With the recent release of the Goby iPhone application and the Tnooz showcase of the Siri.com offering, there is a definite increase in interest in on location mobile services that can benefit travelers in destination. Anecdotal data indicates that about 80% of bookings made by travelers for in-destination services occur when in destination (rather than pre-trip). Presuming that this data is correct, the potential impact on...

In my recent distribution and supply chain collaboration sessions at the Adventure Travel World Summit, I had an opportunity to sit down and discuss aspects of distribution with adventure travel operators and outfitters.  I was joined on the panel by a number of key players in the adventure distribution space including James O’Leonard  (Founder & CEO, PEAK 15 Systems), Michael Valkevich (Director, Global Customers IT ...

The Adventure Travel World Summit is on October 19-22, 2009 in historic Quebec City.  I’ll be attending this year as a speaker focusing on Social media and distribution systems for the adventure segment.  I am really excited about being part of the conference this year because it is really well executed and, from what I have heard, one of the best conferences to attend if you are an adventure travel operator.  Although I am not an...

During the OpenTravel Alliance half day session at Eye for Travel’s Distribution Summit in Chicago, we had an opportunity to discuss new and emerging distribution channels including, believe it or not, destination marketers.  Although many of the comments were not particularly supportive of this model, I think there is a huge opportunity for destinations to open up distribution and generate revenue, not only for themselves but for their...

Last week I had an opportunity to talk to Claude Guay, formerly an analyst with PhoCusWright but now the CEO of iPerceptions, an analytics company based out of New York.  iPerceptions recently published their Hospitality Index report around the same time that Forrester research came out with their report indicating the customer satisfaction in the Travel Industry has continued to decline.  From a technologists point of view, the thing I found...

Packaged goods in traditional retail have a very different meaning to packaged goods in the travel space.  In retail, a packaged product is a product that is sold in a “package”, ie. a box or a blister pack (literally packaged).  In travel, a packaged product is one that is a combination of two separate products packaged together, for example a hotel room and a concert ticket.  Then there is dynamic packaging, the concept of being...