January 2011 Archives

Hotels and resorts work hard to promote the very best of what they have to offer online.

Their websites and affiliate partners portray pictures of immaculate rooms, beautiful pools and amazing views. Unfortunately these pictures are often, too amazing.

Photoshop has contributed more than once to the appearance of a hotel. This can help increase business but ultimately it may also incur the anger of disillusioned guests.

That is what inspired Oyster.com, a US-based hotel review company. Oyster employees go to each hotel they review and take hundreds of photos.

This not only gives guests a good idea of what the hotel is actually like, it also exposes any photo fakery.

Oyster is famous for exposing photoshopped pictures in its side-by-side 'can you tell the difference' comparisons on their website.

This is often accompanied by a witty title and some sarcasm-laden text. Their "Photo Fakeouts" are so popular, many people come to the website just to look at the pictures.

That makes Oyster.com a very real problem for some hotels. After all, being branded a liar is not great for a resort's image.

These days the problem with 'photoshopping' is the unfettered access to social networks.

Anyone can take a photo and post it to Facebook, all from their phone. It does not take many unhappy customers to populate a Facebook group. That makes photographic honesty more important than ever.

Anyone can photoshop a room to perfection, but a new coat of paint and an un-doctored photo may be a better option.

Companies looking for a new and innovative way to reach their customers are increasingly turning to viral gaming.

This relatively new form of advertising incorporates the advertisement into an online game. These games are often tailored to be used and shared over social media sites to reach the largest number of users.

This approach has been used again this year to promote the Travel Technology Europe trade show which takes place at the Earr's Court exhibition centre in London on February 8-9.

TTE has joined forces with Koko, a viral advergame specialist to create Travel Frenzy, an online travel agent game.

Koko Digital director Chris Steele said: "We were chosen as viral partners for the TTE exhibition because of our success promoting other events over the past few years."

Koko does its promoting by embedding information and advertisements for an event in the background of its games.

The company has worked with a number of well-known travel brands including Net Flights, Gulf Air, Rough Guides and Seasons Holidays.

This relatively new method of advertising in online games can be very effective. The game promotes itself, and by extension the event it is advertising.

It is the online equivalent of product placement. With new online games coming out all the time, video game promotion could have a big future in the travel industry.

New smartphones will soon be changing the face of the travel industry. Samsung, LG and Motorola are all releasing dual core smartphones in 2011.

These clever little gadgets won't necessarily usher in a whole new age for mobile phones, but they will make multitasking and web surfing faster and more appealing to users.

According to a 2010 study by Morgan Stanley, there will be more internet users on mobiles than on computers by 2013.

That means more people will be logging on from their phones and conducting business via wireless connections. It also means optimising a site for mobile devices should be a priority.

Some 24% of UK mobile users already have a smartphone and according to mobilesquared.co.uk, by 2013 mobile commerce will be worth £2.8 billion.

Optimising a website can seem daunting, but according to a presentation by Google UK industry manager, Alex Pearshouse, there are a few simple rules that any business should follow.

First, don't adopt new technology to early.

Some companies made this mistake by using QR codes before most people had the smartphones and the technology to read them. That simply equates to wasted ad space.

A good site also needs to appear in the correct search position. If they do not appear in the sponsored links or the top two links of a web search, consumers will not see them on the first page of a search. This lowers the chance of being noticed.

Along with getting the correct search position, companies need to know what time to advertise.

Advertising at 6pm for a company that does not answer the phones after five simply frustrates users. The most effective time to present a company telephone number is when there will be someone available to answer the call.

The telephone number itself is also an important aspect of optimisation. Many mobile users are charged higher rates for calling 0800 numbers, making them less likely to pick up the phone.

Finally, look out for the app trap. Many companies have made money on applications, but they are not for everyone.

An application only works for one type of operating system so an iPhone app is not much use if you have an Android phone. This limits the number of people a company can reach.

On the other hand, a properly optimized website can be accessed by any phone with a browser.  A good example of what optimisation can do is easyJet.

In a Google Adwords case study, the airline had a mobile click through rate that was up to six times higher than the CTR for desktops. It also had an eleven to one return on investment.

As mobile phones become faster and more able to run several programs at once, the line between personal computer and portable device will become blurred.

Booking a flight or even an entire holiday on a smartphone will become more convenient and appealing.

That makes it more important than ever for the travel industry to insure their websites and technology are compatible with the latest generation of smartphones.

It's new TV ad season, and Travelsupermarket is next out of the blocks. Filmed in South Africa, the meta-search site's effort features actor Omid Djalili with X Factor eccentrics Jedward, who tragically split over holiday costs...

The ad will premier at 12.55pm today during ITV1's Loose Women. It follows a flood of new campaigns from the likes of Thomson, Thomas Cook, P&O Cruises, Barbados and Simonseeks.

If you haven't already caught them, there are four to watch in the Christmas edition of Travel Weekly's TWinteractive magazine.