Travolution@TTS Blog

mghotels.com blogging

2007-02-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

we discovered the meaning of bloggs at the show, very interesting - great way of promoting our product

www.mghotels.com

Great stand, good show

2007-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Show is great but seems quieter today.. Travolution stand is good, fab to be able to check emails (and obviously post a blog or two along the way!).

A cool link

2007-02-14T06:38:00.001-08:00

Here's a really good travel website worth a look www.theworkingsolution.com

2007-02-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

First time at the show and really impressed by the diversity. Really mind bogglimg with the amount of good and relevant info.

Michael

Ri

2007-02-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

Views on the Travel Technology show: Interesting show, much bigger than previous years. The majority of exhibitors are large technology companies, ther eis a need for more small-midd size companies It is quite good though and will definitly visit it again next year.

Zeitgeist - What lies ahead?

2007-02-14T03:56:00.000-08:00

Most enjoyable morning session although the prospect of what lies ahead for travel is not just exciting but also a little frightening.

Tim Walters from Fatwire showed a couple of slides outlining rules to follow if you are remotely interested in capturing details about anyone who lands on your site. I recommend you go the the Fatwire website and explore some more. www.fatwire.com

Kenny Picken from Travel Tek took us into space and under water in his presentation looking at what lies ahead in way of dynamic packaged trips to the moon or to the bottom of the ocean. www.traveltek.net, very entertaining, but not that far fetched....

It's all about connections

2007-02-14T02:50:00.000-08:00

Or at least it was for the poor frazzled engineers at Earl's Court this morning - oh the bitter irony of not having an internet connection at a TECHNOLOGY show.

Online revolution - The Guardian

2007-02-14T02:47:00.000-08:00

Have you seen Travel Weekly mentioned in The Guardian today? There is an article all about the online revolution taking place at Reed Business Information, the publisher of both Travel Weekly and Travolution. Travolution is obviously a part of this revolution, and today The Guardian reports on it, mentioning photos from The Globes on Flickr. Check it out!

Where is the blogging

2007-02-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Can't believe that so few of you so-called web savvy guys and gals are not making the most of posting a few blogs.

Really good show and some of the sessions proved really interesting. The issue here is that while people are talking about blogging al lthe time, nobody seems to be giving it a crack - WHEN IT IS FREE AND ON YOUR DOORSTEP, right here.

The business has been penny wise and pound foolish

2007-02-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

. . . said Peter Matthews in the seminar session on "Taking your website to the next level."

True?

The sentiment was recently shared by Forrester's travel analyst Henry Harteveldt. The "'We don't have the money' excuse is . . . wearing a bit thin," he wrote. "In fact, one must question the wisdom of travel companies that chose not to invest in [online marketing and] merchandising technologies: How much more money could travel sellers have earned had they done so?"

I think they're right. When a 1/2 percent increase in online bookings can mean millions, and with abandonment rates embarassingly high, it literally doesn't pay to scrimp on technologies (and/or services such as user experience analysis and personna creation) that are very likely to improve the customer experience.

My guess is that many companies think such investements must be justified by savings in process times and the overall costs of running the site(s) -- spend (only) in order to save. The problem is that the history of the web constantly shows that the winners are those who spend in order to earn.

Web 2.0

2007-02-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

This was an interesting session...but no mention of China?!

Which exhibition is better.....

2007-02-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

Business Travel or Travel Technology....?

Travel Blogs session

2007-02-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

I must say that I learnt a lot from the session about Travel Blogs, it gave me great insight and practical solutions.

Attendance

2007-02-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

Word on the street is that the show is pretty quiet.

Is it?

Peter Matthews...

2007-02-13T07:57:00.001-08:00

...did a great session. Outlining the good, the bad and the ugly in web design...

Where are all the posts?

2007-02-13T07:56:00.001-08:00

Come on delegates... It's your space.

What have you heard that's good/controversial/awful?

Blogging

2007-02-13T04:00:00.000-08:00

Is it ethical?

2007-02-13T03:58:00.000-08:00

Tip: go to the free seminars. They are better than the one you pay for! More interesting content, better speakers!

Nice confectionery...

2007-02-13T02:33:00.000-08:00

The best thing about this stand is the purple sweets!

Bet they're not here tomorrow.

Travolution Awards - remember to enter!

2007-02-13T02:01:00.000-08:00

For those of you that haven't heard, Travolution will be running its inaugural awards on Tuesday 24 April 2007.

For a full list of categories and an online entry form, make you visit out dedicated awards site.

Seminars today - Tuesday 13 Feb

2007-02-13T01:44:00.000-08:00

REMINDER: Travolution is hosting a few seminar sessions over the next two days.

Tuesday 13 Feb:

Meta search and online travel agents - Kevin Eyres (Sidestep) and Alan Josephs (Ebookers)
Room TWO @ 11.15

Web 2.0 and the future for online travel - Simon Ferguson (Travolution) and Daniel Robb (Google)
Room TWO @ 14.15

Let us know what you think of sessions by posting here on the blog.

Kevin May, editor of Travolution, is also presenting at a session on blogging (funnily enough). Room ONE @ 12.45

Enjoy...

2007-02-13T01:37:00.001-08:00

This is a great stand and I'm so happy to be here.

Some info prior to the show

2007-02-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

Travel Weekly has a preview for delegates here.

Our blogging stand - lots of purple, apparently - is ready for transportation to the event and our marketing gang have been briefed on how to run the blog for all you lucky delegates.

For anyone still wanting to attend but yet to snap up a delegate place, visit here (quickly!).

Looks like it's going to be quite an event...

Just three days to go...

2007-02-09T04:12:00.000-08:00

There are now just a few days to go until this year's Travel Technology Show kicks off Earl's Court in London.

We hope to see you there, and hope you can find the time to post an entry onto this open-access blog.

A new blog... with open access

2007-01-25T02:06:00.000-08:00

A few months back Travolution agreed to be a media partner at the 2007 Travel Technology Show at London's Earls Court 2.

The event takes place on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 February and is one of the biggest shows of its kind in Europe.

We suggsted to TTS director Neil Simpson that it would be a nice idea to have a blogging area at the show, where delegates could come and go, leave comments on the Travolution Blog and generally explore the world of blogging.

I will also be doing a presentation on blogging during one of the show's seminars.

However, we thought rather than using our existing Travolution Blog during the show it might be a bit more interactive to create a brand new blog just for the event.

This new blog, based in part on the Travolution Blog but with some subtle differences, will be open to all, allowing delegates to upload their own posts directly onto the system from our stand in the centre of the exhibition.

Why?

Well, there is enough going on at TTS to inspire debate, pose questions about how the industry is developing, or just simply irritate.

We will give delegates the opportunity to use a blogging platform to air their views.

In the coming weeks we will post some content on the Blog to get the ball rolling, ahead of the event.

As soon as the event starts on the 13 February, access to the Create A New Post section on the blog will be free to all delegates.

Like so much of the blogging phenomenon, this will be an experiment - and hopefully a lot of fun.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution