Argophilia

Αργοφιλία: For the love of the journey.

Polarization in Online Travel & Bills of Rights

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Just when you thought no more confusion or intermediaries could be imposed on your travel, news from the US Senate focuses on the so called Traveler’s Bill of Rights. But, hold it right there! Is legislation always a negative where truth and correctness are concerned?

HotelMaps: Clean, Clear Alternative for Hotel Finding

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Sparkly clean accomodation finder HotelMaps is a welcome surprise to the space being dominated by Google and Hipmunk currently. The German startup affords users an interactive experience that leads to a no nonsense booking experience. For those in search of simplicity and accuracy in hotel finding, HotelMaps appears to be a winner.

Will Expedia’s “Verified” Reviews Fly?

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Last week, Danny King over at Travel Weekly hit the nail on the head with his assessment of Expedia’s so called “verified” review system. Expedia Verified Reviews attempts to qualify hotel reviews using “use” of Expedia as a criteria. Having pushed TripAdvisor from the OTA nest on its own, Expedia seems intent on milking the last drop from the user review teat.

Winterfest Music Festival Latvia

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The Herman Braun Foundation’s annual “Winterfest” music festival offers Latvia visitors a unique experience to highlight the Christmas, New Year, and Orthodox Christmas seasons. Running from November to February, Winderfest is a Riga tradition you won’t want to miss this year. Don’t miss performances by the likes of pianist Charles Abramowitz or famed violinist Midori.

Selling Soap, Seats, & Other Hospitality Services In 2012

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An article on Tnooz last Friday peaked our interest, Xotels boss Patrick Landman offering up key variables in what will become the biggest online trade war ever. When Google, all the big corporate OTAs, and key independent online travel entities lock horns for a final round, a few will not be left standing.

The Treasures of Ancient Greece – Today’s Commodities

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As Greece’s well documented austerity measures begin to take their toll on a near desperate population, a growing number of people in the country are beginning to suffer from a somewhat unexpected side-effect… Gold Fever. Reports of Greeks heading for the hills in search of lost loot abound today on the web. Sunken cities, Nazi gold, even grave-robbing across the Bulgaria frontier, all that remains for some Greeks is prayer.

Maribor 2012: A Pictorial I

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A few days ago we covered the upcoming Maribor 2012 and its place as one of the towns chosen to be the European Capital of Culture next year. In keeping with Argo Travel’s image and media focused core value, we contacted the Slovenia Tourism Board about more images. Their PR exec Jasmina Godec graciously responded with the FTP for their best images.

OTA CEOs: Part III

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Continuing our series on decision makers in the online travel world, Argo jumps back in to an interesting Q & A session between reporters from USA Today and leading CEOs. Veronica Gould Stoddart and Roger Yu caught up with 6 top bosses at the recent PhoCusWright conference in Hollywood, Fla. We take up where we left off, analyzing answers to some key tech trend questions.

OTA CEOs: Part II

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Yesterday we began a series on online travel agency CEOs, and a recent interview conducted by USA TODAY’s Veronica Gould Stoddart and Roger Yu. We analyzed a bit, some key decision makers’ mindset on the question of whether consumers want (will get) richer content from these industry giants during their travel searches. Expedia, Orbitz, TripAdvisor, parent Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline bosses all had their views there.

OTA CEOs and Who Has Your Back: Part I

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What do you want from information providers? How about service providers that offer information you need to know to make decisions? Where online travel is concerned, there has been a lot of shakeup of late over these questions. Can you trust reviews? Which OTAs can you trust? We decided to micro-analyze some questions and answers already provided by none other than USA Today, and the leading bosses of your online travel agencies.

Ireland’s Most Iconic Hotel In Receivership

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Reading news from Hotel Management dot net this morning, I could not help but reflect on the way things used to be. A story by David Eisen there tells of an iconic Ireland hotel’s uncertain fate. John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, John Ford, the legends of Ashford come back to memory as Ireland is beset with more bad news.

Stay Where You Surf! Surfbreakrentals.com

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Surf’s Up. News from Northern California tells of surfers there launching a beach vacation rental site, Surfbreakrentals.com, by the company of the same name. The new travel website, with obvious intentions, offers some of the world’s best breaks and beaches at deals to users. In further news from the surfer dudes launching the site, world […]

Twigmore Puts People First in Travel

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A new startup called Twigmore is aimed directly at putting people and their real impressions of “places” in the correct order. Unlike many “geocentric” travel tools, this new entry tries to arrange for local review wisdom for your trip planning. At least this seems like the gist.

Russia: Is It the Last Travel Gold Rush?

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Russia. The one country so many misunderstand, and the one market with room for a gold rush in profits is still possible. Outside Latin America, the Russian Federation holds more potential than any other market on Earth. This begs the question; “why has Russia not been properly engaged then?” The answer is, in all probability, misunderstanding.

Nickels & Dimes & Billions: Ancillary Revenue Notes

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An article just the other day at Travel Agent Central hints at just how deep the well of ancillary travel revenue may be. According to a cited Amadeus/IdeaWorks report, ancillary revenues could triple from $32 billion to over $100 billion on the heels of electronic miscellaneous documents (EMDs). But, the real story beneath transactions may be the […]

Taking a Whiff of WIHP

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As you surf the web today, take note of just how many times you run across a WIHP ad. If ever there were an “over” the top campaign, the so called “all inclusive” hotel marketing agency may have gone too far.

So, since WIHP is all into viral evangelism and digital visibility, let’s take a look at just what’s going on there. First up, how about website creation?

Eva: Natural Language Search Revival

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A new product called Eva (Expert Virtual Agent) aims to become your virtual travel assistant. Unveiled at the recent PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit, Evature is an Israeli company marketing the Eva online travel search assistant. Winner of the DEMO Award for Most Game-Changing Travel Innovation, Eva aims to please a billion travelers soon.

Hos·pi·tal·i·ty – Smith’s Stock in Trade

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A couple of weeks ago we posted a short review about the digital connectedness of Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels. An honest review of an obviously superb organization, we honestly had no idea. Today I wanted to personally commend this company again, something I am not sure we have ever done. Read on, and discover the right way to do things in hospitality.