Tourism & Technology Thursday - Google's Tourist Eye Trip Planner

One of the new Google Apps is called TouristEye.  The purpose of TouristEye is to give users an opportunity to create a travel itinerary that they can download to their phone or to show their friends.  I used an example of Charleston, S.C.

TouristEye is linked up to Facebook & Twitter (and surprisingly not Google Plus)...so that they can follow you while you on your journey or not depending on the level of privacy you request.

To begin you enter the city you want to visit and the dates of visit or the number of days you would like to spend there.

You then set your privacy level but this App enables you to share your itinerary with friends and to download it to your phone or other mobile device.

You can still tell the App is in its infancy in that many of the locations do not yet have photos and reviews. It does however, have all of the contact information for each site as well as links to their website.

Overall, the App works well but it takes some getting used to.  It was for me, not necessarily intuitive to use though it was pretty easy to learn as long you you spend some time playing with it.  The time you take to properly engage the program should be worth it.

Tourism & Technology Thursday

The cruise ship industry is often maligned for various reasons but in this instance Carnival Cruises needs to be praised.  Canival Cruises working in conjunction with a travel company called Autism on the Seas will launch on March 11th a cruise which includes 26 children and adults with special needs that will depart from Galveston, TX and travel to Key West, FL and Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas on an 8-day sojourn aboard the new Carnival Magic.  The best part of this is that the prices are 'comparable' to a regular cruise.

What makes this cruise so special, here is a list of some of the accomodations being made for children with special needs:

Dining

- Special Dietary Accommodations
- Private Dining Room/Area for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- SAME Dining Wait Staff for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Early Dinner Seating with group (Early Dining)
- Exemption for Dinner Dress Code

Expedited/Private Cruise Accommodations

- Priority Boarding onto Ship
- Priority Disembarkation from Ship
- Private Muster Drill Area
- Group Seating for shows

Staff

- "Autism on the Seas" experienced cruise staff
- Professional Medical Physicians and Nurses
- College degreed Cruise Line Children Counselors

As a parent of a child with Autism, I am happy to know that options such as this one exists for our family.   It is often difficult for families such as ours to find suitable travel choices. Once again, thanks for Autism on the Seas and Carnival Cruises for being accommodating and demonstrating the true meaning of hospitality.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Charleston Wine + Food Festival

Festivals can do a lot for a city.  This is especially true when: 1) the festival either lengthens the tourist season (providing visitors when typically the city would not be full anyways); and/or 2) the festival promotes an aspect of the city that can enter into a new or emerging marketplace and create a new center of demand for the local tourism industry.

The Charleston Food + Wine Festival does just this.  Located at the beginning of the tourist season in Charleston, it brings in high end guests to the city at a time when demand is just beginning to rise.  The event always begins the weekend that the students at the Citadel and the College of Charleston go on spring break, so there is less volume of traffic to begin with.  The event really helps the city to a strong week of hotel, shopping and restaurant sales.  In 2011, the festival generated an economic impact of $7.3 million dollars.

 The second thing this particular festival does well has been to establish a new secondary market for Charleston.  While good food has always been present in Charleston, it was much more secretive.  Since the festival began in 2006, it has worked hard to bring in the top culinary writers and influential sources into Charleston.  The event has been used as a catalyst to demonstrate the best of the cuisine available in the city and has grown the gastronomic side of the industry into a powerhouse.  Last year for instance, for the first time event, just as many visitors to Charleston cited food as one of the primary drivers to the city as history.  This is a remarkable achievement considering the historic significance of the city.

Congrats to the organizers of the festival: Angel, Rick & Rick and the rest of the team on creating and maintaining a successful event that not only lifts itself up but the entire city.  Well done!

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Charleston Wine + Food Festival

On Tuesday the BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival begins and runs through Sunday, March 4th.

Beyond providing an amazing selection of food + wine to indulge with, this festival is set right in the heart of America's best tourism destination according to Conde Naste.  When you are done at the festival, the city boasts a plethora of choices for the foodie in all of us including Bon Appetit's top new restaurant Husk.  Overall, if you wanted to visit Charleston South Carolina this may be the week to do it.  The taste of the south is never so good as it is during the BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Purchasing Passports

This week Reuters delivered a special report on how the island of St. Kitts and Nevis are selling citizenship to their nation for a $250,000 donation to the Sugar Industry Diversification Fund or by purchasing approved real estate worth at least $400,000.   This means, that they could travel to more than 100 countries on one of their passports without obtaining a visa.  In this age of security, this presents a serious issue.  One could see how someone with means could use this as a 'get out of jail' free card.  This is a practice that needs to be examined by those countries with visa waiver agreements with the island nation.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Kayak

One of my favorite travel sites is kayak.com.  The site allows me to search several online travel agencies at once.  It makes my online travel shopping much easier than going from site and site and constantly having to jump windows to comparison shop. In particular, their App is absolutely fabulous and is great for booking on the go.
So the next time you are looking for that hotel night, check out Kayak.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Watch What You Tweet Before Travel?

