This is the regular Tnooz roundup of product news from around the travel, tourism and hospitality industry, all with a technology, online and digital twist - Monday 22 August 2011.
- Big promotion at Travelzoo with operations director in Europe, Stephen Dunk, now overseeing the entire region as managing director. Each country manager around the continent - France, Germany, UK and Spain - will report into Dunk, the former managing director for TV at Teletext Holidays who originally joined Travelzoo as country manager for the UK in 2007. Travelzoo CEO Chris Loughlin was the former Europe MD before moving to the US in 2010.
- Oh, the games online travel agencies play. Orbitz introduced Orbitz 50 Faves, a game which gives Facebook fans the chance to win 50 vacations worth up to $15,000 each. The game+, which runs through Sept. 18, calls on players to “like” the Orbitz Facebook page and then they receive bids to win a trip. Chances of winning a trip increase the more of the user's friends are playing the game, Orbitz says.
- Concur says its mobile app now e+nables business travelers to complete in-policy reservations directly in the app from Android, Blackberry, iPhone and iPad devices. In other mobile news, Concur says it is rolling out a Locate & Alert service. Travelers “check-in” with their mobile devices and their employers can locate them and send voice, text and email messages.
- The Airlines Report Corp. (ARC) released a new subscription service, AeroTrend, which is geared to help financial analysts and consultants create airline industry forecasts. AeroTrend provides airfare ticket data from 2008 and offers weekly updates.
- Data cruncher TRX enhanced its Traveltrax ancillary fees reporting tool, displaying fees by category and merchant. The tool is designed to provide corporations with a broader view of their travel spend to enhance their negotiations with airlines.