HOTccc Launch

If you live in the 21st Century, you already know a couple of things about marketing and the tourism industry. First, the Internet is the best way to market yourself - your message can be disseminated to thousands of people in a matter of seconds. And the second? Social network sites like Facebook and My Space are a hit. They're not going anywhere because remember that message you just sent out? Well your friends, family and even people you don't know have just responded to it.

For the regional hospitality industry, that's where HOTccc steps in. Those strangers responding to your messages are potential employees looking for a position within your hotel/restaurant/ministry. In fact, that's the main objective of the Trinidad and Tobago's Hospitality and Tourism Institute's (TTHTI) new social network, to put the industry in touch with skilled graduates, whereby facilitating direct recruitment on both a local and regional level.

HOTccc launched last night at the Courtyard Marriott in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Introductory notes were made by the Head of the TTHTI, Patricia Butcher and the President of the Trinidad Hotel and Restaurant Association, Barry Bidaisee. The Honourable Fitzgerald Jeffrey, Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education applauded the platform and it's vision and hailed it as the "perfect medium for the tourism field".

Robert Baur, the site's founder and one of the TTHTI's lecturers gave a practical demonstration of the new platform and highlighted it's key features. Usability of the site was the top priority, with the "Career Centre" option being the core piece. As a potential employer, the most promising aspects of the site are the built in credentials that come with every job seeker HOTccc sends your way - when registering on the site, every potential employee must upload or generate a resume. Also, email notifications are sent out when someone has posted a job listing that matches your criteria - HR has never been easier.

But, I think Robert Baur said it best - you'll enjoy it more if you experience it for yourself. So please have a look, register and use it - HOTccc!
For more information on HOTccc please contact Kyra Santana - administration@hotccc.com

Visit the Competition, Visit Indonesia

I did a flight search on Expedia. A flight in June for a week from London to Barbados costs just over US$1,000. Then I did another one. The same dates applied, except this time, the destination was Bali - the flight cost is US$1414. It's not a huge difference for the traveler willing to journey far and wide for white sands, clear waters and great food and all these things can be found in both the Caribbean and Indonesia.

It's fair to say then that Bali is one of the Caribbean Tourism industry's main competitors. The "dangerously beautiful" Bali recently got some great news from the American Government - the travel warning in place since 2000 has now been lifted - they're not considered so dangerous anymore. What will this mean for Indonesia's tourism industry? Bali is already winning with the proximity factor with regard to the new emerging markets of China and India. The European market could go either way, they're right in the middle and the US market's domestic tourism is on the up with the threat of recession looming. So really the question is - what will this mean for the Caribbean's competitive edge?

Thank God, for the diaspora that travel home regularly enough to keep flight prices moderate and who like to buy pieces of "home", pumping a little extra money into our island economies. No wonder the Trinidad Development Company is focusing primarily on this market. But what will it mean for the other markets like Barbados and the Cayman Islands that depend of foreign visitors? Only time will tell. But until then, it's worth seeing what the competition is doing...

Check out a couple of their promotional videos here and here

Mom, Can I Have My Virtual Allowance?

Why It's Important to Pay Attention to What Kids Are Spending Real Money on

Reuben Steiger
Sometimes the most amazing things happen right under our noses and we miss them because we're not in fourth grade.

Take a stroll down the aisles at your local Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens or Rite-Aid and you'll notice an interesting phenomenon -- pre-paid gift cards for as many as 26 virtual worlds. Let me try to explain what this means (if you have a fourth grader, feel free to skip the next couple paragraphs).

There are roughly 100 million people in virtual worlds at the moment and the vast majority of them are kids and teens. These worlds, which in general are rather simple looking, allow kids to hang out together on the web. Jeff Yang of Redpoint Ventures, a prominent investor in a variety of these worlds (he was also the sole venture capitalist behind Myspace), likes to call these worlds the "new mall." Collectively, the kids in this "mall" are spending over $1.5 billion on avatars, clothing, pets and the like. That's real money on virtual stuff.

