by RobertKCole on January 3, 2010
It is time for superlative awards to be bestowed upon the best and worst of the past year. Groups that have won accolades throughout the year are recognized for their contributions, many the result of planned actions that were specifically designed and executed to garner awards.
photo credit: Okinawa Soba
The best in travel faced off against... the other guys... when the dust settled, the winner was...
Instead of highlighting the obvious top achievements in travel marketing or operations, the 2009 Unsuspecting Travel Hero and Unsuspecting Travel Zero awards recognize the foremost examples of customer generosity or customer hostility that occurred as a direct result of company policy or standard practice.
In essence, the awards recognize organizations that “get it” or “don’t get it” when it comes to engaging the customer, eliminating unnecessary obstacles, and providing exemplary customer-centric operations.
The two great high profile travel achievements of the year were, in marketing, Tourism Queensland’s innovative and widely celebrated “Best Job in the World” campaign and for operational excellence, obviously, US Airways’, and more specifically – Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s, “Miracle on the Hudson.”
At the other end of the spectrum were the high profile cases of all the major US carriers (except, thankfully Southwest) playing a spirited round-robin game of raise the bag fees and Continental Express / ExpressJet’s Rochester, Minnesota overnight hostage debacle.
While the above stories, for very good reason, grabbed headlines, two smaller stories went relatively unnoticed. These two smaller stories are interesting as they illustrate the customer orientation dichotomy arising within the travel industry. The best example was Four Seasons Hotels’ effective and timely application of social media, and the worst was AirTran’s irrational advance seat assignment surcharge policies. continue reading →
Tagged as:
airline,
awards,
customer service,
hotel,
travel
by RobertKCole on December 22, 2009
There is no economic recession when it comes to courts litigating hotel merchant tax cases between various local tax jurisdictions and the online travel agencies. With an estimated seventy cases at various stages of the process, legal teams representing both sides appear to have guaranteed job security into the foreseeable future.
photo credit: publicenergy
As municipalities, courts, states, online travel agencies, hotels, lobbyists and lawyers on contingency continue battling, it seems the more they struggle, the deeper they sink
The fundamental issue is whether Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) should be held responsible for collecting hotel occupancy taxes on a) the retail price charged to consumers, or b) on the net wholesale rate paid to the hotel – the current practice. Simply put, the question for juries across the land is if the OTA’s should be paying room tax on markups that are embedded in the quoted room rate.
This topic has been simmering for years, initially with several cases dismissed by courts asking the tax authorities to exhaust administrative remedies. Earlier this year, a couple smaller jurisdictions won victories over the OTAs, but more recently, the tide has turned against the OTAs, with several high profile cases decided in favor of the local municipalities. It is very important to note that the vast majority of these verdicts are under appeal by the OTAs.
Instead of becoming more straightforward as the cases progressively create precedents, verdicts are creating more confusion. New jurisdictions are electing to litigate, while others are choosing to rewrite their tax codes. Smaller markets like Columbus, Georgia have been boycotted by OTAs following court victories, but the same has not held true in larger destinations like Anaheim. A Washington State consumer class action targeted Expedia, adding a new front for the OTAs to defend (Priceline is also currently named in two consumer class actions.) New York City decided to make package booking margins taxable as well. Despite all the activity, there has been no advancement in technical standards or operational process improvements that simplify the identification, recording or remittance of hotel merchant taxes. It seems all parties are in some form of denial regarding the long term impact of changes to the hotel tax environment. continue reading →
Tagged as:
Expedia,
hotel,
hotel tax,
online travel companies,
Orbitz,
Priceline,
Travelocity
by RobertKCole on December 18, 2009
The original plan was to write a blog post on the best travel video / television advertising of the past decade. While there were a few clever travel ads (the Virgin Atlantic “Upper Class Suite” independent spot and the Air New Zealand “Nothing to Hide” campaign immediately come to mind) they were not in the same league with the best offerings from other industries.
So instead, here are my picks for the best single advertising spot and best advertising campaign created between 2000 and 2009. Hopefully, the travel industry will gain some inspiration and raise their game in the coming “teens” decade. As there is not clear agreement on a name for the past decade, let’s just call them the “naughties.”
photo credit: Pink Ponk
Stratos and Dove prove that original creative, strong narrative and expert production can effectively differentiate commodity products.
What defines a great video ad? There are fundamentally three simple requirements regardless if it is on television or spreading virally online :
- It breaks through the clutter – it needs to be memorable.
- It evokes an emotional response – it makes the viewer feel something
- It creates goodwill for the product – viewers remember the brand
Good production values, solid acting and a bit of originality never hurt either.
Comparing a single advertising spot to a multi-spot campaign is not really a fair comparison. Each may be designed to accomplish different objective. While each ad undoubtedly must stand on its own merits, a quality campaign requires the additional dimensions of thematic alignment and consistency of execution. To present the best of both genres, I have picked the best single advertising spot as well as the best multi-spot campaign of the last decade.
Both of my selections promote products that could be easily described as generic commodities. However, each ad admirably differentiates its respective brand from the competition. The travel industry can learn a lot from these ads – they engage and inspire the viewer on an emotional level. There are no aggressive proclamations of product features, competitive price points, or legal disclaimers. Each ad embraces humanity; addressing the motivations of the protagonists and their interaction with their respective environments. continue reading →
Tagged as:
advertising,
best practices,
marketing,
television,
video
by RobertKCole on December 15, 2009
Compete recently presented a report based on data through September 2009, concluding that different travel categories (hotel, cruise, air, car rental) have recovered at different rates. Hotels and cruises were highlighted as recovering more quickly than airlines and car rental.
photo credit: Emery Way
US Hotels are having to jump through hoops to fight competitors and Online Travel Agencies for leisure customers seeking unprecedented deals
It may give some comfort that year-over-year website traffic is increasing in the travel sector. Understanding that this is normally considered a leading indicator, this could serve as a basis for optimism. Unfortunately, for the US hotel industry, increased website traffic has not translated into incremental bookings and the business transacted online is at dramatically lower average rates.
Compete’s panel of Two Million US internet users should hypothetically provide a statistically significant barometer for the US hotel activity levels and would ideally correlate well with the performance of the US hotel industry. Unfortunately, it does not. The US hotel industry is a complex, multi-dimensional vertical that sources business through a variety of distinct market segments and distribution channels.
What the analysis captured was a radical change in consumer hotel travel shopping practices in light of a deep economic recession. Several different factors contributed to the disruptive change impacting the US hospitality industry that emerged in November 2009 and has continued over the past year: continue reading →
Tagged as:
average rate,
Compete,
hotel,
occupancy,
online travel companies,
recession,
RevPAR,
statistics,
travel search,
trends
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