On Monday the Toronto Star reported a story in which two British tourists were banned from entering into the United States due in part because of tweets they posted pre-trip...

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1124241

This story brings to light several issues...

First and foremost, how much does ones right to free speech supersede the government's right to protect its citizenry.  How much right does the USA government have in this case to deny entry in cases such as these?

On the other hand, the tourists are coming into the country as guests, what role and responsibility do they have to show proper respect for the nation to which they are about to enter?  I am sure the gentlemen (and I use that term loosely in this case) meant no harm, what if they had and the USA government chose to ignore it due to free speech concerns?  Would the citizenry be okay with that trade off?

This is an area with a lot of shades of grey and is and issue that is going to become more prevalent as social media puts more of our thoughts and ideas out into a global environment.  Perhaps, if nothing else, we should think twice about how our social media positing could be interpreted by others.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Festival Trends...

Ever wonder how your local festivals are fairing - here are the latest trends from North and South Carolina.

Overall, festival attendance in the two states is up significantly on average (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Average Attendance by Year

In this respect, local festivals may have benefited from the downturn in the economy.  Instead of taking a weekend away, many are deciding to stay in town and go to the local festival for their new and different experiences.

While total attendance is up festival budgets have been generally either held steady or reduced.  This is particularly due to sponsorship's becoming increasingly challenging.  Festival's have therefore had to become more judicious with their spending.  One of the ways they are reducing costs is by compacting the event into a shorter time period (fig. 2).

Fig. 2 - Average Length of Festivals (in Days)

As festival's have become leaner in their budget management and as a result of increased attendance, we have seen the average spending per guest decrease from over $7.00 to under a dollar today (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - Average Spending Per Guest

So what does this mean for the festival attendee over the next year (fig. 4)?  There is a feeling of cautious optimism in the air.  For instance, while 57% of festival project an increase in attendance, only 12% are planning to raise ticket prices.  In another example of cautious optimism, while over 40% of festival directors are projecting an increase in revenue but only 30% are projecting an increase to their operating budget.

Fig. 4 - 2012 Projected Trends

Overall, this year can be described as one of hopeful transition from a down-turned economy to a more positive environment.  The festival directors all told are taking a more conservative approach to managing festival than in previous years.  It will be interesting to see how an industry previously known for taking changes will now unfold in a more conservative environment.  To view the report in its entirety, please click here.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Obama Talking About Raising Tourism to the USA from China & Brazil

This came from TravelWeekly.com - a very interesting speech and announcement.

Tourism & Technology Thursday - New Hotel Search Engine Room Key

One of the biggest battles in the hospitality industry is between the service providers like the airlines and the hotels and the book engines like Expedia & Travelocity.  The main issue being that the airlines and hotels do not necessarily like to pay the commissions asked for by the booking engines.  They also do not like the lack of control over how their product is packaged and sold.  As a result of this this uneasy relationship with the online booking engines - six hotels chains (Choice Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels (most known for the Holiday inn Chain), Marriott and Wyndham Hotels) have created their own search engine and book site called Room Key (see screen shot below).

The site is still in Beta testing mode.  I did a quick search for Charleston, South Carolina for January 14 - 15th.  The site came up with 26 hotels (see screen shot below).

One of the most interesting features of this site is that you can narrow your search or view your in a variety of different manners.  In the next example shown in the screen shot below, I narrowed the search by moving the bar around price range and star rating.  I moved priced levels to between $100 & $200 and star rating to between 2 & 3.  The search was then narrowed down to six choices.

 I then clicked to map the locations of the six properties (see screen shot below).

I then chose to book at the Residence Inn Charleston Downtown/Riverview and when I clicked its link, it took me directly to the Mariott booking page for the property.

The advantage to this engine for the consumer is that I can then book using my various rewards programs that would otherwise be unavailable if I was booking through one of the online travel agencies.

My Review

The interface is clean and easy to use.  The results are comparable to all of the other sites.  The prices were the same at Expedia and Travelocity.  The downside is that unlike Expedia and Travelocity - you can only book hotel rooms on this site.  You can not yet book an entire trip experience.  If however, you are just looking to book a hotel room, this site is one which makes it quick and convenient. Add to that the comfort of making the research with the property itself (no third party involvement per se) and the ability to use rewards points - this site is going to provide heavy competition to the online travel agencies.