Now here's where the cards come in. While these kids have a seemingly endless appetite for virtual goods, they don't have credit cards. Even if they did, the stuff they're buying costs between 20 cents and $5 -- creating a problem when the cost of clearing the transaction is greater than the value of the item. The cards solve this by allowing a parent to buy their child $10 or $25 worth of virtual currency. The card company takes a fee off the top, generally somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% (nice business model, huh?) and the rest goes to the kid to spend at the virtual mall.

Now I'm guessing a few of you are wondering why on earth anyone would spend real money on virtual stuff. Let me try to explain this in truly simple terms, because I think it's a really fundamental concept, no different than what goes on when we buy stuff in the real world.

First of all (and this is beyond fascinating), teenagers view their avatars, or characters in virtual worlds, very differently than adults. While you or I might refer to the avatar as "my avatar," a teenage just calls it "myself" or "me." Perhaps an equivalent for us older folks is that we'd never ask someone if they received an e-mail from our "e-mail account," we'd simply say, "Did you read what I wrote you?" So these teens see their avatars as themselves, which makes sense when you're spending over an hour a day communicating through that character. And when that's the case, how your avatar looks is critical to the way in which one's social status is perceived. So virtual goods become the markers of social hierarchy -- we are social creatures after all (even non-fourth graders) and that stuff really matters.

If you're still thinking that this is beyond bizarre, let me leave you with a little thought experiment. How much does your average pair of jeans cost? The truth is that if you bought jeans based simply on utility (in other words, discounting social perception to zero), you would spend $10. This means that the difference between what you really spend on jeans and $10 is the value you place on what other people think. In my case, it's embarrassingly high -- more than $100.

Guess those fourth graders spending $2 on virtual bling aren't so crazy after all.

The Plight of American Airlines

We all know that the rising oil prices are having a significant impact on airline travel, but the latest issue of Fortune talks to American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey about manic mergers and loosing US$3.3 million a day.

The article entitled "Saving American Airlines" claims that the airline has had 300 planes grounded by the FAA for not meeting safety standards, picketing pilots, the merger of two main competitors (Delta and Northwest) and, lest we forget, astronomically high fuel prices - US$110 per barrel. Traditionally, American Airlines' major problems are their old gas guzzling jets and high staff overheads... This has all contributed to a US$328 million loss in the first quarter.

Fortune claims that "the problem is that no airline was ever designed to make a profit with jet fuel at these prices, and no carrier has figured out a way to charge enough to make up the difference...already this year, record fuel prices have forced five carriers to file for bankruptcy".

Solutions? Delta Airlines head, Richard Anderson, claims consolidation. However, the merger of Delta and Northwest and their complimentary routes - Delta has a stronghold in Europe and Northwest in the Far East - has met mixed reviews. Skeptics believe that mergers could work, but routes should overlap rather than compliment, resulting in the closing of flights and the reduction of fuel used.

For American solutions will include developing software to identify flights that customers will pay extra for, selling off large chunks subsidiary companies such as American Beacon Advisors (reportedly sold 90% for US$480 million) and the reduction of domestic flights. But these are short term. In fact, American's CEO Gerard Arpey has no new solutions and is not optimistic about his industry.

LOCAL BUSINESSES TO MEET UK TRADE DELEGATION IN JUNE

The British High Commission will host a 12-member business delegation from Britain between June 4th to 10th 2008. The visit, organised by the West Midlands Business Forum, will comprise members of various Chambers of Commerce from the UK's West Midlands region.

Ms. Joy Heatley, International Trade Advisor of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce will lead the delegation's visit, and Mr. Athelston 'Tony' Sealey, Managing Director of Canefield Limited is the delegation's Business Leader. Last year, the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, led the West Midlands’ delegation to the Caribbean, which included Trinidad & Tobago. The upcoming visit is the third consolidated mission to the Caribbean comprising various members of different chambers.

The delegation to Trinidad will offer a wide range of UK goods and services, including Business Development Consultancy, Market Entry Solutions & Strategic Partnerships, Restaurant Franchise Operations, Childcare Training, Hair & Beauty Professional Training, Distribution Partner required for Hair Products, Management Development & Internet Marketing and Training & Development Opportunities for the Construction, Leisure & Hospitality sectors.

