Cultural Influences on Travel Behaviour

July 3rd, 2009

Spaniards and Italians are the most demanding touristsm while the Dutch and British, on the other hand, are more concerned about practical aspects and less about the details of their room.
Over 80% of European tourists think that a very important factor when booking a room is a shower or bath, and over 60% acknowledge that [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Internet Marketing · Travel Marketing

Travel Industry is Shrinking in the US

June 23rd, 2009

Inflation-adjusted spending on travel and tourism in the U.S. declined at an annual rate of 5.9% in the first quarter after falling 6.9% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said.
Weak demand is depressing travel and tourism prices, the agency added. They fell 10.9% in the first quarter on top of [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing

Luxury Hotels Bucking the Recession with New Approach to Wealthy Consumers

June 17th, 2009

Don’t be surprised if you get a phone call from a cheery-voiced, erudite lady or gent tipping you off that the genteel, 137-room Hotel Ritz in London, created by Cesar Ritz himself in 1906, has rooms for 30 percent off.
This is no scam, no boiler-room telemarketer reading from a script, no digital voice that sounds [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing

Aggressive Price Cutting keeps Online Booking Volumes Robust

June 10th, 2009

The online hotel sector is proving more resilient than traditional channels in volume terms but not prices, acccording to hotels.com.
The Hotel Price Index, produced by hotels.com at the end of last year, showed global hotel prices were 12% down. “There is some fairly aggressive price cutting,” added Pocklington.
He maintained there continued to be a shift [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Internet Marketing · Travel Marketing

How to Avoid the Latest Hotel Scam – Walking Down

June 1st, 2009

Jack Taras and his friends thought they would be checking in at the Occidental Grand Hotel on the Dominican Republic’s postcard-perfect Eastern shore for spring break. But when Taras, a 19-year-old sophomore from Providence College, arrived at the resort, he was greeted with the hotel industry’s latest trick: he was walked down.
“They were sent to [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing

Hawaii hotels offer unusual deals

May 28th, 2009

With tourism in the dumps, Hawaii hotels are offering unprecedented discounts, freebies and other incentives in hopes of drawing tourists to the islands and survive the economic slump.
With tourism in the dumps, Hawaii hotels are offering unprecedented discounts, freebies and other incentives in hopes of drawing tourists to the islands and survive the economic slump.
The [...]

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Tags: Travel Marketing

Online Travel Bookings Decreased For The First Time since 1998

May 18th, 2009

The recession is finally taking its toll on online travel, with a decline in revenues this year forecast by PhoCusWright, the travel industry research company.
PhoCusWright said the value of online leisure and unmanaged business travel bookings would drop 3% this year to $93 billion. The company said it was the first time since PhoCusWright began [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Internet Marketing · Travel Marketing

Only 51% of Online Bookers Complete their Tasks Due to Design Issues

May 12th, 2009

Only 51% of bookers were capable of completing their tasks. While some of the reasons underpinning this low rate might have been outside the purview of the web experience, significant numbers of bookers reported problems with site navigation, the booking flow, and insufficient hotel/room information, all of which fall squarely on the plate of interactive [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Internet Marketing · Travel Marketing

Risky Strategy for Luxury Hotels: Cutting Prices and Services

April 30th, 2009

Luxury hotels are bleeding occupancy and revenue at a rate far worse than the travel slump experienced after September 11, travel experts say.
To overcome their financial woes, luxury hotels are dropping rates, giving customers incentives and finding ways to cut operating costs without compromising the integrity of their posh images.
From December to February, occupancy in [...]

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Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing