22 September 2007

The World's best blogs for Travel Marketing

Can it be that there is already a very large number of blogs out there that we are going to get a best of" book about them? Yes siree. There are literally thousands of them. Every passionate player is on his soapbox and what a large soapbox it is. But this is good. I can read and digest differing opinions from people worldwide. Some of it is organized, some of it is not. Some good some downright terrible. Some pure and pristine, others patently biased and commercially bent.

But hurray for the group of folks who have come together to create the world’s first book of the best travel marketing blogs. For those of us (either sick in the head or just plain crazy) who love this business this comes at a welcome time.

The three major players: Wired In Travel Conference (WIT), Singapore (www.wiredintravel.com), Canada-e-Connect Conference in Vancouver (www.canadaeconnect.com), and Travolution (http://www.travolution.com/) are collaborating on a new eBook called “Tips from the T-List” – the unofficial list of travel-related blogs. A call for submissions for the eBook to be launched in Vancouver, Singapore and London at Canada-e-Connect, and Wired-In-Travel, and through the Travolution media brand is being made.

Please contact one of the 3 people and tell them that Timothy sent you.

It sounds like it will be very cool and definitely useful. Don’t forget to sign up your own blog there and follow the list.


The text of the press release follows:



MEDIA RELEASE Announcing the world’s first book of the best travel marketing blogs A call for submissions: eBook to be launched in Vancouver, Singapore and London at Canada-e-Connect, and Wired-In-Travel, and through the Travolution media brand VANCOUVER/ SINGAPORE/LONDON – Wired In Travel Conference (WIT), Singapore (www.wiredintravel.com), will be collaborating with the Canada-e-Connect Conference in Vancouver (www.canadaeconnect.com), on a new eBook called “Tips from the T-List” – the unofficial list of travel-related blogs.

The eBook will be launched at Canada-e-Connect which takes place in Vancouver on November 7-9, and will then make its Asian debut at WIT on November 27-29. The book will also be available to delegates at the Travolution Autumn Conference in London on November 1 and via its website, blog and magazine.

Mathieu Ouellet from Quebec City, who started the T-List” said, “The idea of bringing together all different travel-related blogs was born and nurtured in Canada, but has quickly turned into a global community of travel marketers, many of whom have come together to form a T-List group on social networking phenomenon Facebook.” Jens Thraenhart, the executive director of marketing strategy & customer relationship management for the Canadian Tourism Commission, who will be chairing Canada-e-Connect and speaking at WIT on “E-Business Strategies For Destinations and Other Marketers in An Age of Transparency”, writes in his Tourism Internet Marketing Blog, “In the world of Web 2.0, Globalization, and Mass Collaboration, as well as cross-national partnerships, we believe we can all make a difference and putting our words into action and lead with an example.”Singapore is joining the organisers of the event in Vancouver and the Travolution brand in London in calling for the best posts from travel-related blogs globally, so the content may serve as tool for travel and hospitality marketers worldwide to make sense of the ever-changing environment of new media, emerging technologies and consumer trends.

Topics will include e-marketing tips, search engine marketing, online advertising, social media, new and ground-breaking website reviews, and much more. “We have been inspired by the collective knowledge of the T-List bloggers since its launch earlier this year. We hope this new book will provide a vital reference guide for travel, tourism and hospitality marketers,” said Kevin May, editor of Travolution. Added Yeoh Siew Hoon, producer of WIT: “This is Web 2.0 in action and we are pleased to bring the weight of the world’s fastest growing market to this project. The T-List will then truly become the A-list of travel-related blogs in this new global, digital age.”

Here’s how you can be part of the world’s first T-list in travel. Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2007. 1. Complete and fax back the following consent form to +1 604 648 9651 or email it to tlist@rezgo.com. Available at http://tourismtechnology.rezgo.com/2007/09/consent-form-for-publication-in-tips.html. 
 2. Send us three of your best posts. The editors will select one of these posts to appear in the book, with the goal of providing "Insider" experience and expertise in how online marketing can benefit travel and tourism. The posts should be your own work and should be things like tips, observations, or helpful hints. Please do not send news items or trend oriented posts because these will become outdated very quickly. Concentrate on original thoughts, tips, best practices, etc. Please limit the piece to 300-500 words max. You can either email your nominations, or use the T-List Wiki at http://www.radaron.com/wiki/tiki-index.php. 
 3. Send us a good quality headshot (if you want it included).
 4. Send us a good quality screenshot of your blog or website.
 5. Send us a very brief bio of yourself, your location (which will be added to a map of all bloggers) and the description of your blog 
6. Send us your full name, address, phone and email so we can send you a copy of the book. Only those contributors who make it into the book will receive a copy, however, we will be making a free e-book available for download that you can distribute. 7. Make sure you add your information to the T-List Community on Facebook, where you can also find links to more information and blogs.

