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A story about entrepreneurialism and a little thing called the internet

Think back to the mid 1990s and a little thing called the internet…

When Dinesh Dhamija thinks back to the mid 1990s he does it with a smile…

A German friend introduced him to the internet and told him he could use it to sell travel.  Dinesh remembers, "I laugh now, but I was really very sceptical at the time. He really had to persuade me!"

It was 1996 and Flightbookers.com was born – the first interactive booking engine in the UK.

"I had to put up with some flak from my friends in the travel trade at first. Why would anyone want to buy on an anonymous computer when they could pick up a phone or call into a shop. And at first it seemed as if they were right. The system worked, but bookings were small. It's not surprising really, given that very few people in the UK were using the Internet at that time, and far less to shop."

The rest of the story tells itself.  The internet adoption boomed, Dinesh launched eBookers in 1999, went public and valuation for the company reached $700m.  He expanded to Europe, battled through the dotcom bust and then 9/11 hit.

"I remember seeing the first plane hit the Twin Towers on CNN.com in the office. At the time we had no idea what an awful tragedy was about to unfold and the impact it would have on ebookers as a business."

But eBookers came through and in 2004 Dinesh sold his company for £209m to Cendant, pocketing an estimated £92m in the deal.

This is the story of a successful travel entrepreneur - one that Dinesh is keen to see happen again.  That’s why he’s participating in The Get Funded Show@World Travel Market.  Just like Andy Phillipps who founded and sold Active Hotels for $160m.  Following their successful they now are keen to find the next start up that could replicate their success.

The Get Funded Show@World Travel Market, organised by EyeforTravel, brings together the entrepreneurs who have shaped the travel industry with the innovators set to change it.  On 11-12th November, 24 of the most innovative travel start ups will gather in London to pitch to investors, travel veterans and senior executives.

The estimated personal wealth of our Travel Gurus alone tops £250m.  Add that to the investment capital of our investors and the numbers soon become tantalising.  What’s more we’ve got the M&A guys form the leading travel companies who are actively targeting travel innovation.

Investment potential and entrepreneurial flair come together at The Get Funded Show, making it the place to be this November.  If you would like to pitch, invest or attend at then please find all the information at www.getfundedshow.com.

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The Get Funded Show names TravelMole and Angels Den as strategic partners

The Get Funded Show, organised by EyeforTravel, at World Travel Market is pleased to announce strategic partnerships with TravelMole – the largest online community of travel and tourism professionals – and Angels Den – one of the top angel investor networks.  The partnerships will expand The Get Funded Show’s audience to include premium-network angel investors and even more of the worldwide travel and tourism community.

Angels Den, set up in 2007, by Bill Morrow is Europe’s leading angel investor network.  Featured on BBC, in the Financial Times and covered in The Times as ‘funding more deals than ALL the rest combined’, Angel Dens offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet top angel investors.  As well as hand-picking several angels to help judge The Get Funded Show, co-founder Bill Morrow will be offering start ups advice on seeking funding.

TravelMole is the most highly acclaimed and largest global online community for the Travel and Tourism Industry with over 450,000 registered newswire subscribers - travel and tourism professionals worldwide.  As a strategic partner TravelMole will be publishing all exciting developments with The Get Funded Show as well as filming the event for TravelMole TV.

Tom Ellum, Director of The Get Funded Show says, ‘Angels Den’s involvement is a huge asset to the show.  They’ve got a great reputation in the investment world and it means we can offer even more investment opportunity to our Get Funded Show contestants.  And now with EyeforTravel, World Travel Market and TravelMole all supporting The Get Funded Show I feel I can guarantee there will not be a travel professional out there that won’t know about the show.’

The Get Funded Show brings together serial entrepreneurs who have accumulated an estimated £250m in personal wealth; investors from the top firms who mange over £1bn in venture capital and senior executives who lead travel companies selling over £1bn a year.

Only 24 places to pitch to the Travel Gurus and Investors are available. They include Andy Phillipps, co-Founder, Active Hotels; Roger Allard, Owner, All Leisure Group; Dinesh Dhamija, Founder, eBookers; Peter Waller, Group Mergers and Acquisitions Director, Thomas Cook and Glenn Fogel, EVP Corporate Development, Priceline.

