Travel websites for the myspace generation

Gemma Bowes, Sunday August 6, 2006, The Observer

Less than a decade ago, the arrival of huge online travel agents such as Expedia revolutionised the way we bought holidays and gave even the hardened technophobe a reason to log on to the internet.

But now a new wave of interactive travel sites that allow holidaymakers to post their own hotel reviews and destination advice are attracting just as many browsers looking for up-to-the-minute, honest information that can't be found in guidebooks.

Unlike sites such as Travelocity and Expedia, which sell the components of holidays - flights, car hire, hotels - the new 'social' or 'me media' sites allow readers to swap information about holidays, chat or make friends. The most popular of these 'user-generated content' sites is Tripadvisor.com, which launched six years ago and now receives 20 million visitors a month worldwide - the same number as Lastminute.com, which was rated the most visited 'destinations and accommodation' website in the UK for 2005.

Although Tripadvisor is funded by advertising and is owned by Expedia, its principal purpose is to provide a place for people to post independent reviews, and share information. It is updated by readers every minute.

Current most-visited pages include a posting about family holidays to Niagara Falls and what to see in Boston. Chatroom discussions include where to buy Russian military memorabilia in Moscow and how one should dress in Paris.

'The internet is returning to its origins with content that is driven by individuals rather than corporations,' says Ian Rumgay, spokesman for Tripadvisor. 'Our site is about passing information by word of mouth, but on a bigger scale.'

Analysts say this trend signals a change across the internet - that it is being reclaimed by the public as a place for social networking and exchanging information instead of somewhere for companies to sell their products.

Another well-known example is the growth of Myspace.com, a site for people to network and swap comments, particularly about music, which last month overtook Yahoo and Google as the most visited website in the US.

And there are many similar travel sites that feature reviews and advice from 'normal people', including Virtualtourist.com , Holidaywatchdog.com and Thetravelinsider.info.

Now travel agents are starting to cotton on to the trend. In December, Lastminute launched Lastminuteliving.com, a 'community site' that allows readers to post reviews of hotels and general travel advice, though it has only attracted 1,300 posts so far. 'Before long, the public will expect this sort of interactivity as the norm rather than the exception,' says a spokeswoman.

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Online travel spending up 14.7 percent in first half of 2006

comScore Networks today reported its e-commerce sales estimates for the first six months of 2006 and forecasts for the entire year.  From January through June, total online spending by consumers totaled $80.8 billion , representing a 20.1 percent increase over the same period in 2005. Online non-travel (retail) spending increased by 24.6 percent to $46.1 billion, while travel spending reached $34.7 billion, marking a 14.7 percent gain.

Several retail categories achieved significant growth compared to last year.  Office Supplies, the top gaining retail category, saw online spending rise 54 percent, while Computer Software grew 39 percent.  Also experiencing strong gains in the first half of 2006 were Sport & Fitness (up 38 percent), Home & Garden (up 36 percent), and Toys & Hobbies (up 33 percent).

Overall, comScore forecasts that total online spending in 2006 will reach approximately $170 billion.  Of that total, comScore estimates that non-travel e-commerce spending will hit approximately $102 billion in 2006, breaking the $100 billion threshold for the first time.  Approximately $24 billion is expected to be spent on non-travel during the 2006 holiday season (November 1st – December 31st).

"Despite the sluggishness of retail growth in general, online consumer spending remains strong," noted Gian Fulgoni, Chairman and Co-Founder of comScore Networks.  "Growth in non-travel online spending continues at a rate of 25 percent year-over-year, which suggests that consumers' online purchase behavior has been relatively unaffected by the general economic trends.  This news certainly bodes well for online retailers for the upcoming holiday season, with online consumer spending expected to reach $24 billion in the November through December period."

The world is your map

Part 1: Real estate 2.0: Giddy with innovation

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

By Jessica Swesey
Inman News

Google map of New York City

Editor's note: The housing market is slowing, but it hasn't stopped innovators from debuting new technology and communication systems of use to the real estate industry. The Web 2.0 boom is rearing its head and providing new ways for the industry to communicate with clients and market home listings. In this three-part report, Inman News gives an update on some of the hottest technologies in real estate: mapping, video and blogging.

