TRAVEL TRENDS - INCORPORATING TRAVELTECH AND NOVACANCY
7 July, 2008, 7:27:25 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. |
Small On Space, Big On Attitude - So What?
By Martin Kelly IF passion was petrol, Nick McCaw would be on the moon right now. Instead, he remains on planet earth as the driving force behind Hotel SO, a budget hotel brand that has just launched with a single property in occasionally hip Christchurch, New Zealand. But that won’t be the case for long, the Blackberry addicted McCaw, who has embraced multi-tasking as a religion, told the No Vacancy conference. The plan is to take Hotel SO to the world, and Australia is first in line. The concept is basically small high-quality rooms (11sqm in some cases) costing from just $NZ69 packed with the latest technology and features such as 26 inch LCD televisions. There’s also free wireless internet throughout the 283 room (134 of which don’t have a window) property plus a café, gym etc. Great facilities, low price – get it! Sleepy or not, Hotel SO has shaken up the Christchurch hotel market. During March its occupancy was 92.8% compared with the city average of 75.5%, the average rate was NZ$82 (NZ$153.76 city average), 52% of bookings through the Internet, and 21% of all bookings from own website. He is also claiming room operating costs are 38% less than the average in an industry he described as “big, old, slow and lazy” with the total cost of having a room occupied just NZ$20. McCaw has started meeting the local investment banking community and you get the feeling they might like the economics – the Christchurch property was a NZ$40m refit of an existing building - although high land and building costs may be barrier to entry in this market, particularly in the major CBD markets. Secondary cities may also be an option. One thing is for sure, McCaw will not die wondering. Travel Trends: April 22, 2008 Latest News
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