This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel MARKETING in tourism and hospitality for August 2014.
Thursday 28 August 2014:
Excursiopedia partners with Festicket
- Excursiopedia is providing tours and activities available as part of Festicket music festival packages. Excursiopedia offers are already available for a number of festivals including Pitchfork Paris with more being added. Festicket says international travel to festivals is growing as is the trend to treat them as holidays.
VisitScotland creates newsroom for events
- Destination marketing organisation VisitScotland has partnered with MyNewsDesk to develop a special area within its website to promote events. The newsroom will provide written content, images, videos and social media feeds on Scotland's 900 events including the Ryder Cup.
Wednesday 20 August 2014:Taiwan partners with Google for YouTube campaign
- The Taiwan Tourism Bureau has unveiled Anytime for Taiwan, a video competition encouraging visitors to upload their experiences to YouTube. According to a survey from the tourist board some 60% of its nine million visitors are searching for travel information about the destination on the web.
American Airlines selects
Ink for inflight media
- American Airlines has chosen Ink Global to produce content for its inflight magazines as well as across mobile and online. As part of the deal Ink will open offices in Dallas and Miami to service the contract.
Wednesday 13 August 2014:Villas.com reaches 190,000 properties after Cottages4u deal
- The new Booking.com offshoot (launched in May this year) has captured some 10,000 units via its deal with Cottages4u. All Villas.com content is also available on the main Booking.com brand. The partnership comes as Booking.com claims four out of five Brits are planning some kind of staycation during 2014.
UK rail operator in "love trains" social media push
- East Coast Trains has launched a dedicated site (ILoveTrains) as part of the summer campaign to encourage passengers to share their memories of train travel and share photos, etc. Various social media initiatives are part of the projeect, including Instagram coverage, YouTube video blogging and social media-connected photo booths at key stations on the network.
Wednesday 6 August 2014:Wix.com launches into B&Bs, hotels, and inns
- The company, which offers websites for small businesses, has launched into the accommodations sector. The product allows small hotels, inns and B&Bs to take reservations on-site and manage their businesses directly with less reliance on OTA bookings.
Monday 4 August 2014:TripAdvisor user-generates next TV ad
- The review and metasearch service wants travellers to submit their own video clips during August, to be judged and then released as part of the company's ongoing "Don't Just Visit" campaign. The competition is limited to travellers in France, US and Australia, where the existing campaign has been running so far.
Booking.com pledges Chinese focus
- The Priceline-owned hotel service has signed up to a British campaign to encourage tourists to visit the country. Part of the agreement ensures desktop, mobile and tablet services are available in local language and the provision for customer service. Messaging and social profiles on Weibo and WeChat are also covered.
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NB2: Travel marketing image via Shutterstock.