Hotels.com has been named the Best Overall Customer Experience in a study by Keynote Competitive Research. In an examination of nine of the top online travel websites in the US, Keynote selected Hotels in several categories where actual customer responses were used.
Europe travel
Estonia – The Next Big Thing In Eco-tourism?
Largely unexploited Estonia offers huge opportunities for nature tourism devotees, it has been claimed. In particular, the country is a great place for birdwatchers, says Tim Appleton, chief organizer of the world’s largest eco-tourism trade fair, Birdfair. His comments yesterday were reported by the BBN news portal.
Sabre Launches AgentStream Germany With Resounding Thump
In travel news from Germany, online travel giant Sabre Group has announced the launch of a social networking platform here in Germany. AgentStream is theoretically designed for travel agents in Germany to be able to engage the social web, at least this is what the over four thousand global participants at AgentStream hope. But aside the obvious PR push of this, is the platform really all that social? It looks more like a push to keep up with Travelport than anything.
TripAdvisor & Others at HotelWebsiteMarketing Conferences
HotelWebsiteMarketing.com has announced a series of conferences to take place across Europe in May and June, 2011. Also, TripAdvisor, Availpro.com, Meetingsbooker.com, reviewPro.com, TIG Global, and other leading travel companies have joined the conferences to speak and contribute. The focus will be on hotel sales, marketing, revenue and e-commerce, among the many other topics.
Stay.com Lets Users Roll Their Own Travel
Norwegian travel startup Stay.com release their version 2.3. As a mid-term development release, what Stay offered up was fairly significant. Stay.com affords users unparalelled tools for building, sharing, and printing their own personal travel literature, and great hotel deals as well.
Tnooz’s THack Uncovers Some Tech Greatness
Travel Technology Europe wrapped up earlier this week in London, and what was revealed is pretty significant for ongoing travel developments. Tnooz’s THack initiative in particular uncovered and showcased some extraordinary travel technology assets. Voice enabled travel search, advanced API use tools, and even superior advertising solutions were offered, among the many other cutting edge technologies.
TUI Travel Gains Confidence and Russian Investment
Russian billionaire steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov has increased his stake in German tourism group TUI. Mordashov raised his stake to above 20 percent from just above 15%. The transaction was made via his S-Group holding company. In TUI’s latest corporate documents, it is clear the company intends massive expansion into the Russian Federation.
A Savory Set of Travel Startups: Book One
Some really great online travel sites never even get mentioned. What with all the stories about American Airlines, Google, Expedia, Orbitz, Microsoft, even Bing, how is the consumer ever to know who the best is. What we often see is not innovation or anything approaching the best, it’s marketing and big business.
Slovakia’s Premier Travel Expo To Kick Off
ITF SlovakiaTour 2011 kicks off in Bratislava, Slovakia this month. From the 20th to the 23rd of January, Slovakia hosts one of Europe’s largest travel expos. Thousands of visitors are slated to attend this year’s event to see the latest travel exhibitions from industry leaders.
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina Get Free Visa Privileges
The EU has now granted fee visa privileges to Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina in an effort to spur democratic reforms and progress. These two Balkan republics’ citizens can now travel freely within the Schengen area, basically all of the EU. Officials warn of a withdrawal of privileges should serious problems with immigration ensue.
Eastern Europe Takes Home World Travel Gold
The World Travel Awards reveal the leaders in the travel industry. This year’s winners actually represent the leading companies that are taking the industry through one of the most difficult times economically in history. Travel looks to lead the world out of recession, and Eastern Europe is significant among this year’s award winners.
TUI Travel Value Tumbles
TUI Travel accepts CFO resignation amid almost scandalous restating of financials. CEO Peter Long and CFO Paul Bowtell talk, after which Bowtell announces his resignation. A restated financial report reveals a fairly vast accounting error – stocks decline on the news.