You have to love it -- or maybe not -- when travel research released separately today by Expedia and American Express almost reads like an advertisement for their respective offerings.
Expedia Media, the advertising wing of the mothership, commissioned a study which found that destination marketing organizations are "significantly shifting" advertising dollars online with "some" saying that they are now spending more than half of their advertising budgets online.
The study, conducted for Expedia by Revel, says the shift from offline to online advertising comes as DMOs trim budgets and face increasing pressure from governing bodies -- often states or countries, for example -- to measure results.
And, guess what? Drumroll please.
Since it was created in 2007, according to the press release, Expedia Media has created online advertising campaigns for more than 350 destinations.
"The Expedia Media team offers destinations the ability to promote their brands across multiple channels, including Expedia's more than 70 global sites, offline platforms and more," Expedia says.
I wonder how many of these commissioned studies never get published if the results conflict with companies' goals.
And, Expedia provides scant detail about the Revel study. It makes you wonder about the rest of the findings.
Meanwhile, American Express Business Travel also issued a press release today that was a little more meaty than Expedia's, but equally self-serving.
"Social Media in Business Travel Management," a study by American Express Business Travel's eXpert research unit, found that the largest adopters (59%) of social media to support business travel management were mid-size companies with $3 million to $10 million in air spend.
Some 44% of respondents indicated that keeping abreast of market trends was the primary benefit of social media, the study found.
Without providing numbers, the Amex press release says, "Respondents also reported high expectations regarding their companies future social media usage plan, reporting that within the next year forums, webcasts, and online video are the most likely to be implemented by business."
And, guess what? Drumr0ll please.
American Express Business Travel has launched BusinessTravelConneXion, with its forums, webcasts and online videos.
"We will continue to provide a free forum to share ideas, connect community members, and offer webcasts, videos and blogs to meet the demand for industry information and connection [which] enterpreneurial travel category managers are looking for today," says Alicia Tillman, vice president of corporate affairs and marketing services for American Express Business Travel.
Alas, for Expedia and American Express Business Travel, there is such symmetry between their own research and business goals.