TRAVEL TRENDS - INCORPORATING TRAVELTECH AND NOVACANCY
7 July, 2008, 7:31:33 AM
Click here to subscribe
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. |
No Place For Ancient History In Online Future
By Martin Kelly THE Australian cruise industry might be all at sea when it comes to offering last cabin availability through the internet, but that hasn’t stopped a small but vibrant online market emerging in the sector. There’s a handful of players, among them Cleancruising.com.au, which this month celebrates its first anniversary. Russell says the past year has been hectic. “We only went live with 36 ships and since then have overhauled the IT systems to handle mapping and pricing integration. We now have 120 ships, plus 800 ports and more than 7000 cruises. But for all the site’s bells and whistles, it is still unable to offer live inventory, as online agents can in America through the GDS. “As far as we are concerned this system must be overhauled – the cruise lines need to make it available. It will make a big difference.” Yet it isn’t crucial. Cruises are big purchases and a lot of the market is elderly. As a result, Russell estimates that just 10% of the giant US cruise market is online anyway with 90% either done over the phone or in person. “You have to have good support,” he says. Because Clean Cruising is part of GlobeNet Travel, one of Australia’s largest retail agencies, it is able to offer 24/7 customer assistance. Russell says Clean Cruising is also using technology and commercial altruism to differentiate its offering from competitors such as cruising.com.au and creativecruising. “Every cruise is mapped in Google Maps and Google Earth, while all our cruises are carbon neutral,” says Russell. “Rather than ask people to pay an additional levy, we donate the amount ourselves as a way of saying thanks,” he says. Russell says the site is now getting up to 1100 unique visitors a day and the company wants to increase traffic initially through affiliate agreements with international travel sites. “We think there are significant opportunities with cruise because not many people in Australia have taken one, the market is growing at 20% a year and there’s a very high repeat rates among past customers. Travel Trends: March 14, 2008 Latest News
© Copyright 2008, Bluewater Press |
.jpg)