The Get Funded Show takes place on 11-12th November during World Travel Market at London’s ExCeL, for more information and links to our partners’ sites please go to www.getfundedshow.com.

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Mobile is powering ahead as a marketing channel: report

A publication in the UK has highlighted that mobile is powering ahead as a marketing channel.

An article, which has appeared in Raconteur Media’s special on mobile marketing, has mentioned that in May, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that the UK mobile advertising market was worth £28.6m in 2008, a 99.2 percent increase on the previous year. 

The number of people using their phone to access content online is also increasing. In the UK, the Mobile Data Association reports that 17.38m people used their phone to access the Internet in December 08 compared to 16.7m a year earlier, while in the US, comScore reported in March that the number of people using their mobile device to access news and information on the Internet more than doubled between January 2008 and January 2009. And according to the mobile marketing firm, Netsize, the percentage of companies’ digital marketing budget allocated to mobile is set to rise from 18 percent in 2008, to 30 percent in 2010.

It is being acknowledged that mobile apps have piqued marketers’ attention and made brands think differently about mobile’s role in the marketing mix.

Jonathan Bass, managing director of mobile marketing agency Incentivated, which counts British Airways among its clients, feels the industry is simply not good enough at marketing itself. “There is a lack of understanding of the marketing bit of mobile marketing in the industry,” he says. “There are a lot of small, tech companies who know a lot about the technology, but not why it would be deployed, or what constitutes a good result. When we hire people, we look for marketing knowledge and experience; the mobile bit we can teach.”

Travel industry

The continuous and stable growth in the penetration of mobile web usage in many travel markets is a clear indicator that mobile browsing is becoming more mainstream. It is by no means a dominant activity amongst mobile users yet but certainly indicative of the fast changing use of mobile phones. ComScore data reveals that across the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, there were almost 7 million mobile browsers that accessed remote services or information related to travel, a significant shift given that only a few years ago this number would have been very close to zero. However EyeforTravel Research clearly shows that is not just mobile web browsing that is impacting the travel industry. Mobile has started to impact across all the consumer touch points. 

To be successful in mobile, as with any digital strategy, it is necessary to match and indeed exceed customer expectations. Amy Scarth, Head of Research at EyeforTravel explains that much of EyeforTravel’s School of Mobile going forward will be about working out exactly what those expectations are, the values, needs and desires, and how they are formed particularly in light of different social and cultural contexts and taking account of demographics, traveller typologies and geographies. They’re currently working on building global consumer intelligence for the travel industry ready to launch at World Travel Market in November and are keeping a close eye on the mobile solutions out there. 

To learn about how travel or tourism companies can build a business case for mobile, look through 16 exclusive case studies with leading travel and tourism companies from around the world and benefit from aggregated insight from leaders in the mobile space, you can register free today as an EyeforTravel Research Advanced Member. EyeforTravel Research Advanced Membership is a free resource for the travel industry and you can sign up here http://www.eyefortravelresearch.com/user/registration to gain immediate access to Advanced Member reports. 

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VisitBritain teams up with easyBus

VisitBritain, Britain’s National Tourism Agency, has teamed up with easyBus to help promote Britain as a great value destination to European travellers.

easyBus will feature alongside other UK travel brands such as easyJet and VisitBritain, in joint public relations, online advertising, offline and microsite initiatives to promote Britain.

The Value Campaign will target travellers contemplating travel to Britain, who will be made more aware of value brands such as easyBus and the other VisitBritain Value Campaign partners for inclusion in their travel planning.

easyBus.co.uk, which is a low cost London airport transfers service, has also launched what it says is the fastest and simplest bus booking engine on the web. 

easyBus claims booking a London airport transfer ticket using their just launched booking system, should take no more than two minutes once you have decided which airport bus to travel on.

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French are worst tourists: survey

A survey has indicated that French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as “penny-pinching, rude and terrible at languages”.

The study by Expedia asked 4,500 hotels worldwide to rank tourists on their behaviour. 

Japanese tourists - seen as clean and tidy, polite, quiet and uncomplaining - came top for the third year running. 

“It’s mainly the fact that they (French) speak little or no English when they’re abroad, and they don’t speak much of the local language,” Expedia marketing director Timothee de Roux told radio station France Info. He said that 90 percent of French people did their traveling at home.

