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An Introduction
Dear Industry Colleagues and Friends, The Travel Marketing Store is now established. We aim to promote travel marketing excellence through: - the publication of buyer-supplier case studies
- holding an annual travel marketing services procurement event in Dubai
- and through our advisory services.
We will be sending out a regular newsletter, The Travel Marketing Digest, where we will summaries the latest travel marketing news into an easy to read format. If you do not want to receive this please unsubscribe using the link below or if you want the newsletter to be sent to a different e-mail address then please update your profile. We hope you enjoy our newsletter and please spread the word to travel marketing professionals, their procurement colleagues and suppliers that a new community service exists to bring them together. Best regards, Duncan Alexander Director The Travel Marketing Store |
China is on the move  According to a recent study by Hotels.com, the number of Chinese travellers making international trips was up by 22% in 2011, compared to 2010. In an earlier report in May, Jens Thraenhart predicted that China is on track to overtake Germany and the US as the world's largest outbound tourism market in the next few years. Also in May The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reported in their study on China, that business travel is expected to increase by 17% in 2012 and 21% in 2013, to US$202 billion and US$245 billion respectively. Johan Svanstorm, Managing Director of Hotels.com Asia Pacific, commented: "The Chinese made a staggering 70 million international trips in 2011 and, while many of these were to Hong Kong and Macau, the number going further afield is growing significantly". Johan went on to add that implementing strategies to cater specifically to this burgeoning market China is moving from a must-to-have to a competitive necessity. The Chinese are investing heavily in infrastructure with China's four largest airports (Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao and Guangzhou) having over recent years doubled in size. Plans are in place to build many new airports in the next ten years. |
Social Media Travel Marketing Spend on the rise According to Frommer's & Tnooz's "2012 Digital Marketing Content Survey", 65% of travel professionals polled worldwide planned to increase their social media marketing budget in 2012, a higher percentage than for any other digital marketing tactic. A research study by ROI last year revealed that US fans of travel brands "like" or "follow" such brands and companies because they want something in return - specifically deals or information about deals. |
Expedia and Photopedia integrate platforms In a good example of technology convergence and integration Fotopedia, the publisher of the popular iOS apps, and Expedia have unveiled their first collaboration by introducing the ability for people to easily find and book a hotel from anywhere within Fotopedia's applications. The partnership brings direct access to Expedia Hotels into two of Fotopedia's most popular travel apps: Fotopedia Paris amd Photopedia Japan. The solution streamlines hotel selection and reservations. Users can access hotel information near the landmark they are viewing by touching the Expedia Hotels icon. |
Facebook as a travel motivator It is no longer a fashion but serious channel to market. Social media is becoming a real force in pulling in direct traffic as word of mouth from friends and family becomes a major motivator in travel spend. According to EyeForTravel 50% of the travel brands they surveyed reported direct bookings from social media and 20% of travel brands said that social media was their most effective marketing tool. A poll by Travel Industry Wire in 2011 showed that 52% of people surveyed said that they were inspired to book a trip after seeing friends' Facebook photos and posts. |
Saudi Arabia tourism continues to grow Euromonitor International's latest Travel and Tourism report on The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reveals that despite fears of political unrest across the Middle East region, travel and tourism continued to grow. The country benefited from the stable and growing economy during the past years recording real GDP growth of 3% in 2011. Equally, travel and tourism saw hefty investments in 2011 from the public and private sector in the attempt to promote the Kingdom's tourism industry and divert the economy's dependence on oil. |
KAYAK IPO - a successful start  | |
Kayak, a successful IPO |
KAYAK Software Corp. jumped in its trading debut by 27.6%. KAYAK sold 3.5 million shares at $26 each to raise $91 million closing at $33.18. KAYAK had delayed its IPO after Facebook fell as much as 32% in the month following its IPO. KAYAK is a travel search engine that generated $17.5M in after tax income from a revenue of $245M in the four quarters ended March 2012. Investors were concerned about KAYAK's reliance on ITA for airline search enquiries as the contract expires at the end of 2013 and ITA is owned by Google. KAYAK has managed to reduce that reliance from 60% to 40% over the last year. Bloomberg's data valued KAYAK at $1 billion or 4.1 times sales. That is 43% higher than the median multiple of 2.9 times for peers such as Expedia, TripAdvisor and Travelzoo. |