The business community will have an opportunity to interact with members of the delegation at a ‘Trade Drop-in Session’ at the Kapok Hotel from 10:00a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 5th June 2008. The 'Drop-in' allows for local companies to make contact with visiting UK business representatives who are seeking distributors, suppliers, agents and other partnership arrangements, which would result in an improvement in two-trade between the UK and Trinidad & Tobago. Similar sessions in the past have yielded favourable results leading to increased commercial value in goods and services for both countries. Businesses or individuals that are aligned to any of this multi-sector group's business areas should attend the drop-in.

The visit is being supported by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the Government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in international markets and assists overseas companies to bring high quality investment to the UK's vibrant economy, and is also part financed by the European Union. Ms. Heatley and Mr. Sealey will meet private sector and state enterprise officials including the Trinidad & Tobago Coalition of Services Industries; British Caribbean Chamber of Commerce; PriceWaterhouseCoopers Limited; M. Hamel-Smith & Co., the Tourism Development Corporation, the Trinidad & Tobago Manufacturer's Association and several other leading businesses. The group's itinerary also includes visits to Barbados and Jamaica.

For further information on the Delegation's visit, please contact the Trade & Investment Section, British High Commission at 622 2748.

High Oil Prices Stall Silverjet

The business class airline Silverjet is facing crisis from lack of investment and soaring oil prices. The group is yet to receive a 12.7 million pound sum from a Middle Eastern Investor. As a result, company shares have plummeted and the troubled airline has called out to Viceroy Holdings for a 2.5 million pound loan to keep them afloat amidst rising oil prices (US$130 a barrel).

For the full article from BBC News, please see here.

Visit Britain's Marketing Model

"A four-pronged approach enhances our marketing in key areas – customer, brand, product and channel – and a number of key priorities have been identified. They help convert growing consumer interest about visiting Britain to ‘action’, by providing services to help them not only ‘look’ at all the destination offers, but also to book, travel, stay, tell and keep in touch" - Christopher Rodrigues, Chairman of Visit Britain.

In this article by Travel Daily News, Christopher Rodrigues offers a strategic look at British tourism. He talks about the Olympic Games, future investment into the new emerging markets (China, India) and the environment.

Singapore Airlines CEO takes a tour

The people of Singapore are nothing if not innovative (Amazing Worlds - another shameless plug)!

And nothing illustrates this more than Singapore Airlines, the number one airline for technological innovation and customer service and care.

In this video (or on Facebook), the CEO of Singapore airlines Chow Choon Seng takes the CEOs of Airbus and Rolls Royce on a tour of its first Airbus A380. It's long, but it's worth looking at just to see their first class.

Travel 2.0: Social networking takes a useful turn

Great Article that I just found by USAToday

Posted 1/26/2007 4:26 PM ET

If you visit Sheraton.com, you will see something completely different from other major hotel websites. Instead of the usual advertisements for exotic locations and special offers crowding the home page, you are immediately struck by the phrase "Welcome to the neighborhood" in the center of your screen, and a U.S. map covered with pop-up photographs and the words "Your story. In your words."
The photographs are all amateur, taken by Sheraton customers with no more travel logging experience than the average person. There are no actors or models masquerading as guests in these snapshots and they are not the views most hoteliers would choose to display. There are no wide-angle, enticing displays of guest rooms, meeting rooms, the lobby, the restaurant or the grounds. There are no seductive panoramas of pristine beaches, perfectly manicured golf courses or local tourist attractions. These photos and the accompanying captions and narratives have been submitted exclusively by Sheraton customers who want nothing more than to tell you about their recent trip and stay at a Sheraton hotel.

Welcome to the world of Travel 2.0, a new approach to Internet commerce that travel providers hope will revolutionize the way you shop for travel. Internet 2.0 is the buzzword for new technology and tactics sweeping the cyber world, and Travel 2.0 is the travel industry's adaptation of this latest craze. Travel 2.0 is all about "empowering" users, encouraging travelers to create content online to be shared with other readers, and, as on Sheraton's website, intertwined with the official content offered by an established travel vendor.