“So when they’re on holiday they can be a bit stressed, they’re not used to things, and this can lead them to be demanding in a way which could be seen as a certain arrogance.”

In Europe, the British were seen by the hoteliers as the worst behaved. 

Jonathan Cudworth, the head of product marketing at Expedia.co.uk, said: “Being voted the worst tourists in the world by our closest neighbours highlights the fact that the `Brits Abroad’ moniker is a label we still haven’t managed to shrug off.”

“While we are in second place in the global best-tourist rankings, we clearly have a job to do to convince our European counterparts and those at home that we can be better behaved on holiday.”

Britons came second for their overall behaviour, politeness, quietness and even elegance - second for dress sense only to the Italians.

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How can travel companies navigate the minefields of the new social media landscape?

There's no doubt that the rapidly changing social media landscape has had a profound effect on consumer behaviour across the European travel industry. The arrival of a ‘new marketing age’ where consumers are more informed than ever and increasingly seek relationships with companies, mean that travel customers are now looking at travel products and services through new lenses.

The most savvy travel companies are adapting their marketing strategy to retain existing customers, acquire new customers and gain market share.  They are relishing the opportunities that social tools and networks provide and are using them to increase brand awareness, generate a ‘buzz’ and perhaps mostly importantly respond to their customers.

‘It’s well known that travel is one of the most talked about subjects on the web.  Conversations are happening around travel brands every minute of the day and it’s vital to be a part of the conversation’, Regional Director, Europe, Gina Baillie.

United Airlines is a great example of how a travel company was recently exposed to negative user-generated video coverage.  The video ‘United breaks guitars’  is a comedic music video venting the frustration of a guy called Dave Carroll who had his guitar broken on a United Airlines flight and was apparently not compensated.  It currently has over 349,647 views and rising.  Carroll aims to reach 1 million views and to post two more songs about the incident. He also posted his written story next to the video for all to see. 
The video has sparked innumerable discussions on blogs around the world and on Twitter.  Just how should United respond to this?  It’s a much debated topic but not responding can have far reaching consequences – not least for increasingly frustrated travelling musicians!

A lack of understanding of how to use social tools is another minefield travel companies must avoid.  Looking to an example from outside the travel industry, the recent inappropriate use of Twitter hastags by UK department store Habitat shows how damaging it can be when companies launch into using new tools without fully understanding their power and how to use them.  The retailer is now under public scrutiny for having tagged its advertising posts on Twitter with keywords - known as hashtags - related to Iran and the country’s political unrest.

Habitat remains unperturbed by the incident however.  ‘There is definitely a space for social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter in our web strategy and we will be spending time and energy on further exploring that,” said Jacques Dekock, chief information officer at Habitat.

To go some way towards fully understanding the new social media landscape, companies can refer to the Conversation Prism by Brian Solis.  It’s a living, breathing representation of Social Media which, according to Solis, ‘will evolve as services and conversation channels emerge, fuse, and dissipate.’  Companies can also analyse how the new web tool connect by examining the Web Trend Map (based on the Japanese subway system). 

Technical analysis isn’t always enough however, and ‘The New Social Media Landscape - What role does social media play in the travel marketing mix?’ will be the title of the keynote session at EyeforTravel’s upcoming Social Media Strategies in Travel conference, 13-14 October in Prague (held as part of EyeforTravel’s annual Sales & Marketing in Travel Summit Europe 2009).   Sandra Leonhard, Director of Web Strategy & Business Development for travel giant TUI will join Thorvald Stigsen, CEO, Momondo, Martin Verdon-Roe, Director of Sales, Europe, TripAdvisor to share key insights from their real world experiences.

Finally, here is a great success story on how when social media works – it really works.  Evian’s recently ‘Roller Babies’ commercial received over 3.8 million views on You Tube.  The babies roller skate around to the track ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the Sugarhill Gang.  Not only is it a hit on You Tube, the video has received a vast amount of free press around the world.  It goes without saying that Travel predisposes itself to innovative campaigns and some of the most popular travel company examples on You Tube can be found here from the airline industry. 

