Lodging Interactive Blog

Corporate Travel Stabelizing??

Reflecting the depths reached by the corporate travel industry in 2009, American Express' global corporate travel sales shrunk 30 percent year over year to $14.6 billion. That slide, however, seems to have stabilized with Q4 performance reporting a more moderate 5 percent decrease compared with last year.

MapQuest Adds 700,000 New Business Listings - Search Marketing News Blog - Search Engine Watch (SEW)

Through MapQuest's relationship with CitySearch, over 700,000 new business listings have been added to the online mapping service. The listings include popular categories such as restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, shopping, and spas.

In addition to the listings, MapQuest has added greater editorial content for their business listings. Such content includes ratings and reviews, coupons, business hours, and restaurant menus.

MapQuest and CitySearch entered into their partnership in August of 2008.

via blog.searchenginewatch.com

Metasearch, review and nontransactional is increasingly where the action is. - PhoCusWright Connect

The days of straight forward travel booking on either an OTA or supplier site are rapidly coming to an end. The latest PhoCusWright report on Online Traffic and Conversion deals in great detail with this ever more complex landscape of what is also called the pre-booking phase. While the booking focused sites still dominate the market in terms of visitor traffic, a growing number of their present customers are expecting to be better served in their search for the most suitable trip options. The resulting gap between higher customer expectations and service provider functionality offered, needs to be addressed. It already is the focus of attention by a number of new market entrants attempting to close that gap. These developments are a further sign of the steady evolution of the travel industry and the move to the Web for more complex tasks that in the past were handled offline.

via connect.phocuswright.com

Hotel News Now | Hotels News - Article

The 2009 Lodging Conference began with an optimistic eye toward the future and, more specifically, recovery. That was the first topic at hand during the opening general session held at the Arizona Biltmore

via www.hotelnewsnow.com

Itineraries - For Travel Industry, a Recovery to ‘Less Bad’ - NYTimes.com

John Van Beekum for The New York Times A customer checks a rental car at Miami International Airport. Car rental companies have fared relatively well in the recession by cutting the size of their fleets.

via www.nytimes.com

The Travel Industry is Shrinking in The US

Inflation-adjusted spending on travel and tourism in the U.S. declined at an annual rate of 5.9% in the first quarter after falling 6.9% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said. (In comparison, the overall economy shrank at a 5.7% rate in the first quarter and a 6.3% rate in the fourth.)

Read more...

Hotel CEOs bite back at anti-travel talk | Reuters

Hotel CEOs bite back at anti-travel talk | Reuters.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Political outrage over the use of public money on corporate perks is scaring many companies away from legitimate travel spending and could -- if unchecked -- cost thousands of jobs in the U.S. hospitality industry, according to hotel, casino and airline leaders.

PeterGreenberg.com » Recession Hitting Online Travel Companies Hard

Airlines are laying off workers, cutting back services and charging new fees, hotels are seeing record-low occupancy rates, and cruise lines are practically giving away cabins.

Now the online travel booking industry is also feeling the pinch from the recession.

PeterGreenberg.com » Recession Hitting Online Travel Companies Hard.

The GDS feels the effects of the economic slowdown

The first half of 2008 saw healthy growth for Global Distribution Systems (GDS) room nights and average daily rate (ADR).  However, since June, room nights have fallen and, since October, ADR has also fallen. This downward trend is set to continue into 2009, according to research carried out by Great Hotels Organisation (http://www.ghorg.com), a global hotel sales and marketing company.

The GDS feels the effects of the economic slowdown | ehotelier.com News Archives.

Hospitality Net - Industry News - Ypartnership Predicts 2009 Travel Trends| Demand Still Robust but Competition Heightens

While marketers of travel services may gladly bid adieu to 2008, the year ahead promises to be equally challenging as competition for travelers heightens, according to Peter Yesawich, president and CEO of Ypartnership, America's leading marketing, advertising and public relations agency serving travel, leisure and entertainment clients.

Hospitality Net - Industry News - Ypartnership Predicts 2009 Travel Trends| Demand Still Robust but Competition Heightens.