Some stories are dark, like the ones told by Paige, the "Hopeless Romantic," who charts out her adventures and mishaps in romance on a custom map, or there's the " Where I was When 9/11 Happened" map. Others are a little more uplifting, like the ones told through maps of people's weddings and places to propose marriage.

Most of the user-made maps on a new site called Platial are more utilitarian like the one for yoga studios in Los Angeles.

Platial, which coins itself "The People's Atlas," launched in December to enable users to create their own maps and tell their stories by adding context around places that hold meaning for them. For instance, some popular uses have been people citing their favorite restaurants, bars, parks and other places.

And of course, there are many real estate stories being told.

Online mapping applications have exploded in the past year as more people began creating mashups with Google's mapping API. More real estate professionals are using maps in their property search offerings, creating a more user-friendly experience for consumers looking for homes. Platial is the latest application with a new spin on user-created maps that spark up community or chart personal stories.

A Boston-area home buyer used Platial to map out houses he'd seen in his home search and to leave comments about the properties. A real estate broker used Platial to map out local market trends, including which homes have sold for below their assessed value or well below asking price in the Boston area.

Zillow, a residential property data provider, recently used Platial to satisfy the common man's curiosity for famous people's homes.

More than 5,000 maps have been created on Platial since launch, according to co-founder and CEO Di-Ann Eisnor. The service is free to users, and any maps created on the site can be published on other sites the creator chooses.

The company, which has six employees and early funding from angel investors, will launch an advertising offering in the next few weeks, Eisnor said, allowing advertisers to purchase a listing on a map. Right now, though, Platial is still in the early adopter phase, she said.

Part of the attractiveness of Platial is how simple it is for users to create maps.

"You don't need any technology expertise," said Eisnor, who, along with her partner, came up with the idea for the online service while living in Amsterdam. "It takes some focus," she said, and people can create a map in about 10 minutes.

About 20 percent of Platial's visitors are adding places to maps and creating their own maps, she said. The remaining 80 percent are using the site to find information on locations and to view maps.

Bill Wendel, broker for the Real Estate Café in Cambridge, Mass., immediately saw a practical business use for Platial in real estate. Wendel has created a map to show overvalued real estate markets in the United States, as well as one that tracks homes that have sold for less than asking price in his local Massachusetts markets.

Wendel's real estate maps are listed at http://www.platial.com/realestatecafe.

The broker said he's trying to create a forum for a nationwide real estate bubble map that invites bloggers, buyer's agents, home buyers and others to contribute. "The idea is to tap into this grassroots knowledge and quite literally protect people from overpaying," he said.

Wendel predicts that more home buyers will begin to create their own maps to track and facilitate a home search. "I think someday something like this will be attached to every open house," he said.

Wendel also sees Platial enabling agents to assemble virtual tours and insider neighborhood information. Agents could invite their clients to add places and comments on local hang outs.

"It's like throwing a virtual block party and asking your neighbors, 'What do you know about this neighborhood?'" Wendel said.

Canada falls off top 10 travel list

ROMA LUCIW Globe and Mail Update

For the first time in 12 years, Canada has fallen off the top 10 list for international travel, bumped by Hong Kong.

Canada ranked 11th in international tourist arrivals in 2004, after placing as high as fifth during the World Exposition in Vancouver, Statistics Canada said Monday, using its most recent annual data. That was down from 10th place in 2003.

The Statscan report shows that global tourism suffered in 2003 as the SARS outbreak, the war in Iraq and softer economic growth kept people close to home. In 2004, it rebounded 10.7 per cent, which was a record high 763 million travellers, Statscan said, citing numbers collected by the World Tourism Organization. That 2004 recovery was the highest of its kind and the only increase to reach double-digits since the current data collection method was started in 1980.

Hong Kong moved up four places to place seventh among the most popular destinations for tourists in 2004, displacing Canada. It was the first time since 1992 that Canada has been elbowed out of the top ten list.

France, Spain and the United States were the most visited countries that year, followed by China, Italy, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and Austria.

The biggest travel drop-off to Canada in 2004 was among Americans, who made fewer cross-border day trips.

