Fareologists at Bing Travel issued a preliminary outlook for the 2009 holiday travel season, uncovering a holiday season that is distinctly more traveler-friendly than the 2008 season.
This year, airfare for Thanksgiving travel to domestic destinations averages $327, down 22 percent from 2008 and virtually on par with 2007 fares. Christmas and New Year’s holiday airfare [...]

[ Read more → ]

Ferguson, VP of lodging demand and analysis for Expedia, shared 10 hotel trends using data generated from hotel bookings on Expedia.
1. Exchange rates are shifting travel patterns. “There are a lot more Americans traveling to the U.K. despite the economy. That’s simply because it has gotten so much cheaper,” he said. “It’s 35-percent cheaper just [...]

[ Read more → ]

A new report, to be released Tuesday by Forrester Research, found that far from embracing the do-it-yourself era, many consumers were fed up with the complicated process of planning and booking travel.
“What we’ve seen is growing frustration,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a Forrester travel analyst. “Consumers see other Web sites becoming easier to use – [...]

[ Read more → ]

Though Twitter is currently a media darling, only 8% of advertisers and consumers think it is a “very effective” promotion tool, according to June 2009 data from LinkedIn Research Network and Harris Interactive.
The research, which included surveys of US advertisers and Internet users, found that while 83% of advertisers were familiar with Twitter, only 31% [...]

[ Read more → ]

A report in the UK has highlighted that the package holiday is making a “remarkable comeback”.
According to a report filed by The Telegraph, a rush for late deals because of the poor weather, coupled with the financial security offered by holiday firms should things go wrong, has seen the popularity of the package flourish once [...]

[ Read more → ]

What are the pros and cons of creating a link on the hotel website to the customer reviews page of the hotel on TripAdvisor and displaying TripAdvisor reviews directly on the hotel website via the TripAdvisor Review Widget.
We have always recommended against both of these options. Here is why:
1. Creating a [...]

[ Read more → ]

But after signing up for my own Twitter account earlier this year (www.twitter.com/michellehiggins) — and being guilty of all of the above — I can now attest to at least one practical use for travelers: complaining.
As hotels, airlines and other travel companies line up on Twitter to promote their brands, customers who voice their grievances [...]

[ Read more → ]

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 [...]

[ Read more → ]

Kayak, the popular multi-airline airfare search engine, thinks Microsoft Bing’s new travel search engine looks so much like its own that it’s confusing Kayak users.
Kayak, the popular multi-airline airfare search engine, thinks Microsoft Bing’s new travel search engine looks so much like its own that it’s confusing Kayak users. The travel search company sent Microsoft [...]

[ Read more → ]