29 April 2008

TravelMole e-Wire Comment by Dinah Hatch

Facebook, Bebo, TripAdvisor? Pah, theyÃ¢â¬â¢re yesterdayÃ¢â¬â¢s news and in their place are about to arise sites that mesh the science of search with the user-generated content phenomenon.

Google is on to it, of course. ItÃ¢â¬â¢s data tells it that search engines generate more than 33% of travel enquiries and that those consumers who are searching want more personalisation and want results that apply to them.

ThatÃ¢â¬â¢s a no brainer, really. WouldnÃ¢â¬â¢t it be great to have a customised Trip Advisor that only showed you reviews from people who liked the places you liked, liked the hotels you liked and had all the same holiday preferences?

The rebranded Igoogle is all about this personalisation and its proving a success - it says more than 20% of Google searches now start from an Igoogle page. (In the wake of its deeply unpopular recent move to take away trademark rights, at least itÃ¢â¬â¢s keeping the consumer happy.) LastminuteÃ¢â¬â¢s in the right space too Ã¢â¬' it recently introduced tailored reviews to its site.

ItÃ¢â¬â¢ll be fascinating to see how start up sites like Vibeagent.com (see news) get on.

The site acts like a sort of matchmaker for travellers, only recommending hotels to clients once it has built up a detailed profile of them and found a hotel that has been reviewed positively by someone who has exhibited very similar preferences.

ItÃ¢â¬â¢s the Ã¢â¬Åâœpeople like usÃ¢â¬~ syndrome playing out online which only goes to show that human nature always wins out Ã¢â¬' much like my mother dismissing the views of our neighbour when I was a kid because she wore her slippers out of doors.

Orbitz knows a thing or two about human nature too Ã¢â¬' it is now introducing live destination experts to talk to customers who are dithering before booking because it knows that human reassurance before a big purchase can be key to nailing the sale.

We all love a buzz phrase so hereÃ¢â¬â¢s another. Greenwash.

IÃ¢â¬â¢m starting to feel the love for the term greenwash. The environmental ennui set in when I received the hundredth press release this month (well, it seems that way) about how some corporate green initiative is set to save the world.

Just off the top of my head, Sabre and Travelport have been at it this month.

But itÃ¢â¬â¢s not just journalist cynicism at work. Interviewing futurologist Ian Pearson for one of this monthÃ¢â¬â¢s Q&As gave another perspective altogether on the save the world campaign.

Because itÃ¢â¬â¢s scientific and weÃ¢â¬â¢re not many of us qualified to actually analyse data ourselves, we follow whatever line the government has been fed about whatÃ¢â¬â¢s best for the environment when really we all know they are no better informed than us.

The many voices that have been saying carbon offsetting schemes and biofuels may not be the answer and are now being proved right to an extent might well be right about other green initiatives too.

The march towards mobile bookings becoming mainstream continues with news this month that Silverjet has launched a full service mobile site.

Meanwhile, First Choice has tiptoed down this route, signing up to get texted ski and snow reports for its customers from specialist information prover Travel Buddy. The company already enjoys a similar contract with Thomson.

It surely canÃ¢â¬â¢t be long before this little distribution timebomb explodes.