Same-day trips to Canada from the U.S. tumbled 8.2 per cent to 19.5 million in 2004 and have slumped annually since 1999.

"Fears of longer wait times at the border and the uncertainty regarding border security and its policies since 9/11, a less favourable exchange rate and higher gasoline prices may have contributed to the drop in same-day travel from the United States," the report said.

That said, the report show overnight travel, or longer trips, by Americans rose in 2004 from the previous year.

Overall, the number of foreigners visiting Canada reached 38.8 million in 2004, slightly less than in 2003. Excluding American tourists, more than 4.2 million overseas tourists boarded planes to Canada in 2004, up 24.3 per cent from 2003.

In 2002, before the SARS outbreak, the number of global visitors to Canada was 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, Canadians were hit with the travel bug in 2004, as the number of trips abroad rose for the first time in four years.

Canadians made 5.7 million overnight trips to overseas countries in 2004, up 13.1 per cent from the record high set in 2003. Bermuda and the Caribbean experienced the largest jump in Canadian tourists, up 15.4 per cent, followed by Europe, up 9.1 per cent.

The United Kingdom displaced Mexico as the most visited overnight overseas destination for Canadians, with more than 754,000 tourists visiting that country in 2004. Ireland moved into the top 15 for the first time since 2001 while Australia fell out of the top 15 for the first time since 2000.

However, the U.S. remains by far the most popular destination for Canadian travellers.

Canadian residents made 41.8 million trips in 2004, and 86 per cent or 36 million of those were to our southern neighbour. Same-day trips and overnight trips to the U.S. rose in 2004 from the previous year.

New York was the most visited U.S. state in 2004, as almost 2.3 million Canadians made the trip. New Yorkers visited Canada in larger numbers than residents of any other state in 2004, with almost 1.9 million tourists from New York crossing the border.

The record travel by Canadians sent this country's international travel deficit to its highest level in 11 years, the report said.

The deficit – defined as the difference between spending by Canadian residents abroad and spending by foreigners in Canada – reached $4.1-billion in 2004, up $101 million from the previous year, Statscan said.

Sheraton launches online 'social network' for guests

Creating a "community" via your Internet site is a dot-com buzzword. Now a big hotel chain is doing it.

The Starwood chain began the dialogue with customers in April with TheLobby.com, designed to update and involve Starwood Preferred Guests.

This week, Starwood's Sheraton brand unveiled the redesigned Sheraton.com, inviting travelers to share trip photos, commentary, tips — and, soon, video.

It's our "foray in the 'social networking' world," says Nadeen Ayala, a Starwood spokeswoman. "The most important thing for travelers is word of mouth ... other people's experiences."

She cites a May report from comScore Media Metrix saying that while the growth rate of many top Internet sites is cooling, it's soaring for sites focused on networking, blogging and local info.

Top 25 Summer Destinations According to TripAdvisor:

1. Las Vegas
2. London
3. Orlando
4. Paris
5. San Francisco
6. Chicago
7. New York City
8. Rome
9. Washington D.C. 
10. Boston
11. Dominican Republic
12. San Diego
13. Cape Cod & Islands
14. Vancouver
15. Sydney
16. Hong Kong
17. Philadelphia
18. Dublin
19. Miami
20. Playa del Carmen
21. Amalfi Coast
22. Maui
23. Cabo San Lucus
24. Charleston
25. Phuket

Next Wave of Camera-Wielding Tourists Is From China

Ryan Pyle for The New York Times

Middle-class tourists from China, like this audience at a transvestite cabaret show in Bangkok early this month, are becoming more numerous.

By HOWARD W. FRENCH

Published: May 17, 2006

BANGKOK — The way it began, with a buffet laid out on deck and "Moon River" oozing from the loudspeakers, it could have been just about any Bangkok sundown cruise.

But this one was unmistakably different. Before the boat even left the dock the food disappeared, right down to the last slice of watermelon — a Chinese favorite. Then the Western musical standards were quickly replaced with recent Chinese hits. And within minutes the passengers, all of whom were Chinese, were singing along.

Any doubts that this was a new day in Thai tourism were put aside as the ship set off down the Chao Phraya River under an exploding sunset. Every few minutes, when it encountered another boat laden with Chinese tourists — and there were many — the passengers hailed one another back and forth cheerfully, in their own language, of course.

