This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel MARKETING in tourism and hospitality for October 2014.
Tuesday 28 October 2014Hipmunk to power white-label search for Yahoo Travel
- Hipmunk said today that it has begun to power the hotel and flight search results on US search engine Yahoo Travel. The move follows a similar deal with Yelp earlier this month.
Hipmunk tells Tnooz that "introducing new sets of users to Hipmunk through partnerships is a key part of our overall growth strategy, which includes multiple other efforts as well."
When asked how committed is Hipmunk to IPO'ing?, the company responded: “Right now we're focused on building an independent large business.”
Tuesday 21 October 2014:TimeshareAdvisor launches vacation rental bookings
- The Florida-based travel website for researching and reviewing more than 5,000 timeshare condominium and villa properties worldwide has added online booking for timeshare vacation rentals for nearly half of its listings. Bookings are powered by Booking.com. (See Tnooz's 2013 profile of TimeshareAdvisor.)
Monday 20 October 2014:
VisitBritain taps Tumblr for content marketing
Thursday 16 October 2014:Bounce integrates what3words
- Taxi booking application Bounce now lets users pinpoint their location with three words. What3words assigns every 3x3 metre square with a three-word descriptor. The integration of the technology means users of the taxi app can enter the three words to show drivers exactly where they are. What3words says it is working with tourism organisations and other organisations on further integrations.
Best Western India signs with
Busy Rooms- Busy Rooms has signed a deal with Best Western India Hotel Group providing the 26 hotels with a central reservation system including elements such as rate shopping, reputation management and internet booking engine. Going forward Busy Rooms will also handle contracts for third party online sales channels.
Thursday 9 October 2014:Ryanair launches Twitter status updates
Low-cost carrier Ryanair is now providing real-time flight information on Twitter via @RyanairFlights. Passengers can follow the account and Tweet their flight number to it for a flight status update.
Wednesday 8 October 2014:
Busbud launches in Spain
KLM celebrates 95 years of service
- KLM has unveiled a brand campaign 'We Are KLM For You' to highlight its 95 years of service. A YouTube clip looks back to moments from the first flight as well as featuring glimpses of trans atmospheric travel.
Tuesday 7 October, 2014:
Turkey launches blogger and Instagram campaign
- The Turkish Culture & Information Office has developed a #takemetoturkey promotion targeting the travel blogger and Instagram community. The campaign is divided into six categories including best Turkey holiday video and best travel instagrammer. Winners will be announced at World Travel Market.
Travelzoo unveils UK advertising campaign
- Deals specialist Travelzoo has launched a 'Wednesdays' campaign themed around how people feel when they get the Top 20 best deals of the week. The campaign is being run on the London Underground and features London-based Travelzoo subscribers ready to take advantage of a deal.
Tourism Bonaire looks to Facebook for campaign
- The Caribbean island of Bonaire has unveiled a 'Fakecation' campaign via Facebook to promote a new Delta flight to the destination. To take part users need to take a 'Fakecation' picture of the island's scenery and use the hashtag #BonaireDeltaFlight.
Thursday 2 October 2014:ArrivalGuides on Amazon Fire
- The travel guide provider, which signed an agreement with Opera Software earlier this year to push video content to multiple devices, will feature on the Amazon Fire TV streaming service. Content from across the ArrivalGuides portfolio of 150 official tourist offices will be available to Fire users, as part of the Opera TV Snap apps.
ReviewPro signs
Centara Hotels and Resorts- The hotel chain, covering nearly 50 properties in Thailand, Vietnam, Mauritius, Maldives, Bali and Sri Lanka, will use the ReviewPro platform to understand guest experiences at individual hotels at a corporate level. The data will be drawn from 100 online travel agencies and other review sites in 45 languages.
OneFineStay creates Folios tool for users
- The platform allows users to browse properties on the OneFineStay system based on type, rather than location. The current quartet of folios cover Family, Work, Prestige and Explorer, each with a curated selection of homes from the OneFineStay portfolio.
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NB2: Digital marketing image via Shutterstock.