Click-through rates for travel searches on mobile are 61% higher than from conventional internet connections, research by performance marketing firm Efficient Frontier has found. However the picture is markedly different for conversion rates on mobile, which were found to be 49% lower than from fixed-line computers. Efficient Frontier said the findings underline that most searches with an ‘intent to buy’ are carried out on consoles, but it still believes travel firms have an opportunity with mobile.

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TripAdvisor says it is now the first stand-alone travel brand to reach the milestone of 50 million unique monthly visitors. The company experienced a 22 percent increase in traffic year-over-year from July 2010 to July 2011, according to comScore’s traffic data.

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In a major challenge to the travel industry’s leading websites, search engine giant Google Inc. launched today a new service allowing users to shop for plane tickets as easily as typing a Google search.

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Google’s acquisition of Zagat last week and Yelp’s excellent snarky response has brought customer reviews to the forefront of the news again, so it’s a good time to start thinking about how garnering more online reviews fits into your business.

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BACKBID was developed based on the premise that discounting is not the best way for hoteliers to increase revenues through the online channel. Because many consumers perceive value-adds such as free meals, free parking, room upgrades, etc. as being more valuable than straight discounts, BACKBID’s personalized pricing enables hoteliers to compete for consumer business and increase their RevPAR far more effectively, without undercutting their revenues or brand image.

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Facebook is revamping its location-based check-in product also know as Places. Starting last Friday, you may have noticed that the “X check-ins” verbiage has been removed from Places Pages and merged Facebook Pages and has been replaced with “X were here”. So what does this mean for Hoteliers?

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TripAdvisor, the leading online travel reviews site in the world, is now under investigation by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over concerns reviews from travelers may be illegitimate.

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With social media successfully connecting consumers and brands, it might be tempting to cut email — an older, less glamorous marketing tactic — from next year’s budget. But recent research findings suggest that numbers subscribing to daily email updates is significant and in order to grow this sector email marketing must become more social.

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As more and more travellers perform diligent research prior to booking a room, it is important that GMs and hotel owners know exactly what information consumers can find online about their hotel. Also from an SEO point of view search engines place high ranking factors on social media and guest review channels.

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