Weekly Roundup: Travel, Tech and Social Media
Happy Friday, everyone! November is well underway and here at TrustYou we're already in a holiday mood. With Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, it’s truly the most wonderful time of the year! As usual, we’ve rounded up the top industry news and trends. Click away, enjoy your weekend and don't forget to come back next week for more!
Industry News
TripAdvisor Instant Booking Deal with Booking.com Apparently Exclusive
Expedia Inc. is shut out of TripAdvisor Instant Booking after TripAdvisor’s exclusive agreement with the Priceline Group, according to Skift.
Marriott to Buy Starwood Hotels
Marriott International Inc. is buying Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. in a move to create the world’s largest hotel company.
Concur Gets Booking.com Access
Through the partnership, Booking.com’s 800,000+ accommodations properties worldwide will become available in Concur Travel, enabling Concur customers to access the world’s widest selection of accommodations – from traditional hotels to more unique places like apartments or B&Bs – at great prices.
Concur and AccorHotels Partner
More news from Concur this week - with this new partnership, business travelers can book direct with more than 3,800 AccorHotels properties worldwide.
HotelTonight Launches Tonight+1
HotelTonight, the last-minute hotel booking app, just launched a new feature called Tonight +1, which lets users add a second night during check-out for an additional discount.
Hilton to Experiment with More Restrictive Cancellation Policies
Hilton has announced that beginning in 2016, it will test stricter cancellation policies, including a $50 charge when a reservation is cancelled any time after booking.
Survey Shows that TrustYou Is the Most Used Program for ORM
Tourismuspartner, experts for hotel reviews and online reputation, recently conducted a study with 20 hotel chains in Germany, Austria and Switzerland like Accor, Lindner and Motel One, examining the topic “How hotel chains manage the flood of reviews”. TrustYou was named as the ORM tool being used by more than half of those surveyed, which underlines the quality of the products and services.
Trends and Insights
How Hotels Can Take "Big Data" Beyond the Buzzword
Recently, the travel industry has talked about tapping into big data to deliver customer personalization. But “big data” is much easier to toss around as a sexy buzzword than it is to actually accomplish.
Four Myths About Online Reputation Management
Hotels live or die by their reviews on TripAdvisor. Evidence is ample that TripAdvisor rankings powerfully impact ADR and, in turn, occupancy and profits.
7 Charts Forecasting the Behavior of U.S. Luxury Travelers in 2016
With luxury travelers, having the most exciting experience to brag about to their peers carries more weight than possessing the latest iPhone or Lamborghini. In fact, according to a new report from Martini Media, 80% of U.S. luxury travelers would choose a luxury experience over a luxury item.
New Study Uncovers Opportunities for Marketers to Reach Travel Bookers Across the Consumer Funnel
Expedia Media Solutions released a new study that shows how consumers move between travel sites as part of their purchase path. The options continue to grow for consumers looking to book trips online, making gaining their attention and influencing their decisions further up the marketing funnel more competitive.
Asian Travellers Prefer Shorter Stays, New Study Reveals
Asia Pacific travelers lead the world in terms of taking shorter trips, with 32% staying three to four nights in a destination and 11% staying only one to two nights. But the move towards shorter stays also appears to be global trend, the study found.
Mobile Will Represent More Than Half of All Online Travel Booking in 2016
eMarketer predicts that 2016 is the year when mobile bookings will truly take over. Check out the article for all the stats.
