Expedia and other OTAs have long touted what has become known in the industry as “the billboard effect” whereby they have claimed that positioning on their sites generates not only bookings through the OTA but also a halo effect on the hotels’ own sites by generating brand awareness.
Non-loyal consumers start many of their searches at [...]

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In Ipsos Travel Barometer polling released this month, the number of respondents saying they’ll do more leisure travel in the next 12 months slightly topped the number saying they’ll do less, 19 percent to 15 percent.
In many cases, this isn’t just wishful thinking by consumers who are sick of being stuck at home. “What we [...]

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The biggest theme for those trips still on for 2009 was spending less money and researching online more—two factors that are probably connected, since respondents thought Web research was the single best way to save on travel.

Money-saving attitudes, unsurprisingly, have an effect on what kinds of ads are most likely to reach consumers. Asked which [...]

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It’s not enough that you have a presence on each site, but that you leverage your presence to connect with others who also have a presence on those sites. Social media is about being social. Each platform offers distinct advantages, but you need all three to build the strongest connection.
The connectivity usually begins on one [...]

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Hotels.com Hotel Price Index reveals Irish and Norwegian travellers willing to spend more than other Europeans on a hotel room abroad, while Germans and Finns spend the least.
Hotels.com’s latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) has revealed that Irish and Norwegian travellers are bearing the mantle of being Europe’s biggest spenders when travelling abroad, spending on average [...]

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The travel industry is constantly buffeted by forces beyond its control but which have a huge impact on business, from terrorism to the tsunami and Sars. Now it is dealing with the deepest recession for decades and major – and some argue permanent – changes in consumer behaviour.
Research from a GfK Ascent-MI/TTG network poll showed [...]

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Owners of luxury hotels are now concerned about negative guest perception and political pressures on groups and corporations to avoid the stigma of being publicly chastised for choosing a luxury hotel or resort.
In today’s challenging economy, owners of luxury hotels are considering how best to weather the downturn. Once fortunate to represent a segment of [...]

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More than a quarter of all business travellers use sites such as Tripadvisor when making their choice of hotel, according to new research.
The research also showed that 21% of those surveyed felt that the advice given by their business travel agency was unreliable.
Market research agency BDRC found that 28% of a thousand business travellers surveyed [...]

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The global hotel industry’s performance during the second quarter this year was down across the board. Despite pockets of resurgence, the negative performance is expected to continue into 2010, and sustained growth isn’t expected until the second quarter of 2010, according to a TravelClick webinar last week.
The global hotel industry’s performance during the second quarter [...]

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