"It's not about technology; It's about the guest, what the guest wants," according to Jeff Mirman, director, Sheraton interactive marketing, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Mirman believes Sheraton is enabling a human connection through the new website. "It's not just a search for a room," says Mirman. "We're trying to have our users tell a story." Mirman demonstrated the website at a recent conference sponsored by PhoCusWright, an independent travel research firm.

As the online travel market matures, users are no longer content just to find the lowest price or read destination information written by marketers. Now more sophisticated online users are looking to take control and identify the perfect trip. Along with the rise in popularity of social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook, and the virtual-reality site Second Life, the travel industry is spawning a slew of 2.0 websites specifically designed for travel discussion forums and information exchange.

It should be noted that frequent travelers began conversing with one another on hundreds of topics on FlyerTalk long before the MySpace generation discovered the Internet. Other popular online forums for business travelers include those offered by FlightAware and FlightStats, but Sheraton's new site paves the way for established air, car and hotel vendors to open up their websites to customer participation.

Internet 2.0 has been described as a "disruptive" technology, a platform that facilitates "viral" proliferation of information passed along from user to user to user. But despite these ominous sounding labels, it is a technology that users readily embrace.

BootsnAll, Gusto, Real Travel, TripTie, Virtual Tourist, WAYN, Wikitravel and World66 are just a sampling of the proliferation of community sites where users share itineraries, adventures and other travel information.

Most travel guidebook publishers also offer online forums – one of the first and best is Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree. If you ask a question in one of these forums you might receive responses from thousands of other users. Many travelers live by the peer advice they receive on these sites.

Though many social networking websites are designed for the leisure traveler, business travelers can also use these sites to find an activity to fill a few open hours on a business trip or plan an itinerary to keep their family busy if they come along. Peer review travel websites (see related article) such as Trip Advisor and Skytrax actually predate what marketers are calling 2.0.

User community websites often specialize to fill a niche. For the gastric connoisseur, AirlineMeals.net lets users share photos and descriptions of airline meals (if you're lucky enough to get a meal these days). And if you've forgotten what an airline meal looks like, you can also view airline meals from a previous decade, when shrimp cocktails and filet mignon were a standard fare in the sky. I remember a very tasty shish-kabob dinner I enjoyed on a TWA flight between Chicago and New York many years ago. Too bad I didn't take a photo of that one.

Some websites like Groople, TripHub and Triporama cater specifically to group travel and offer forums to facilitate discussions among the group members planning a trip.

And if conversing with other travelers online isn't enough to satisfy your social needs, you can even join an online matching community such as Flight Club, Tripmates or AirTroductions where you can search for the perfect seat mate on your next flight, a travel companion on an upcoming journey or more.

Creating Facebook Applications and Viral Marketing

Hotelmarketing.com has highlighted TripAdvisor's Facebook application "Cities I've Visited" as a significant success. According to the article, 'one month after Facebook allowed outsiders in, TripAdvisor, the Needham-based online travel guide, launched an application called “Cities I’ve Visited,” which the company’s chief executive, Stephen Kaufer, likened to the maps children used to festoon with pins showing the different places they had visited.'

To get those who aren't that interested in Facebook up to speed - in May 2007 Facebook opened it's doors to independent software developers. They could now create their own applications for the Facebook marketplace as long as they hosted these applications on their own servers. Sounds good? It was and it certainly worked for TripAdvisor - 'At last count, over 2 millions folks had installed the application on their profile page, Kaufer said'.

Success stories such as these resulted in an influx of Facebook applications. Everyone and their grandmother that could write code began churning out applications for the platform, convinced that they would be successful. But the result was overload. And then, backlash. Facebook clamped down. The viral marketing "pull" that had attracted so many software developers in the first place was minimized. Users were now only allowed to invite 20 friends at a time, rather than their entire friends list. The uproar from Silicon Valley was heard around the world.... So, the question is - Is it worth it?...

