2009 September

Will destination marketers see the opportunities in mobile?

September 30, 2009 By Stephen Joyce 17 Comments

Both Tim Hughes and Norm Rose have recently written about the emergence of mobile as an emerging distribution channel for travel (check previous Tnooz post Augmented Reality, mobile, search and (maybe) getting it wrong).

I completely agree, but from a very different context.

While the big players like Expedia and Air Canada are jumping on and creating iPhone and Blackberry applications to sell last minute hotels and speed up check-ins, I think the real opportunity exists for destinations and local in-market attractions and tours.

Filed Under: How To, Mobile, News Tagged With: app, DMO, iphone, Mobile

Lead technology supplier for Thomas Cook goes into administration

September 30, 2009 By Kevin May 31 Comments

The European travel technology sector has seen its first major financial collapse of the current recession – BlueSky Travel Systems, based in Manchester, UK, has gone into administration this week.

The company employs around 100 people and counts Thomas Cook, Mark Warner, First Choice and Slattery’s Travel amongst its roster of clients.

Rumours of BlueSky’s demise was confirmed by Steve Driscoll, former managing director and founder who still has a financial interest in the business.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: bluesky travel systems, thomas cook

TravelTainment builds Microsoft Surface application for travel agents

September 30, 2009 By Kevin May 18 Comments

TravelTainment, the Amadeus-owned technology brand, is well known for its focus on research and development – an area of the business championed by its enthusiastic chief executive, Andrew Owen-Jones.

Add Microsoft Surface into the mix and the result is a rather exciting interesting technology prototype for travel agencies.

TravelTainment purchased a Surface table earlier this year and started developing a number of applications over the summer.

Filed Under: Gadgets, News Tagged With: amadeus, microsoft surface, traveltainment

London City-JFK service marks new technology drive for British Airways

September 30, 2009 By Kevin May 2 Comments

British Airways will be hoping some of the features included in its new premium service from London City Airport to New York will deflect attention away from the negative press it has received in recent days.

Much has been said about the unfortunate stopover for fuel in Shannon, Ireland, and the cost of a ticket coming in at around £4,000.

Couple these with noise from the environmental lobby, which has taken the airline to task for launching a business class-only, transatlantic product with aircraft (Airbus A318) that have just 32 seats.

Filed Under: Gadgets, News Tagged With: british airways, onair

TripIt partners with Hotwire, Sabre readies ad model for TripCase

September 30, 2009 By Dennis Schaal 9 Comments

TripIt, the itinerary management company, has entered into its first distribution relationship with an online travel agency, Hotwire.

Once the deal gets implemented in several months, Hotwire customers will be able to make a booking and click a button to automatically send their details to a TripIt itinerary.

It would replace the current system, where Hotwire users – and customers of any other travel-booking service – have to e-mail their confirmations to TripIt to aggregate their reservations.

Filed Under: Gadgets, News Tagged With: expedia, hotwire, Mobile, sabre, tripcase, TripIt, virtuallythere

Virgin Atlantic tests new website, begins homepage roll-out

September 30, 2009 By Kevin May 2 Comments

Virgin Atlantic has been quietly exposing elements of a new website to consumers over the past few weeks and is now ready to throw open the doors to customers around the world.

The airline’s core market in the UK will be the first to see a spruced-up homepage ahead of other new features being added on a regular basis over the coming months.

Users of its country sites elsewhere will notice a switch shortly, say staff working on the project.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: AB testing, design, virgin atlantic, VJam

Okay, so 3G mobile services are officially A Big Deal now in the UK

September 29, 2009 By Kevin May 1 Comment

Hot on the heels of the announcement yesterday from network provider Orange that it would be selling Apple iPhone handsets to customers later this year, comes news of a similar deal for iPhones from Vodafone, another of the UK’s mobile giants.

Vodafone might be slightly bruised at missing out on the consumer and tech PR frenzy won yesterday by O2, but Apple will clearly be delighted at the momentum.

Filed Under: Mobile, News Tagged With: apple, iphone, Nokia, o2, vodafone

Air France-KLM dismisses need for OTAs with iSeatz booking tool

September 29, 2009 By Dennis Schaal 9 Comments

Airlines, it turns out, are pretty serious about beefing-up their own websites.

I say that somewhat facetiously because, of course, airline direct-to-consumer distribution has been a priority for years.

But, a new Air France-KLM Group agreement with iSeatz, the New Orleans-based technology company and inventory aggregator, symbolizes a renewed carrier push to, as iSeatz puts it, knock online travel agencies “further out of the food chain.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: air france, airlines, iseatz, KLM, OTA

Talking Travel Tech: Philipe Fabry of Atout France

September 29, 2009 By Claude Bénard 4 Comments

Tnooz Node in Marseille Claude Benard secured an exclusive interview with Phillipe Fabry, ICT executive at tourism development organisation Atout France.

Fabry explains how French DMOs and his own organisation are developing etourism strategies and embracing social media, mobile and complex technology to drive visitors to the country