sterne-Hoteliers und Tourismusmanager. Es galt, mein geballtes Web 2.0-Know-how auch für Privatzimmervermittler, landwirtschaftliche Partner und Gastronomen... Read more »

Quote of the Week #1

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Expedia president and chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi sauntered on stage yesterday at the PhoCusWright conference in Los Angeles and said:"It's always a pleasure to be here to talk about the end of the world as we know it."Fantastic! Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times... Read more »

Join Passports with a Purpose

Do you have a blog for your travel biz?  Consider participating in Passports with a Purpose, a travelblogger-driven fundraiser for Heifer International.  Get started by signing up for Passports with a Purpose by Nov 28th to join a community of travel bloggers working to end world hunger.  Heifer International provides animals and training to help families become self sufficient and overcome poverty  Read More →

The Perfect Mini-Storm - Tours and Activities

The PhoCusWright perfect mini storm session was facinating, and featured a great panel of industry titans. Doug Quinby hosted Tina Fitch (EZRez), Rod Cuthbert (Viator Inc), Kenneth Purcell (Iseatz.com), and Ranjan Singh (Isango!). Here is a summary of the session with some thoughts at the end. These are not quotes, but I tried to capture the main points: The point was brought up that there are thousands of varied suppliers, what is it that they want? RS: Differentiation TF: Sexy representation and and easy to implement system. KP: Multi Payment options, ie reward miles etc. Also are looking for... Read more »

PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit - Video of all of the presentations

Here is the video list where you can watch 13 minute presentations from the 32 companies from the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit. You can select which one you wish to listen to. My pick of the top six are here. The six finalists here. You should also listen to YourTour, ekit, nileguide, planeteye, tripchill and travelbeen. Read More →

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... Read more »

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