My answer - yes. The O'Reilly Media Facebook report notes that certain applications are very successful - Top Friends and the Fun Wall by Slide, the Super Wall by Rock You and, in fourth place, the Movies application by Flixter. But, even though there has been excessive application development in the past year, application development is somewhat concentrated in the "dating", "messaging" and "gaming" categories. Applications for the "travel" and "food and drink" categories are minimal. Therefore, travel applications from online companies such as TripAdvisor stand out as competition from other applications is limited. Is this a potential market gap for the Caribbean travel market? Could we develop travel applications to promote our products and ourselves to large social media marketplaces? Again, my answer - you should and we can. And here goes, my shameless plug - my company, Fretwork Media, creates applications, so for advice on what kind of application you should develop please contact me - dominique.monteil@gmail.com.

Expedia Guerilla Marketing

Expedia's guerilla marketing campaign in NYC is worth taking a look at:

Click this link to watch it on Youtube. Or watch it on Facebook.

Dresden's World-Class Art Gallery Duplicates Itself Online

Wired Magazine has reported the following:

Dresden's World-Class Art Gallery Duplicates Itself Online
By Andrew Curry
08.13.07 | 2:00 AM
If you can't make it to Dresden this summer, consider teleporting. The pearl of the city's museum collection, the Old Masters Picture Gallery, recently opened a virtual version of itself in Second Life. Second Life representatives say it's the first real-world museum to "clone" itself online, although virtual versions of other collections (most famously "Second Louvre," which has no official ties to the Paris museum) have popped up.

All 37,700 square feet of the 150-year-old building, plus the grounds outside, have been recreated, down to the trash cans and fountains in the courtyard and ceiling moldings, staircases and furniture within. The highlight, of course, is on the virtual walls: 750 paintings spanning 500 years of European art.

And Dresden isn't the only historical site to move to the net. The city of Cologne already has plans to open a virtual version of its famed cathedral, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1996, this month.

Virtual Meeting World

Upcoming Webcasts From the Virtual Meeting World

Sponsors include - Las Vegas Tourist Board, Renaissance Hotels, Hilton Head Island, Palace Resorts

The Bam Factor:
Uncover New F&B Options That Will “Wow” Attendees And Add Value To Your Event
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 2:00 PM Eastern

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews magazines for this live, interactive Web Seminar, sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, and hear from industry experts how to better incorporate the F&B component into your event. Attend this online-only event and learn how to creatively make F&B a memorable part of the success of your next meeting. Register Now.

Driving ROI:
Learn How to Bring Together All the Attributes of a Successful Meeting
Thursday, June 5, 2008 - 2:00 PM Eastern

Join Successful Meetings/Meeting News magazines and Palace Hotels and Resorts and learn how to bring together all the attributes of a successful meeting that meets your ROI metrics. Attend this online-only event and learn from experts what key elements will increase your ROI and how to set metrics-driven objectives for your event. Register Now.


Spice Up Your Next Meeting By Optimizing F&B:
Discover The Secret From One Celebrity Chef
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - 2:00 PM Eastern

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews magazines for this on-demand Web Seminar, sponsored by Renaissance Hotels, and hear from Celebrity Chef Thomas Rebler on the current food trends and the importance of F&B in your meetings. Also, learn directly from Bruno Lunghi, Vice President of Event Management at Renaissance regarding its Plum Perfect Service Program, which provides the event planner with a visible and accessible method to communicate and for staff to respond to customer changes, needs and emergencies.

For further information please see the following link:http://presentations.inxpo.com/Shows/Nielsen/01-08/Registration/FromClient/registration.html

The Weak Dollar - A Bad Thing???

The Fox News Channel has just reported that there is to be a new kind of British Invasion to the United States this summer - the tourist. With the US dollar weakening by the day and the threat of recession looming, the Pound Sterling and the Euro are stronger than ever. As a result, Brits are flocking further west to purchase high end, designer brands. However, the real story here is the potential this has for the US real estate market. Interest in Florida has already soared! Certainly, this indicates that Europeans are seeking warm, laid back vacation spots...

So, what does this mean for the cluster of islands just south of Florida called the Caribbean? Is this a potential market gap that we can look at? The pound and euro could certainly stretch far and wide on our shores. We can certainly offer excellent shopping - the Plaza de las Americas in Puerto Rico is the largest shopping mall in the entire Caribbean and well, the Caribbean brand is synonymous with sun, fun and culture. Traditionally, the English speaking West Indies has attracted a substantial European market and, with a large Caribbean diaspora, aggressive targeting and marketing to this particular group could yield some really positive results.

