Google has tried to reassure the travel industry that it was not encroaching on its business. According to Head of travel UK and Ireland Nigel Huddleston Google have no plans to enter the booking stage, but would like to play a role in the sharing and experiencing stages of travel.

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The future of loyalty programs will be powered by social media. The Airline industry is a great example of building loyalty through social media. This study identifies how frequent travelers use social media to engage with their chosen company.

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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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Google’s Travel Industry Manager assesses the current status of the online travel sector acknowledging the stages in the process, dreaming, researching, booking, experiencing and sharing where he states the potential for innovation in the early stages of dreaming and researching and the final stage of sharing.

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TomTom provides drivers with navigation services and live traffic information and in October will add a TripAdvisor app, with its more than 50 million reviews about hotels and restaurants along drivers’ routes, to the TomTom Go Live 1535 M navigation device, the companies say.

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As online retailers increasingly depend on reviews as a sales tool, an industry of fibbers and promoters has sprung up to buy and sell raves at a cost.

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TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site*, yesterday announced the launch of a new Management Centre with free resources and content to help hospitality business owners, managers and marketers engage with the TripAdvisor traveller community, drive sales and manage their properties’ reputations online.

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