Go see some other Thirsty for Comments Thursday Posts by clicking the button below:

Tourism & Technology Thursday - Crossing into USA with iPad

Since the signing of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), USA customs officials have been strict about passports being mandatory to enter into the country.  Last week, as reported in the Globe & mail here, a gentleman by the name of Martin Reisch was able to enter into the USA from Canada using a scanned copy of his passport which was located on his iPad.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/flash-of-an-ipad-gets-man-past-border-security/article2290029/print/

This issue is complex.  When crossing a border, the guard scans the passport which checks the individual's records (and includes the picture of the person on a passport)  against a series of databases as well as recording the individual's entry (date, type of car, license plate & travel partners).  If the guard can scan the bar code from a copied version, there should be little issue with using it.  In reality, the passport maybe an outdated concept.


Think about this for a moment,


What if an individual could provide a fingerprint scan which is used at a border?   Each person when crossing could provide a finger print scan and one would not have to worry about losing their passport.  Yes, there are privacy issues but are they any worse than the full body scanners used at airports (a future Tourism and Technology post surely).  Heck, updating your passport could then be done online with you uploading a picture and updating your information.  Interesting story indeed...

Technology & Tourism Thursday - A Question of Twitter Ethics

There was a really interesting article on the Globe and Mail on Tuesday about how some are using Twitter to tell others where RIDE spot checks are.  You can read the article here.

On one side, those doing it are arguing that they are providing a service to others to help traffic flow and avoid delays.  On the other, there is a possibility that a drunk driver will see the message and avoid getting caught only to have something drastic occur.

In this day and age, the question of ethical social media usage is becoming increasingly prominent within our society.  So I pose the question, is it ethical to tell others about speed traps, RIDE locations and other police related activities?

Tourism & Technology Thursday

One of the biggest trips scheduled every year is by a certain gentleman wearing a red suit and lead by a team of reindeer.  This trip is the true definition of world-beater tour...

One of the best ways to follow this jolly gentleman on his Christmas Eve tour of the globe is to watch him on NORAD Track Santa.

This website tracks Santa Claus moving around the world in an entertaining and information manner using multiple technologies such as YouTube, Google earth and even OnStar.  This is a fabulous way to spend an special evening with your kids (you may even learn something too).

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night tracking Santa as he makes his fantastic journey around the globe.

P.S. Travel Channel, why isn't this a live broadcast???

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Helioid Search Engine

Helioid is a new search engine that helps you narrow your search by dividing it by color codes.  This allows the users to narrow down a large search in a efficient manner.

Here is an example.  I first searched for the term 'Charleston.'  This search returned me items for both Charleston S.C. and Charleston W.V.  It provided the local newspapers up top.  If however, I was planning a trip, I could narrow my search easily using the color coded buttons along the side.

In this example, I clicked on the Charleston hotels button.  The CVB (Tourist information web site) then rose to the top along with several hotel options.  The buttons on the side then transformed to give me further options for narrowing my search.  In this instance, it gave me different locations types (i.e. downtown vs. airport).

I then narrowed further by clicking on the downtown button and was given a series of very specific hotel links.    the buttons along the side then transformed to give me options related to rates, reviews and online purchasing tools.

In total, the search engine needs some refinement but it is a good tool for those planning trips to areas where they may not be as familiar with the potential options.  In another search attempt, I examined Boise Tourism.  As I am not familiar with the location at all, this provided an excellent test of the search engine and its abilities to assist me with learning about and to book a trip to the destination.  This test worked well and I was able to comfortably navigate through the process.  The advantage of Heliod over Google is that you do not feel like you are constantly being marketed to.  Further, if you are not as familiar with the topic you are searching for, the hints are very helpful at narrowing down the topics to get to what you really want.

On the negative side, this search engine was poor in relation to searching for academic materials.  If they could add a subsystem like Google Scholar to it, then the real potential of this engine could be reached.  Often times students have a broad topic in mind when starting a research project.  This engine could be the perfect tool for helping them narrow these search parameters.  This could be a major area of potential for the company.

Technology & Tourism Thursday - American Airlines Bankruptcy

How can one being in HTM and not talk about American Airlines filing for bankruptcy protection on Monday?

