In Travelocity’s annual Forecast Poll (Jan ‘08) travelers responded to questions about how higher costs would impact their vacation plans for the coming year. But, with record-high gas prices, higher airfare, and a slew of unexpected airline fees, Travelocity took a second look. By comparing current travel data to the forecast poll they can show [...]

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The U.S. hotel industry, already suffering through a dismal U.S. economy, an airline crisis and record fuel prices, now faces tough negotiations over a major source of its income – corporate room rates.
Corporate contracts account for almost 35 percent of the U.S. hotel sector’s revenue, according to lodging industry veteran Bjorn Hanson of New York [...]

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Internet service is getting cheaper, not more expensive, and hotels already are shelling out for multiple T1 lines for their own internal use. The cost of providing the service to guests is marginal, and hotels are pocketing the sizable difference between that and what they charge per night for the privilege of a high-speed connection.
Travel [...]

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The tourism industry appears to come across major dificulties for the first time in recent years, writes the Chicago Tribune. Hotels likely will see occupancy rates downtown and nationally drop by 2 percentage points this year, though prices should hold strong.
Some observers see a potentially harsher scenario.
“This is the bow wave, and the rest of [...]

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TripAdvisor has acquired VirtualTourist.com, a pioneer in user-generated travel content since 1999, and OneTime.com, a travel booking comparison site.
Including VirtualTourist and OneTime, the TripAdvisor Media Network now attracts nearly 32 million unique monthly visitors.
“VirtualTourist pioneered the concept of an online travel community, and with the help of over a million enthusiastic members, has created a [...]

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Web 2.0 was all about creativity, information sharing and consumers collaborating around content. Web 3.0 is all about personalization of the online experience and getting beyond the PC. EyeForTravel explains an impact of Web 3.0 technology on travel and tourism industry and what role in the industry will be playing “Travel 3.0 intelligent agents”.
“Travel 3.0 [...]

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Profit continues to increase in most European hotel markets in spite of falling average occupancy, according to the latest HotStats survey of ten European cities by TRI Hospitality Consulting.
France and Budapest were the only cities where hotels were able to increase in demand in the four months to April 2008 of the 10 European cities.
In [...]

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This summer hotel sales forecasts are mixed but industry analysts predict that the summer 2008 will not be as successful for hotels as previous ones. About finding opportunities in hospitality industry and tactics to drive business and sales in a ‘Not So Hot’ Summer, writes hospitality industry consultant Carol Verret.
There are markets that will perform [...]

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Youth Travel represents around 20% of all international arrivals and is one of the tourism industry’s fastest growing sectors. The average expenditure per trip has increased by 40% among young travellers.
70% of young people travel with a purpose – to learn a language, volunteer, work or study abroad. As a result, 80% of them return [...]

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