This article will be followed by a series of articles examining the opportunities and pitfalls of social media and viral marketing for the travel industry in the lead up to EyeforTravel’s Sales & Marketing in Travel Summit 2009.  To stay up-to-date subscribe to EyeforTravel’s weekly newsletter and/or follow Gina Baillie (anigba) on Twitter.  For full event information see http://events.eyefortravel.com/sales-and-marketing/conference/more-information-logix.asp   Please note that the lowest priced conference passes for the summit must be booked before Friday 17th July. 

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FareCompare.com to deliver new real-time deal alerts

Airfare comparison shopping site FareCompare.com is rolling out several new products that are powered by ITA Software’s QPX system, including a real-time airfare alert service available on Twitter.

FareCompare relies on ITA’s QPX to handle airfare searches associated with its real-time alerts service.

The service not only alerts customers to deals by email, but also provides travellers who follow their home airports on Twitter to get real-time notices about travel deals from those airports.

When customers select the link provided in the email or tweet, they open a web page and initiate a QPX search that populates a 30-day calendar; if the fare is no longer available, users can initiate another search for a comparable fare.

QPX also handles searches associated with FareCompare’s Cheap Travel Deals, destination shopping and Smart Shopper tools.

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Mobile initiatives in SIXT, Lufthansa, Egencia, Rearden, Kayak, Lonely planet and WAYN

In EyeforTravel’s recent Mobile Technology in Travel Report: The Detail, guidelines for developing user-centric mobile initiatives are offered and some of the highlights around the mobile consumer include some real positives:

• It is important to think in terms of ‘scenarios’ as to how a typical customer could use their mobile as they engage with brand touch-points and move through their travel experience.
• Some mobile travel consumers are willing to pay for innovative and appealing services on their mobile phones as the mobile culture has always operated on a paid service model in marked contrast to the free culture of the internet. Micropayments are a good way to generate revenue streams from customers using your mobile services.
• It is clear that some customers want to share information about their trips and they want to do so in a way that is simple and user-friendly. Customers are proving very receptive to the idea that travel companies act as ‘enablers’ of the entire travel experience and have shown interest in such mobile initiatives.

Some clear points of caution and practical advice include: 

• Effective delivery of services to an individuals’ mobile device must be defined by personalisation and relevance.
• Mobile travel consumers have high expectations and are impatient with services that are expensive, have a poor user experience or add any negatively to their travel experience.
• Mobile travel consumers are very sensitive about their personal mobile device being used for marketing and advertising, care is needed.
• With respect to serving the mobile customer effectively, the answer is in the detail
• Usability, Usability, Usability. Oh and did we mention usability?
• Your mobile customers are not just repackaged, scaled down and poorly focused versions of your online customers so don’t offer them mobile products and services that treat them as such. Once you lose a customer on mobile, given its personal nature it will prove almost impossible to get them back.

Insights from leading travel companies featuring in the Mobile Technology in Travel Report: The Detail include these:

• Sixt advises: When it comes to offering services to mobile customers; ‘less is more’
• Lufthansa reminds us that your customers are mobile so as a travel company you need to be too
• Lufthansa also notes that mobile is a standalone medium and that it offers new ways to connect with your customers and that it is a different not a limited channel 
• Egencia notes that sometimes, travel companies say ‘we tried something on mobile but nobody used it’ - you cannot push technology only through technology and you need to shout from the hilltops to your customers that you are mobile and that they should be trying your sexy new offering... engage your customers to buy-in to mobile 
• Rearden Commerce and Egencia advise companies to be aware of being entirely led by what customers say they want. Be user-centric but do not slavishly develop products and services. It is more important to anticipate customer’s needs and how they will use their mobiles in practice rather than developing a particular piece of functionality based on superficial customer feedback
• Some customers love to use products and services that are addictive and fun. Rearden Commerce has taken this to heart in delivering mobile services that recognise that corporate travellers are social beings too.
• Kayak indicates that mobile can be used to re-energise relationships with existing customers and engage with new customers 
• Lonely Planet has been focusing on mobile as a window into how customers are changing. They have found some consumers want to engage in rich content and social media activities delivered via their personal mobile device. This reflects the evolving relationship between content, experience and social media 
• Lonely Planet recognise that as customers evolve they are demanding a more and more interactive relationship with brands 
• Don’t assume customers will use a service in a particular way. lastminute.com suggests that customers do not necessarily behave in the way you expect and it is necessary to understand the broader concept of ‘mobility’ when creating mobile products and services that are customer-centric. Deliver a mobile service that is tailored to the way customers actually move through the travel experience. 
• Egencia have learnt that a part of understanding and serving mobile travellers is in applying the concept of the ‘time value of money.’ This is extremely important to not only corporate travellers but discerning leisure travellers as well 
• Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and be critical. WAYN have stressed that mobile initiatives should always enhance the core value proposition to the customer, if the added value is not clear-cut then don’t bother; go back to the drawing board
• WAYN also points out that mobile consumers are social consumers, they note that the travel industry needs to think about mobile as inherently viral and that having a compelling service that users want to show their friends and acquaintances should not be underestimated. This way, the customers can help to do a lot of the hard work for you!
• Don’t treat mobile as a box ticking exercise, Visit Britain warns, your mobile customers deserve better and it is crucial to develop services that reflect how customers use their mobiles