The airline industry in the post 9/11 world in the USA has been absolutely pummeled instance after instance.  According to the Air Transport Association,  From 2000 until 2010 the average cost of fuel per gallon has risen 170%, airport landing fees have risen 70%, and employee related expenses have risen 35%.  In total, the cost of running an airline has increased 110% since 2000.  Further, due to the economic slowdown and rising taxes, the airlines have been unable to compensate for these costs through price increases. As is illustrated in the table below taxes on an average ticket have risen from $38.54 in 2000 to $52.61 in 2010 while the airfare alone has increased $2.07 since 2000.

In the ten year span from 2000 to 2010 the average price of a round trip ticket has risen 10% including taxes, fees & fares.  Over the same time costs have increased 110%.  Examining these numbers, it does not take a CFO to figure out that this industry is in serious trouble.   Unfortunately, American Airlines is the first in this wave to file for bankruptcy but given the current status of the industry, it will not be the last.

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Did you Pay Too Much for Thanksgiving Travel?

Buying a plane ticket seems a lot like playing the lottery.  You are never quite sure when you are going to get the cheapest price possible for the ticket?  You could be sitting in a seat thinking you got a deal with a $200.00 yet the guy sitting right beside you bought the same ticket for $150.00.

This is called within the industry as revenue management.  The airlines are trying to maximize their revenue based on demand curves.  As demand for a flight goes up, so does the price.  The airline is working its hardest to ensure as close to a full plane as possible while generating the maximum revenue in the process.

Yapta, a new App, help customers who don't have time to figure out each airline revenue management systems to track flight prices.  When the prices for a desired flight lowers, the App alerts them.  Further, several airlines will reimburse you if you discover that someone paid a lower price than you for the same flight (for essentially the same seat).  For instance, Jet Blue will reimburse you any price difference while Virgin & AirTran will reimburse you if the difference is over $75.00.  The Yapta App helps with that by tracking your flight even after you purchased the ticket and alerting you when and if you could be reimbursed.

As the App was recently released, I will be tracking several flights and compare their alerts to industry data.  I will be fascinated to find out how accurate their alert system is.  The premise behind this App seems solid.  I look forward to telling you about its accuracy.  Let me know what you think in the meantime.

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Google Flight Search

According to TNooz.com  Google is planning to expand its Flight Search product to other countries around the world.  First of all, I love this product.  The website's interface is clean, the search capabilities are excellent and the ability to easily control and manipulate the search is astounding.

The expansion of this site could lead to real competition for OTA's (online travel agencies) such as Travelocity, Kayak and Expedia.  With the airlines unhappy working with the OTAs in general but not being able to really do anything about it because customers prefer them, Google maybe their escape.  This will be a fascinating story to follow over the coming months.

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Digital Piracry

I was recently asked to review some articles on digital piracy.  It made me think of the last one, I wrote on the subject.

Pan, B., Li, X., Zhang, L. & Smith W.W. (2007). An Exploratory Study on the Satisfaction and Barriers of Online Trip Planning to China: American College Students’ Experience.  Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing 16(1-2) 203-226.

Digital piracy is a persistent and pervasive problem for society. Based on both the general theory of crime and deterrence theory, this study investigates the role of self-control, perceived severity of punishment and perceived certainty of punishment in predicting digital piracy behavior as well as self-efficacy. The results of the study show that risk-taking and punishment certainty are strong predictors of digital piracy behavior. Self-efficacy is also significantly related to punishment certainty and digital piracy behavior. Implications of the study for research and practice are discussed.

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Mobile in 60 Seconds

This was probably the best explanation of the mobile world that I have seen. People do not realize how quickly technology is changing the world and how we are interacting with it.

Please see: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/02/infographic-the-mobile-world-in-60-seconds/ for the full story.

Where hospitality marketing was once making pretty brochures and ads, today it is a complex web (please forgive the pun).  As hospitality marketing has evolved over the past the couple years to the current environment, tremendous challenges in relation to human resources, budget management and strategic focus have been increase exponentially.  So today, I give a warm congratulatory note to those working in hospitality marketing - it is a much more challenging job that it was just a decade ago.

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Google Purchases Zagat

According to Venturebeat.com's, Meghan Kelly, Google (also see the NY Times Article here) has recently bought the restaurant review company Zagat for $151 million.  This could have some very interesting ramifications for the hospitality industry. Currently, in order to get to the Zagat ratings as a consumer, one has to go behind a subscriber pay wall.  One can only expect an Android App to be released where one could check the Zagat report as well as consumer reviews of every restaurant.  How would this change the rating game?  Today, I am envisioning an App like Urbanspoon but expanded to where not only the reviews are present but also with the ability to see the menu, book online reservations or order take out as well as the current GPS features available. This is the type of App that could completely change the restaurant business markets itself.  I will be interested to see what Google does with Zagat over the coming months.