Leisure travel planning has changed
drastically in the past 15 years

Power has shifted

From the advent of buses, trains and planes, travel
agents have really played a big roll in planning and
steering travelers to destinations. You walked in, said
you wanted a beach vacation and you were off to
some island

And even with consumers in control,
there has been a rapid evolution
(especially in the past couple of years)

But first let‘s go way back
to the mid-1990s where
the power shift started

It started with getting info about a destination (online
brochure) – freedom to get info when they wanted
versus when the travel agent wanted

To booking an airline ticket or hotel room

To using travel aggregators to see all options in one
place and get a good deal

To using evolved travel aggregators that bundled flights,
hotels and rental cars into one package and offered a
really good deal with a little destination insight

To using chat rooms to see what other travelers were
doing or thinking regarding travel planning

To reading consumer-generated blogs about
potential destinations

Then the pipe reached critical mass

Opening the door to easily
accessible user-generated
content like pictures and videos

Which tells a very different story
than just words in a blog and the
pretty pictures that marketers
show on their Web sites

THEN
Early Adopters
36% of U.S. adults had broadband access
17% of the total U.S. Internet audience
viewed online video in June 2005
Source: Pew Internet Life Dec. 2005, comScore March 2004

NOW
Mainstream
63% of U.S. adults have broadband access
78% of the total U.S. Internet audience
viewed online video in April 2009
AND
Watched 16.8 BILLION videos
Source: Pew Internet Life April2009, and comScore April 2009

This broadband penetration and
acceptance of UGC led to an
explosion of UGC sites in many
categories, especially travel

And a new breed of leisure
traveler was born
Traveler2.0

Web savvy
Broadband connected
Social media initiated
In control every step of the way

And most importantly …
Willing to seek out and share travel
information with like-minded travelers

So where online does Traveler2.0
hang out?

Of the thousands of travel/tourism sites out there, these are the slightly more
than 50 we think Traveler2.0 will find the most useful, interesting or engaging
Travel Aggregators Blogs/Travel Journals Social Networks
http://www.travelzoo.com http://www.vcarious.com http://www.iloho.com
http://www.hotelicopter.com http://www.gadling.com http://www.traveltogether.com
http://www.seatguru.com http://www.mytripjournal.com http://realtravel.com
http://www.sidestep.com http://www.travellerspoint.com http://www.flyertalk.com
http://www.kayak.com http://www.traveljournals.net http://www.tripconnect.com
http://www.yapata.com http://www.virtualtourist.com
http://farecast.live.com http://www.travbuddy.com
http://www.mobissimo.com http://www.gusto.com
http://www.hotwire.com http://www.dopplr.com
http://www.luxurylink.com http://www.tripwolf.com
http://www.momondo.com Reviews
Regional http://www.tripadvisor.com
http://goseeoregon.com http://www.travelpost.com
http://71miles.com http://www.rummble.com
http://www.everyblock.com http://www.hotelchatter.com
http://www.going.com http://www.igougo.com
http://flyspy.com http://www.jaunted.com
Green Travel
Trip Planning/Sharing Group Travel http://www.viator.com
http://www.mytripbook.com http://www.triporama.com http://gogreentravelgreen.com
http://www.tripcart.com http://www.groople.com http://www.greenicious.com
http://www.tripology.com http://www.triphub.com
http://triptie.com http://www.imin.com Interesting
http://www.lonelyplanet.com http://www.mp3travel.com
http://www.concierge.com http://www.couchsurfing.com
http://www.pastigo.com http://www.1sthomeexchange.com
http://www.traveltip.org International Traveler http://www.vrbo.com
http://www.tripit.com http://www.citytherapy.com http://www.shawguides.com
http://www.planeteye.com http://www.wayn.com
http://www.nileguide.com http://gridskipper.com
http://www.toandfromtheairport.com http://www.bootsnall.com

A social networking site that helps users plan their trips by
getting tips from other users, by browsing photos and
videos. You can look for travel mates and even book hotels
or hostels

A blogging site that travelers can use while actually on their trip to keep
friends and family up-to-date on what they are doing

Another social networking and planning site that offers
information on the people, the culture, how to get around, and
how to avoid problems, as well as suggestions for itineraries,
accommodations, dining and things to do

A newer site that combines UGC and reviews with professionally
generated travel tips.

