This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel MARKETING in tourism and hospitality for June 2014.
Wednesday 25 June 2014:
Kuaidi Dache teams up with eLong
- Kuadi Dache, the Chinese on-demand taxi hailing company, and eLong, has entered into an agreement that will allow customers of the taxi app to search and book nearby hotels, and also receive cash rebates and vouchers for Kuaidi Dache app for a hotel booking in eLong.
RezNext partners with
Internet Moguls- RezNext, the hotel distribution company, has partnered with Internet Moguls, a hotel digital marketing company. This partnership will enable the companies to cross sell each others services. With this partnership, RezNext is trying to offer an end to end solution for hoteliers.
Uber launches in Vietnam, Hong Kong
- The company has rolled out its service in "test mode" in both these destinations.
Singapore Airlines launches online shopping mall
- KrisFlyer Spree, the airline's new online shopping mall allows its KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to purchase clothing, accessories, electronics, food and beverage items, toys, cosmetic products, and more. Also, purchasing in the online mall attracts KrisFlyer miles. The mall has over 2,000 global brands and merchants. As an introductory offer, the airline is offering double miles on purchase with select brands.
Oman launches blogging contest
- The Ministry of Tourism in Oman has launched a month-long blogging campaign in partnership with India-based Indiblogger to attract tourists from India. This contest will see bloggers writing about what they would like to experience in Oman. Three bloggers will get a chance to win a trip to Oman.
Sam's Club partners with
Tourico Holidays- The partnership enables Sam's Club's online travel booking portal where members will be offered discounts on a range of travel offerings, including airfare, hotels, rental cars, vacation homes, and more.
OpenJaw Technologies opens Hong Kong office
- The company has announced plans to grow its operation into APAC region. The new Hong Kong office will serve the growing demand for travel retailing technology, from airlines and other large travel companies in APAC.
Revinate launches On-Site Surveys
- The new iPad-based solution will allow hoteliers to collect real-time feedback from hotel guests during their stay. Users will be able to provide feedback in thirty seconds or less, according to Revinate. Hoteliers can collect targeted customer feedback with customized surveys for various areas in the hotel such as the lobby, check-in areas, restaurants, spas, pool, meeting space, and more.
Thursday 19 June 2014:AsiaRooms partners with Uber
- The partnership will allow AsiaRooms customers to take a free one way transfer in Singapore when booking a hotel between 18 June 2014 and 15 September 2014. ms.com’s customers for Uber rides in Singapore
Monday 16 June 2014:TrustYou and MakeMyTrip team up to overhaul online reviews
- The online reputation management company will provide India's biggest online travel agency with verified customer reviews to be integrated within the website. MMT will use TrustYou's Meta-Reviews API to stream in detailed information from previous travellers such as type, overall rating and free-form content. Other brands under the MMT portfolio such as EasyToBook and HotelTravel will also be included in the agreement.
PitchUp signs with Stripe for payments
- The UK-based outdoor accommodation service is to allow suppliers to use the Stripe platform to secure payments. The integration will give customers the chance to link their bank account to the PitchUp system so bookings can be transferred automatically, including separating payments into segment, such as transferring deposit to Pitchup and balances to owners.
Expedia to allow Bitcoin for payments
- The online travel agency will accept the virtual currency alongside other payment mechanisms such as credit cards. Analysts suggest one reason for Expedia's decision is that it has lower transaction fees than its plastic counterparts.
Friday 6 June 2014:Expedia Affiliate Network promotes from within for new boss
- Ariane Gorin has stepped into the role of senior vice president and general manager of EAN, reporting to president of Hotels.com and Venere, Johan Svanstrom. She moves over from a previous role as manager of Expedia's Market Management division in EMEA. Prior to joining Expedia, Gorin worked with the Boston Consulting Group.
EventGrid expands to include hotels
- The event management and ticketing service has developed a white label platform so hoteliers can collect bookings for groups and conference organisers. The system also includes social integration through Facebook and Twitter, promotion tools, online registration and payment capability for credit cards or PayPal.
Uber launches in
Miami,
Orlando,
Pune- The on-demand taxi hire company has launched its service in test mode in Miami, Orlando and Pune. With this expansion, now Uber's service is available in over 125 cities worldwide.
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NB2: Travel marketing image via Shutterstock.