Whoever came up with the idiomatic expression “The devil’s in the details,” must have made a bad hotel choice or two in their lives. Since retiring from the travel public relations and marketing game, I notice an uptick in sloppy marketing efforts that are almost completely reliant on Google ads, OTAs, and the big tour operators. For hoteliers here in Greece, the lost opportunity costs of such reliance will eventually tell. It is with this eventuality in mind that I present the following.
Google Maps
Google Maps Helps You Roll-on Thanksgiving Travel
The folks at Google are trying to solve for “X” again with a Google Maps feature called “Mapping Thanksgiving.”
Google Earth Collaborates to Show Us Earth Timelapse
For the geographer or climatologist among you out there, Google has helped develop a fascinating time-lapse view of our planet. Just released today, the stunning perspective via Google Earth, and in collaboration with Time, NASA, and the USGS, offers the most comprehensive view of our planet over time ever.
Google Maps Adds Ski Resort Data
Just last week, Google added yet another new upgrade to its mapping platform, announcing that the app now carries data for 38 of the most popular ski resorts across Canada and the United States.
Google Hotel Finder Adds “Search by Travel Time”
Google Hotel Finder has finally rolled out some of its much-anticipated ‘innovation’, in the form of a new search parameter than allows us to search for hotels by travel time from key attractions and destinations
HotelMaps: Clean, Clear Alternative for Hotel Finding
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.
Google Restaurant Finder? Well, Not Quite Yet
Google’s head of Local, Maps and Location Services, Marissa Mayer, just announced the acquisition of Zagat, publisher of worldwide restaurant guides, on the Google blog. Zagat is the entity that produces some of the world’s best printable restaurant guides, and accordingly, the platform will now help refine Google tools like Maps, Places, and Hotspot too, Google’s growing recommendation engine.
Google + and Really Refined Reviews – Coming Soon
The suggested Google Travel entity could be just around the corner. According to the news from Tnooz and Kevin May, Google unceremoniously yanked third party reviews from hotels on Google Maps and Google Places, a move May suggests puts Google’s review credibility down there with TripAdvisor’s. But what if?
British Airways Introduces TripSeeker, Flight Search Tool
British Airways has released the latest version of TripSeeker (formerly WorldExplorer), its new flight search tool. With it travelers can search for the best flights and destinations all from ba.com. The new tool is completely Flash-based (sorry iPad users), and has an interactive interface allowing you to click anywhere on the world map where BA […]
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.