"Hotels By Design" According to Businessweek

"We aim to create that special sensory moment that keeps them coming back"... so says Patrick Hatton the general manager of the James Hotel, one of the Chicago based hotels that have upgraded their interior design to rebrand their Inn and attract a completely new market. Traditionally, hotels such as the Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Holiday Inn would opt for a generic design across the board, but that all changed when the Starwood Hotels & Resorts opened the doors of the W Hotel in 1998.

The W Hotel's design was chic - high fashion even according to the article - perfect for New York's "Sex & The City" market and a perfect marketing tool...

But how successful has this approach been for Chicago's James Hotel? Well..."The 297-room James, on North Rush Street, has an enviable clientele: Gen-X travelers with incomes of $100,000-plus who are eager to sample the newest adventure. Its lobby and David Burke's Primehouse restaurant have become places to glimpse fast-track business executives, such entertainers as Kanye West and Ashlee Simpson, and local sports celebrities. When it opened, Chicago had only a few other high-end boutique inns. It's getting more all the time."

However, can this approach be applied to the Caribbean marketplace? Of course. A perfect example of this would be the relaxed, comfortable, but definitely Caribbean look of the Coblentz Inn In Trinidad. Their themed rooms ensure that each visitor is treated as an individual and also learns about Trinidadian heritage. Especially as design tastes are personal to each visitor. "Design trends may also be moving away from the sleek style epitomized by the James and toward homier places notes Rick Swig, president of RSBA & Associates, a hotel consultancy in San Francisco..."

For the full article please see the following link:http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2008/db20080514_404451.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_innovation+%2Bamp%3B+design

Expedia embraces the new generation of digital DM techniques

A few months ago Brand Republic spoke to Matthew Walls, head of Marketing at Expedia.co.uk about the use of digital techniques and direct marketing strategies.

According to the article "In mid-January, statistics from online research service Hitwise revealed that Expedia.co.uk lost top spot to Thomson Holidays in terms of the number of weekly website hits achieved. With the online travel industry expected to be worth more than £33bn by 2011, according to figures from Euromonitor International, the stakes, and the rewards on offer, can only get higher." This certainly proves that the tourism and travel market is a booming business that's worth investment and expansion, specifically within the Caribbean market. However, what is the best way to attract the online marketplace to your site?

Walls claims direct marketing.

But, is direct marketing the way forward? Well, It certainly lets you understand your customer so much more. What services and travel spots they've searched in the past, their income, their age etc etc. - all crucial aspects of forming a basic marketing strategy. However unfortunately for Walls, he started off as a creative marketer, and now, he spends most of his time reading figures on his potential clients. A necessary evil.

The key is to create an experience for the user to keep them on your site to allow you to collect data. What are they searching? What are they NOT searching? Hotels.com has been integrated with Microsoft mapping technology, which provides detailed street-level information to add graphical and visual elements to people's searches. The aim is not, as Walls explains, to second-guess customers' requirements, but to enhance specific searches.

For the full article check out the following link -
http://www.brandrepublic.com/InDepth/Features/781729/Expedia-embraces-new-generation-digital-DM-techniques/

Virtual Tourism

The Virtual World Industry is going mainstream. Large virtual world platforms, such as Second Life and There, now host populations in the millions. And that's just the adults. Children's virtual worlds are developing at a phenomenal pace, with toy manufacturers like Neopets, entering the virtual world craze to further encourage interactivity with their products.

But what does all of this have to do with the tourism industry? Simple. Virtual worlds are the evolution of the Internet - adults use them and kids are being taught with them - Forbes.com reports that "In a recent study Gartner predicted that by 2011 up to 80% of active Internet users, or 250 million people, will participate online in virtual worlds"

(http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/1224/103.html - for full article).

So it's no wonder that the next step will be a virtual platform by which travelers can experience their potential spots before travel - step in Amazing Worlds.

But, what's the point of me blogging about it when you can check out the Amazing Worlds platform for yourself! Check out the demo video and gallery on YouTube - www.AmazingWorlds.com/gallery.php