TRAVEL TRENDS - INCORPORATING TRAVELTECH AND NOVACANCY
7 July, 2008, 7:28:37 AM
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Events
Bookings are now open for TRAVELtech 2008 - Australia's leading online travel marketing, distribution and tech event. This year's theme is the open-ended Year of Living Dangerously? It can be taken a couple of ways ... the obvious: oil, inflation, interest rates and marketing costs up - challenges ahead. But it's also a question, and the good news is there's increasing evidence the online channel may be the place consumers turn at times like these. Find out more at TRAVELtech 2008. Confirmed speakers are listed below, while the latest program has just been posted - it's packed with industry leaders and topical content.
TRAVELtech, founded in 1999, focusses on the latest online travel marketing and web-based innovations. It has a well-established reputation for delivering relevant, high-quality content and excellent networking - more than 300 delegates attended in 2007. If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to sponsor, please call Martin Kelly on (612) 9882-1575. Please visit the TRAVELtech photo gallery to see some photographs from the 2007 event. Sponsors include:
INFORMATIVE, educational, provocative and sometimes controversial, Search Engine Room is the leading event for Australasia's rapidly-growing search industry. Founded in 2004, Search Engine Room is locally owned and operated. It's held annually in Australia and New Zealand, attracting widespread industry support, and has a reputation for quality content, excellent event management and staging. The program focus is on respected, well-connected speakers delivering topical, relevant information. Search engine optimisation and marketing is well-covered, while broader industry issues are also addressed through interviews with leading search industry figures. There are case studies and debates, plus panels led by informed journos. Audience interaction is encouraged and Search Engine Room always makes an effort to be forward-looking, tracking the latest search and digital trends. Consumers are also given the once-over, enabling delegates to gain a better understanding of their customers. This format has great appeal and delegates come from around the country. Apart from search marketers, marketing managers, e-commerce managers, online business owners, senior management, digital media executives and agency types predominate. Companies large and small from diverse industries are represented, including travel. Some have been in the game for years, others are just starting out. If all this sounds interesting, and may like to attend a Search Engine Room conference, please subscribe to Search Engine Room News, which is packed with original content and comes out every five or so weeks. If you have any questions, please call Martin Kelly on 612-9882-1575.
A RECORD crowd attended the second No Vacancy acommodation industry conference in Sydney recently. It was a great day featuring industry leaders, panels, case studies, presentations and debate. There was a touch of controversy with hard questions asked - and answered. Program topics included online distribution, consumer trends, channel and yield management, carbon offsetting, star ratings, modern marketing tactics, pricing, social media strategies and plenty more. No Vacancy will return in 2009 - please sign up for the TravelTrends.biz newsletter if you'd like further details. |
Growth The Story at Vroom Vroom Vroom
By Martin Kelly, Editor, Travel Trends CAR rental site Vroom Vroom Vroom (VVV) is moving into the fast lane. It’s about to open a US office that will be headed by current Aussie boss Richard Eastes, who declares: “Everything we do is for growth”. Eastes says the company is already successfully operating a US version of the site but wants a local base to ensure better customer service and closer supplier relations. He sees opportunities for a true niche car hire player in the US with many of the former incumbents bought by the big name travel portal such as Expedia, Orbitz or Priceline. A number of customer service staff will be employed and Las Vegas has been chosen at the HQ – not much of a gamble, according to Eastes. “Vegas has cheap state tax, housing is more affordable and it’s a major transport hub.” While that may seem a big stretch from its Brisbane home base, VVV already has significant international experience with a well-established London office headed by company’s CEO Peter Thornton. As a result the company, which Eastes and Thornton bought in 2004, has enjoyed the strong growth it so covets with revenue doubling every year since. Turnover this financial year will be around $40m with income before costs of about $3m. Its sites receive around 8000 visitors a day with an impressive booking conversion rate of just over 5% (450 bookings every 24 hours). That’s largely due to an increasing amount of repeat business, while the leisure/corporate breakdown is roughly 75/25. Eastes has his future riding on the business, which he started in a bedroom at his parent’s house. “I spent my house savings on the company and haven’t looked back.” As you would have gathered from the “everything we do is for growth” comment, he and Thornton want to take VVV as far as it can go. If that means selling to a larger business, so be it. They are certainly open to offers, and have even fielded a couple – one from a notoriously acquisitive travel company that fell well short of the mark. “They were looking for a bargain and the price just wasn’t right.” On the other hand, VVV is also willing to buy, and have a made a couple of approaches to online operators that have generated interest but are yet to be consummated. They might, though. In the meantime, there’s plenty to keep Eastes and his cohorts occupied. TravelTrends.biz: February 19, 2008 Latest News
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