Tourism Internet Marketing. Marketing in Tourism. Travel Business.

Russia’s long-delayed test flight for its first new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union will take place in the first half of May, a source in Russia’s state aircraft holding company said.

Sukhoi’s Superjet 100, the fruit of almost a decade of efforts by Russia’s largest warplane maker, is Moscow’s biggest hope for returning to the global market for airliners.

The first flight was originally planned for late 2007 but then moved to the first months of 2008.

“It will be in the first half of May,” the source at United Aviation Corporation said. “The last stage of testing is going on at the moment.”

The regional Superjet is part of President Vladimir Putin’s bid to revive Russia’s once mighty aviation industry, which collapsed after the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Interview with Zuji’s Roshan Mendis

Given the advent of new technology and opportunities to direct connect more cost effectively, suppliers are looking for distribution solutions that offer them the ability to easily connect and market to the right audiences at the right value.

In this context, what is critical from an OTA’s perspective?

Zuji’s Director of Supplier Relations and Partnerships Roshan Mendis says it is important to provide hoteliers with a valuable channel to access customers. This takes into consideration not only the cost of connecting, which is a major part, but the value of the transaction, lead times, in hotel services purchases made by guests, efficient customer service and prompt payment.

“As an OTA we are focused on all those facets and our relationships with suppliers, hotels and others, are governed by the single focus of adding value to them sustainably for the long-term,” Mendis told EyeforTravel.com’s Ritesh Gupta in an interview recently.

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THE Greek island of Rhodes has been voted the top European location in a survey of the world’s 100 best travel destinations.

Seven European cities were in the top 20, according to Internet travel advisory service TripAdvisor.

Experts said despite the current economic crisis, rising fuel costs, environmental concerns and airport chaos, travelling was still as popular as ever - particularly to Europe.

In its inaugural travellers’ choice survey, taking into account the opinion of the world’s largest online travel community, the Greek island was voted the fifth most popular world destination.

The Austrian capital Salzburg was the next most favourite European destination while the spa resort town of Bath was the highest-ranking British destination.

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Lots of brands are finding out the hard way that there are plenty of conversations taking place about them online. For good or bad. Many brands choose to ignore this. But hope is not a strategy.

Since consumers rely heavily on the Web as an authoritative source of information, managing a brand’s online reputation has become a top priority for companies. Here are 5 tips that could help you avoid a major disaster and reduce the risk of a flogging in the blogosphere.

Tip 1: Monitor the New Conversational Terrain

You have to be listening. As Woody Allen said, “half of the battle is just showing up.” Create a custom feed based on keyword searches using tools like Technorati, Feedster, IceRocket and news.googlecom.

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Greece for culture seekers

Where? Rhodes

The largest of the Dodecanese islands, Rhodes is a treasure trove of cultural attractions. Top sights include a 13th century castle in the Old Town which houses an archaeological museum containing artefacts dating back to 1st century BC.

The Mandraki Harbour also merits exploration as this is where the Colossus of Rhodes is believed to have stood.

Libra Holidays’ product manager Darren Hitchcock said: “Rhodes has always been popular with holidaymakers wanting to experience a more cultural holiday.

“The island is an ideal location for those wanting more than sun, sand and sea. Its ancient charm continues to draw visitors back.” When you’re all cultured out, Rhodes has miles of sandy beach and picturesque natural beauty.

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DO NOT omit your important event by subscribing the RSS channel or Email Alert.

Sunday, June 1
• EUROAL 2008
• Pow Wow 2008

Monday, June 2
• Pow Wow 2008

Tuesday, June 3
• Pow Wow 2008
• 5:30 pm -9:00 pm : OSSN Mesa/Phoenix Chapter Workshop

Wednesday, June 4
• Pow Wow 2008
• 13th Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange

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1. Do customers want a diving holiday…

If so, your customers will want a minimum of two dives a day, so on a seven-night break they’ll want to visit at least 10 sites. Harlequin suggests the Harbour Village in Bonaire in the Caribbean, which has 85 dive sites. Bed-and- breakfast package prices start at £1,378 with unlimited shore diving, transfers and flights.

2. …or a holiday with diving?

Then they need a resort offering other activities as well. Harlequin recommends Anse Chastanet, St Lucia which offers single dives from about £17 each. For non-divers there’s a spa, mountain biking, rainforest tours and other water sports. Prices start at £1,190 bed and breakfast including transfers and flights.

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The Internet is a great thing. Musing on what I’d like to cover in my column this month, I Googled my way to French novelist Alphonse Karr.

Chances are you don’t know much about him, but as well as a love of fishing and flowers, he gave the world the saying ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’

Nothing could be truer, especially where the travel industry is concerned. While the web has been the driving force behind fundamental change in our business over the last 15 years, still familiar concerns refuse to go away.

Last week’s Triton conference in Palma, Majorca was a classic example. The chief gripe was that some operators include direct telephone numbers and website addresses in their brochures.

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Technology is always evolving. Sometimes this is in the shape of new products and at other times it’s just a step change taking place, which has a marked impact on the way the travel industry conducts business.

New products are things like the online booking systems, the first viewdata-masking selling systems and dynamic packaging. I believe we are about to have another step change. This will come in the form of a true comparative holiday search for travel agents, across all product sources, combined with rich content to provide agents with a vastly improved selling environment - comparable to anything available to consumers online.

In the technology world we like to give these step changes names, and I’ve christened this ‘Dynamic Packaging 2.0′. A true comparative search is an important step forward. This is because consumers don’t care about clever use of technology - all they really want is a good match with their holiday requirements.

Dynamic Packaging 2.0 will offer a search across pre-packaged holidays and those created dynamically in real-time. It will provide agents with a complete comparison and offer add-to-favourites features that make it easier to shortlist and compare from the vast array of holiday options on offer, via a single enquiry. In Dynamic Packaging 2.0, enhanced search will be combined with much richer content in the form of maps, video and audio - all designed to support the sales process and transform the computer on a retail travel counter from an ordering point to an interactive selling environment.

(c) Vicki Tittley, 2008

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One of the most cost-effective methods of distribution – from a cost per transaction perspective – is online since the GDS and travel agent commissions do not apply.

However, there is a need to consider the ‘hidden’ costs of online sales - consumer advertising, web search engine optimisation and IT personnel, according to Lesley Hagan, formerly Head of International Distribution at Oasis.

“There is no doubt that online distribution is the dream of every airline company – it is a very cost-effective method. However, it is not the panacea for all distribution problems and the online market should be viewed as one of many channels and directed at a specific audience. The GDS will remain the distribution method of choice for travel agents and where a substantial amount of business is generated through travel agents, this will remain so. Although some GDSs have customised offerings for LCCs to enable them to sell via the GDS, these are hybrids or links between the GDS and Internet which have been resisted by some in the travel industry,” Hagan said recently in an interview with Ritesh Gupta.

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