Travel Technology

November 15, 2007

Second Life Discussion-PhoCusWright Day 2

Tweet Cathy Schetzina led a discussion of Second Life with STA, Carnival Cruises and Starwood. The primary benefits of launching a Second Life site was described by the panel are PR and gaining experience in a virtual world. The panel agreed that the initial buzz regarding Second Life has faded somewhat lessening the value of free PR that was prevalent […]
November 14, 2007

Live from PhoCuswright – Michelle Peluso CEO Travelocity

Tweet Michelle talked about general travel industry themes such as the need for better customer service, air schedule reform and economic indicators pointing to a downturn in the economy. She admitted that OTA interfaces have been stale for some time. She pointed to Travelocity’s Experience Finder as a different way to approach travel verses the traditional linear method. She emphasized […]
November 14, 2007

Live from PhoCusWright Private Equity – Karl Peterson TPG

Tweet The PhoCuswright conference kicked off with discussion of private equity investment in the travel industry with Karl Peterson. Karl emphasized that PE is in for the long run. He disputed the theme of the recent Business Week article which used the term of “strip and flip” referring to the process where PE buys public company, extract profits and then […]
October 25, 2007

Kango

Tweet Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Yen Lee, president of the new travel search company Kango. For those who do not know Yen, he has an extensive background in online travel most recently as the head of Yahoo! Travel. So what is unique about Kango? The company is building a semantic travel search engine. Rather than simply […]
October 15, 2007

Why Social Networking Matters for the Corporate Travel Market

Tweet The BEAT recently covered my NBTA presentation on Web 2.0 and the release of my new study “Corporate Travel Technologies: Today and Tomorrow“. In the article Jay projects a somewhat skeptical view on whether social networking apps will ever appear in the corporate travel industry. I understand Jay’s skepticism. Throughout my 25 years in the corporate travel industry, I […]
October 9, 2007

Why Travel Mash-Ups are Important

Tweet As much as the OTAs may position themselves as a one-stop shops for travel planning and booking, the reality is that no single site can make this claim. With the introduction of over 30+ travel sites over the past 2 years, travel content on the Web has never been more fragmented. Sites that provide travel blogs, itinerary sharing and […]