Travel Loyalty Programs Require a Makeover

November 28th, 2008

Travel and transportation companies need to revamp their loyalty programs to ” replace reluctant allegiance with genuine loyalty,” according to a new paper from IBM.
In addition, the U.S. market is saturated with only 40% of loyalty-program memberships considered active despite ever-increasing membership. That means people aren’t using the loyalty rewards they’re earning.
“Overall, it’s a pretty [...]

[ Read more → ]

Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing

Businesses Prefer the Internet to Book Trips

November 18th, 2008

Calling the airline is a thing of the past. US business travelers surveyed who flew more than six times during the previous 12 months preferred to book their trips online instead of by phone or e-mail. That held true whether the travelers booked directly with suppliers or had their corporate travel departments handle the bookings.
The [...]

[ Read more → ]

Tags: Hotel Marketing · Internet Marketing · Travel Marketing

Four new rules travelers need to know for 2009

October 27th, 2008

It’s not too soon to start thinking about traveling next year. In 2009, a series of new rules and regulations kick in that could affect your vacation. Ignore them, and you might find yourself delayed or denied access to your destination.
Don’t let that happen to you. Here are four new rules you need to know [...]

[ Read more → ]

Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing

Google assembles travel marketing executives to discuss strategies for boosting business

October 15th, 2008

With the travel industry already feeling the pain of the economic downturn, Google on Wednesday convened more than a hundred travel marketing executives at TravelThink 2008 to offer strategies for boosting business, as well as to get feedback.
As one of the industries to embrace search early on, travel has become a key business category for [...]

[ Read more → ]

Tags: Hotel Marketing · Internet Marketing · Travel Marketing

Travel Industry Has Been Hit Hard by the Economic Slowdown

October 13th, 2008

Airlines reported sharp declines in passenger traffic for September. Hotel occupancy rates are down, and corporate travel managers are demanding new concessions on previously negotiated deals. Cancellations are starting to rise even at four- and five-star hotels, which previously seemed immune to the economy’s travails.
Months ago, the nation’s airlines, which are grounding some of their [...]

[ Read more → ]

Tags: Hotel Marketing · Travel Marketing