Welcome to the UK, Mr Kaufer

Is this a case of ambition getting in the way of reality…or does TripAdvisor know a thing or two about where the market is going?

The company’s global chief executive Stephen Kaufer, chatting this morning during a brief stopover in London, reckons the new UK site will become the third most popular online travel operation in the country by the end of the year. [Read the story here]

Hiding my surprise well, I soon realised he’s actually deadly serious.

The consumer review site has become a phenomenally important player in the travel industry since it launched in 2000, tickling the fancy of InterActiveCorp, which eventually snapped up the company in 2004.

What is most impressive about Kaufer’s claims is that he is determined to dominate the reviewing scene in one of the maturing online travel markets in Europe – here in the UK.

For starters the new site, which launched in the UK in January, will at some point during 2006 feature a section for consumers that want to comment on the leading tour operators, such as Thomson, Thomas Cook, First Choice and MyTravel – a first for TripAdvisor.

Kaufer reckons the tour operators will see TripAdvisor as a “free marketing vehicle”.

But this is a new area for the US company and some might argue that it has so far only dealt with the odd stroppy hotel or town at the receiving end of a scathing review and will find the full force of a tour operator a different proposition altogether.

But Kaufer hints that he doesn’t really care about all that – which is rather refreshing.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

The new cover star

“A picture…from a search engine! On the front cover of your first edition!” a good friend and fellow hack warned – rather than asked – me a few weeks back.

Perhaps I haven’t properly explained the shot and its significance, I thought at the time.

As my pal continued with his description of the quick route to career suicide ahead of me (“it’s dull”, “you always need a person on the cover”, “the readers will hate it”, for example), I remembered a conversation I’d had with the boss of a digital media agency a few months before I joined Travolution.

That particular chap told me that if “search” was a marginally sexier topic then it would actually get the attention it deserves, simply because it is so important to modern business.

It was with this in the back of my mind that I decided to slap a picture of the omnipresent Google search box on the front cover of our magazine, to illustrate our lead feature [Have you joined the search party? – Travolution 2.0].

It was the right thing to do. Feedback has been good, especially about the cover, but relief set in this week at the second meeting of our advisory board.

In between poking fun at Google over the, erm, China issue by some members of the group, much of the conversation was dominated by search matters.

It might be a tad “dull” and the mechanics powering it are anything but easy for the average “person” to understand, but search is here to stay.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

[Read the latest and definitive Google position on China]

Don't be a dummy anymore

If you’re one of those turned off/bemused/irritated by Blogs, then [please] read on.

Travolution is putting a lot of faith in this so-called new medium – is it really a new medium, discuss? – and we want readers of the magazine and users of the website to get involved.

First of all Blogs are a great opportunity to let off some steam, as some of our Star Bloggers have been doing in recent week (thank you Gavin Sinden, in particular!).

But we’ve also abandoned plans to include a letters page in the magazine. All correspondence – good or bad – will be posted here on the Blog, giving others the opportunity to add their two pennies worth.

In the meantime check out a great book – Blogging for Dummies – published a few weeks ago.

I promise this isn’t a blatant plug in return for a fabulous trip to Dummies Towers in New Jersey, USA – it’s just a good introduction to the world of blogging.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Changing perceptions is hard to do. Should you try it?

The person who sits opposite me has just got engaged, which naturally means there is quite a lot of talk of weddings and honeymoons around at the moment!

As it happens when the talk turned to honeymoon a soon-to-be-married chap in the office piped up and said he had just booked his honeymoons through Kuoni.

He had been shocked to discover at a recent travel show that, actually, he didn’t have to pick anything from the brochure at all and they would just organise whatever he wanted from their extensive network of travel contacts in the region (Sri Lanka as it happens).

Now if you work in the travel industry this is no surprise, but for him this completely changed his perception of what the “package holiday” companies could offer.

With the roll out of dynamic packaging across large chunks of the online industry people are getting used to the idea, all be it slowly, of going online and putting their own holidays together.

Now my question is: when do the big tour operators need to go hell for leather at changing the consumer perception of what they do through their online offerings. With more and more of the UK population starting their search for any major purchase online, consumers will become increasingly aware of the options available to them.

As site interfaces get easier and easier to use, the package holiday market is likely to continue to fragment giving people endless options the flights, accommodation and tour packages the operators provide.

This brings me back to the original question. When is it going to be right to change the online marketing to reflect this change in the offering?

When will the market have moved on so that a majority of holiday spend will be controlled by consumers who want to construct their own packages from the options the tour operator provides?

With young families buying more and more online I think it will be sooner than people realise. I also wonder if the tour operators will be dragged to change their perceived offering through consumer demand shifting away from them, or will some of them be brave and lead that change in perception scooping up market share as they go?

Jump too early and you could confuse and put off your existing customers who are happy buying their packages, jump too late and you could end up losing market share to online competition and having to play an expensive game of catch up.

Timing is going to be everything, but change is coming.

Gavin Sinden, director of digital marketing specialists, Incepta Online

Don't forget Fred

I read with interest Lisa James’ article [Cruisers find it's still good to talk - Travolution 2.0] in the latest issue of your magazine. However, there are a couple of points that I ought to make with regards to its overall content.

First of all, I am surprised at not finding Fred Olsen Cruise Lines amongst the “The major cruiselines” list.

In 2006 we will carry around 65,000 passengers on our four vessels; that is certainly more that EasyCruise, which are indeed featured.

Also, our focus is almost entirely on the UK market, which can’t be said for many American companies in the list.

As for the reasons why on-line bookings are not taking off for cruise lines – that would be my second point, no-one you talked to mentioned what probably is the main reason for this.

Traditionally, the cruise sector has been working closely with the trade. The high level of commission that we all pay to retailers is rebated in different degrees, thus making them the preferred choice of savvy consumers.

Please note that things are moving on with some cruise operators now offering additional discounts for customers booking on-line, typically 5% off.

It would be interesting to know how much this is changing the overall picture as it transpired from what Lisa was writing. Perhaps she would like to ask that question to the relevant people.

I hope my comments can lead to a positive dialogue.

Riccardo Benzo, marketing manager at Fred Olsen Cruise Lines