To learn about how travel or tourism companies can build a business case for mobile, look through 16 exclusive case studies with leading travel and tourism companies from around the world and benefit from aggregated insight from leaders in the mobile space, you can register free today as an EyeforTravel Research Advanced Member. EyeforTravel Research Advanced Membership is a free resource for the travel industry and you can sign up here http://www.eyefortravelresearch.com/user/registration to gain immediate access to Advanced Member reports. 

Mobile and its impact on travel will be also debated at the Mobile Strategies for Travel Conference taking place this September in Chicago. http://events.eyefortravel.com/tdsusa/mobile-travel/

For info get in touch with

Tim Gunstone
MD, Eyefortravel Ltd.
tim@eyefortravel.com
0207 3757557

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North American Online Rail Distribution. Market Research 2009

This report that will enable you to understand the North American online rail  market. Vital research, data and opinion for Rail marketing and ecommerce executives as well as analysts and consultant needing to get up to speed on this rapidly changing market.

This report focuses on the rail sector of the North American travel market and is based on an in-depth statistical analysis that investigates purchasing channels of the US and Canadian travel consumers. Historical, current and forecasted data has been developed and detailed trends can be seen from 2002 and forward to 2012.

Readers will have access to figures showing online vs. offline distribution trends in these travel markets and the airline sector specifically. They will also have a clear understanding about the role of online intermediaries for airline ticket sales over the past few years and how this is expected to change over time. This is the direct vs. indirect online distribution data. In addition, readers will also have access to the exclusive data that identifies diverse distribution patterns within the North American travel markets and therefore be able to identify the implications of differing consumer behavior between purchasing domestic and international airline products.

As we believe it is important to put it all into perspective, included in the report is also a BONUS statistical overview analysis of the North American travel market in its entirety. This will help companies realize how the airline sector is performing within the gross and online travel markets as a whole and provide insight into how the sector is operating comparatively in terms of distribution trends now and in the future. 

For those who require detailed data for each of the sectors (airline, hotel, car rental, cruise, package tour, rail, bus, online travel agent) should purchase the FULL North American Online Travel Report 2009. 

For more information go to http://www.eyefortravelresearch.com/reportsales/record/id/16/id_permalink/rail-online-distribution-focus-north-america-2009

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4.6m users have used Fly.com since its launch in February

Airfare search engine Fly.com has stated that Internet users performed over 2.4 million searches on its site in the month of June, growing user searches by 85 percent month over month.

According to Fly.com’s internal statistics, 4.6 million travelers have used Fly.com since its launch in February.

“After only five months of operation, we are exiting our beta release with a large and growing community of users,” said Brian Clark, general manager, Fly.com.

Fly.com offers first class fares on all searches, airline product information, such as in-flight entertainment, prices that include all taxes and fees, and travel deals published by Travelzoo, which are specifically relevant to each airfare search.

Fly.com attributes the growth in site traffic to its ability to satisfy users’ appetite for information on both price and product. In addition to finding the best prices available, Fly.com says it is the only airfare search engine to show all airlines’ lowest price by cabin on the first results page, via its one-of-a-kind “At-A-Glance” summary display.

Read more: “Our subscribers are the perfect audience for Fly.com”

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