travel tools

Twigmore Puts People First in Travel

2011-11-27 by Phil Butler

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.

Social Media: Does Your Hotel Speak It?

2011-10-15 by Phil Butler

In news from Paris, Concorde Hotels & Resorts has apparently become one of the first hotel chains to really take social media seriously. Beyond the lip service most businesses pay to the social channels, Concorde shows the way to true engagement, or so it appears. Let’s find out about something I call “integrated messaging” – the power of coordinated efforts in social media – or the lack thereof.

Hilton: Listening, Showing, Communicating in the Digital World

2011-08-02 by Phil Butler

Last week, Hilton extended their Stay Hilton, Go Everywhere campaign with what the hotelier calls the world’s first “iAd interactive” extension for Apple devices. The strategy is pretty simple, take Hilton’s already successful marketing campaign and evangelize it across Apple platforms already adopted by tens of millions. Whether or not Hilton’s so called iAd is a first of its kind or not, the digital engagement is brilliant.

HouseTrip – A Startup Taking Aim At Travel Alternatives

2011-07-31 by Phil Butler

TechCrunch reported on a fascinating startup in April, a new take on vacation rentals called HouseTrip. The news back then was about the Swiss startup’s $2.7 million in funding from Index Ventures, but today it looks as if the company is spending the money wisely. Let’s take a look under the hood of what my old friend Steve O’Hear called; “another play in the holiday apartments space.”

Social Media Puts Airlines and Consumers in Touch

2011-07-28 by Aleksandr Shatskih

With the Summer travel season underway full tilt, major airlines engage customers via social media channels. Planning a trip or vacation has never been easier, or more socially connected than this year. ExactTarget helps put companies and customers in the digital conversation – better communication, means better customer retention, according to anyone’s news.