Not just Web sites
Traveler2.0 is becoming
highly mobile too

Smart phones are finally giving
travelers access to interactive tools
when they need them most

iPhone travel tools
RoadTrippr – Everyone can
find the main attractions, but
most of the time the most
interesting places to visit are
off the beaten path.
UrbanSpoon – Randomly
select a nearby restaurant
based on a few criteria, such
as price or cuisine type.
Yelp – Find directions and
reviews for restaurants,
hotels or almost any other
business nearby.

5,000+
Travel Apps Available

Smart phones aside, how many options
does Traveler2.0 have?

In the U.S., there are more than 5,000
travel-related Web sites
Containing 20,000,000+ opinions
On 750,000 or so destinations to visit,
things to do and places to stay
And this doesn‘t count blogs
Source: www.uptake.com

Tourist blog posts 4,407
Trip blog posts 19,003
Vacation blog posts 22,791
Travel blog posts 242,478
Source: Technorati, August 28, 2009

There is a whole lot of competition for
destination marketers as Traveler2.0
works to select the right vacation

The million dollar question is how do
destination marketers connect with
Traveler2.0?

The mainstreaming of social media has
left tourism marketers with three options:
1. Encourage the conversation
2. Join the conversation
3. Start a conversation

Sometimes it only takes a nudge to get
travelers talking about your destination

Encourage the conversation
Nashville‘s Hotel Preston sends
all guests an e-mail asking them
―to write a review of your stay on
a hotel review site, such as
TripAdvisor or Yelp.com.‖
Result? Hotel Preston has more
reviews on TripAdvisor than any
other Nashville hotel, and an
average rating of 4 stars.

Encourage the conversation
When bloggers arrived in droves for PodCamp Pittsburgh 2008,
local tourism officials were ready. VisitPittsburgh arranged VIP
tours for several of the high-profile writers in attendance.

Encourage the conversation
In January 2009, Disney took a select group of
influential mom bloggers on a trip to the Bahamas to
highlight its new cruise line. Result was dozens of
posts and national buzz.

2. Join the conversation

Facebook is the most popular
social network in the world
In the past six months, Facebook has grown
from 150 million to 250 million users
Largest age group: 35–54

Growth since January 2009:
Ages 35-54:
190% growth
20.2 million users
Ages 55+:
590% growth
5.9 million users
Source: “Most Facebook users are older, study finds.” SFGate.com, 7/8/09

Facebook users over 18:
Alabama: 687,460
Florida: 3,920,240
Georgia: 2,282,700
Mississippi: 375,460
Tennessee: 1,168,720
Source: Facebook, 8/3/09

acebook Groups

acebook Fan Pages

acebook Groups
More members Admins must use
personal accounts
Less corporate
Little control of
content

acebook Fan Pages
Easy to control Can appear more
‗corporate‘ to users
Admin names
aren‘t public Must be maintained
Dynamic content
Analytics

Twitter lets you post brief items,
shared with the world
In the past year, Twitter has grown
nearly 2,000% to 50 million+ users
Largest age group: 35–44

Portland‘s
―Twisitor Center‖
Responds quickly to
any questions posed
by visitors on Twitter.
Gives advice, offers
tips, solves problems.

3. Start a conversation

The ―Pomegranate‖ phone does everything, including brew
coffee. Well, not really. It‘s a viral campaign for Nova Scotia,
where you can ―get everything in one place.‖ Result?
Hundreds of thousands of views and hundreds of blog posts.

Orlando‘s
67 Days of Smiles
―One adventurous pair with
smiling personalities will land
the ultimate assignment:
Experiencing every attraction in
Orlando over 67 days!‖
10 sets of finalists also got to
spend 67 hours in Orlando.
Results:
National news coverage
3,500+ blog mentions
478 Facebook fans
167 YouTube videos

World Nomads, a travel insurance company, is hosting this relay-style
contest to journey across Australia in their customized van, ―Geoff.‖
Applications came in via YouTube, and participants will post throughout
the travels. The group voted ―most entertaining‖ wins $10,000.

34,000 people worldwide applied to be the caretaker of a tropical
island off Queensland, Australia. The contest generated global
buzz for this distant destination.

Closing thoughts
The social media revolution has made it easier than ever
for travelers to be smarter, faster and more informed.
But that means it‘s more important than ever for
destination marketers to experiment, adapt and connect
— or be left in the rear view mirror of Traveler2.0.

David.Griner@luckie.com
David.Stutts@luckie.com