This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel MARKETING in tourism and hospitality for April 2016.
Thursday 28 April 2016:RhinoCarHire rebrands with help from Priceline Group
- RentalCars Connect, the B2B division or Priceline's car hire service, will power the RhinoCarHire website with its inventory of products from around the world. The new website is available on both desktop and mobile platforms.
Revinate secures
Steigenberger deal
- The hotel and resort group will use Revinate platforms - Reputation and Surveys - to analyse and optimise responses to guest feedback and social media mentions. The group has properties in Europe, Africa and the Middle and Far East.
Monday 25 April 2016:ArrivalGuides teams up with
Digital Trip- The Digital Trip customer base (some 400 companies in 60 countries) will now be able to tap into content from ArrivalGuides to populate their own websites and travel services. ArrivalGuides covers over 600 destinations and includes videos and more than 35,000 points of interest.
Friday 22 April 2016:Expedia Media Solutions helps
Brand USA- The advertising division of the online travel agency has teamed up with the US national marketing organisation to create a campaign focusing on the country's national park network. The campaign, running on display media on Expedia.com and Facebook, includes a quiz ("What US National Park Are You?") and a film to showcase the destinations.
Tuesday 19 April 2016:Utrip creates Live product
- The consumer-facing product works by integrating with SeatGeek so that travellers can discover products and dates for live events during a trip. The Utrip Live service captures details about a traveller's favourite teams, bands or events (via Facebook or entered information) and locates events that are happening during a specific date range. Tickets for events can be bought via the partnership with Seatgeek.
Swedish airports take
ArrivalGuides- Airport owner Swedavia will take content via the ArrivalGuides API for ten airport facilities around the country, including Stockholm and Gothenburg. Information about the airports and their regions will be integrated from ArrivalGuides, as well as destinations that the airport's network serves.
Friday 15 April 2016:Skyscanner powers car rental
Microsoft Travel- The metasearch brand will host and operate the car rental search on 49 country websites belonging to Microsoft Travel. The move follows Skyscanner's appointment to run flight search for Microsoft Travel last year, initially in 31 markets and with a further 18 added this year.
Wednesday 13 April 2016:Travelport lands Macau marketing deal
- The Macau Government Tourism Office will use Travelport's Digital Media Solutions to target travellers from the Middle East and Africa. Tailored messages about Macau will be delivered to travel agency desktops in the two regions in a bid to raise awareness and boost visitor numbers.
Thursday 7 April 2016:Finnair unveils StopOver website
- Finnair is enabling customers to book a stopover when connecting via Helsinki via a newly developed website. Passengers can choose local tours and activities on the site as part of the Visit Finland-led project.
Millennium Hotels partners with Viator
- The hotel group is allowing customers to book stays as well as tours and activities and manage their loyalty points. Viator is the launch partner for the tours on the new site but other partners will also come on board. A custom-built customer relationship management system works behind the new site.
NB: Marketing image via Shutterstock.