Note: The editorial team reserves the right to reject posts or blogs that are either below quality, have a commercial or self-serving connotation, or are not a fit with the overall concept of the book in delivering value for the travel and tourism industry at large. “Tips from the T-List” Team:Stephen Joyce, Publisher (http://tourismtechnology.rezgo.com/) Jens Thraenhart, Editor in Chief (http://tourisminternetmarketing.com/) Mathieu Ouellet, Editor, North America (http://radaron.com/) Yeoh Siew Hoon, Editor, Asia Pacific (http://thetransitcafe.com/) Kevin May, Editor, Europe, Middle East (http://travolution.blogspot.com/) - Canada-e-Connect Conference (http://www.canadaeconnect.com/ and http://www.canadaeconnectblog.com/): Vancouver, November 7-9, 2007- Canadian e-Tourism Awards (http://www.canadianetourismawards.com/): Vancouver, November 8, 2007- Wired-In-Travel Conference (http://www.wiredintravel.com/): Singapore, November 29-30, 2007- Travolution Conference (http://www.travolutionconference.co.uk/): London, November 1, 2007 More information about the T-List Book: http://canadaeconnectblog.com/swag-file/conference-swag-with-a-purpose/

OK so a comment on Money Direct

I have been studiously avoiding this issue but I cannot any longer. We did file in support of BTC (Go to their public website) http://btcweb.biz/.)

There are two issues here that I think people have ignored. Tim Hughes pointed out that Money Direct (the name of the JV) is an operating entity owned by Sabre that is accepting an inbound relationship with Amadeus. Approved by the EU they have wasted no time to implement the spin machine. The other issue is that the enemy here is a failure to develop a decent financial fulfillment process for the industry at a cost effective rate. For this there are two "bad boys". Expedia for paying only on an low frequency basis (quarterly for most players) and of course Pegasus for letting their service language.

Let’s be clear. The whole market needs a better way to handle financial fulfillment, currency conversion commission clearing. The high costs are eating into everyone's profits. While I applaud the initiative of the two behemoths - I believe they are the wrong player and there are a heck of a lot of other solutions in other businesses that do well. All is not lost but you will have to think about it. or contact me...

timothyo@t2impact.com

787 and the looming fastner crisis.

By now Boeing is having a very hard time explaining away the next delay. But as we have noted several times there are two major issues that Boeing is having with its 787 program. The most public is the Fastener issue. Yes folks there really isn’t a Home Depot aisle where you can go and get these things. They have to be custom built. Further - one heck of a lot of them need to go in the new plane.

So for the lay person - a fastener is the screws, nuts and bolts that put the plane together. After 9/11 many companies mistook the likely growth in the market for these services. This was indeed exacerbated by Boeing itself who declared they would need significantly less of them with a composite fuselage. See: (http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787family/programfacts.html ). It would have been natural to assume that there would be a significant downturn in aircraft building. As a result there was a general roll up of the players with Alcoa emerging as the big player. These 3 factors: down market, lower assumed activity, (including the drivers for innovation usually coming from the military) and the money guys taking over reduced the overall investment. Boeing is far from blameless in this affair. Their supply chain guys need to be given a royal kick for underestimating the challenge and the scale of this issue.

But it’s going to get worse before it gets better. The demand will undoubtedly drive up the price. And we know demand from the 787 camp is moving at scorching speed. Don’t forget we have seen only 3 sets of orders from the North American carriers, AC, NW and CO. What about DL and AA who both have "Preferred deals" with Boeing and large 767 fleets. And now perhaps even worse, Airbus has quietly confirmed that it s abandoning an Aluminum fuselage barrel for a full composite construction.

Our prognosis? Boeing will be hard pressed to make it fly in Q4. But they will do it. A token delivery subject to strict scrutiny of the Japan JAA and the EU/US players may mean it is only certified in Japan. But the fastener problem will persist into 2010 at least and cause delivery cut backs. Boeing's highly aggressive schedule cannot be met for at least the first 100 planes. Result - higher 767-300 rates. Better keep looking for late model 77-300ERs they are like gold dust.

At least this will mast the ther problem (software and wiring) which is not going too well either.

Cheers
Timothy