For the first time in history, large numbers of Chinese are leaving their country as tourists, resulting in an unparalleled explosion in Chinese travel. If current projections are met, the global tourism industry will be undergoing a crash course in everything Chinese to accommodate the needs of what promises to be the greatest wave of international travelers ever.

As usual when something goes over big in China, the numbers are staggering. In 1995, only 4.5 million Chinese traveled overseas. By 2005 that figure had increased to 31 million, and if expectations for future growth are met or approached, even that gargantuan growth will be quickly dwarfed. Chinese and international travel industry experts forecast that at least 50 million Chinese tourists will travel overseas annually by 2010, and 100 million by 2020.

In 2004, the last year for which there is complete information, 61.7 million Americans traveled abroad.

"They are latecomers on the tourism scene, but they have come on in a big way," said Xu Jing, the Madrid-based director of Asia and Pacific affairs at the World Tourism Organization, an agency of the United Nations. "The growth in Chinese outbound travel in the last five years has been the highest in the world — in the range of 37 or 38 percent a year."

The last nation to burst on the world travel scene with similar speed and force was Japan, which was enjoying an explosion of prosperity in the 1980's. Suddenly Japanese could be seen everywhere, especially groups of middle-aged tourists wearing caps and brandishing the latest camera gear, and led, inevitably, by a Japanese tour guide hoisting a flag so that people would not get lost.

The industry responded by placing Japanese-style slippers and bathrobes in hotel rooms, along with Japanese-language television channels. Japanese-speaking staff members also became de rigueur at hotels and fashionable shops. All that for roughly 17 million overseas visits.

As recently as the late 1980's, all but a select few Chinese were expressly forbidden to travel overseas. But by 2003, China's overseas travelers had already surpassed Japan's, placing the country squarely among the world's leaders. Ultimately, travel experts say, the Chinese impact on world tourism stands to be even bigger.

The six most popular destinations for the Chinese are Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Russia, Thailand and the United States. Already, patterns that took years to develop during the Japanese wave are falling rapidly into place in many of those countries, with hotels, restaurants, airports and shops beginning to cater to their needs with special Chinese-language services, bank A.T.M.'s and menus adapted to Chinese tastes.

As fast as this growth is, though, some in the Chinese travel industry warn that the world is not adapting fast enough. "China is the latest and greatest market, but if other countries don't take cultural differences into account it will hinder our joint efforts to develop it," said Wang Ping, president of the Chinese Chamber of Tourism Commerce.

Ms. Wang said that while Europe was adjusting rapidly to Chinese needs, North America was not, and hotels and other places frequented by tourists failed to provide Chinese-language aids, or food or something so simple as hot water in rooms for tea.

By no means is all of the adjustment on the side of the receiving nations. Chinese tourists have been fined heavily in France recently for arriving with counterfeit luxury goods, like fake Louis-Vuitton handbags.

In Shanghai and other cities, travel agencies post people at airports warning Chinese travelers about penalties for importing fakes and imparting advice on etiquette in the West. "Don't pick teeth, touch your belt, pull at your pants or take off your shoes in public," reads one common brochure. "Don't point fingers at people you're talking to, and don't put your hands on others' shoulders."

The travel publishing industry, too, is racing to cater to the needs of huge waves of novice Chinese travelers, translating existing guides into the language or producing original material.

Next month Lonely Planet, a leader in the effort so far, will produce the first four of what it expects to be many Chinese-language guidebooks. The initial titles cover Germany, Britain, Europe and Australia, with guides covering the United States, Canada and Southeast Asia due soon afterward.

"In 1998, there wasn't one travel guidebook," said Cai Jinghui, the China representative for Lonely Planet. "Nowadays traveling abroad is very common, especially to Southeast Asia. For Chinese, going to Thailand is no different from going to Yunnan."

More than a simple reflection of commercial opportunity, the appearance of Chinese-language guides from companies like Lonely Planet and Michelin reflects a shift in the makeup of the Chinese tourist population, which includes growing numbers of people of modest incomes who are going abroad for the first time.

Such travelers predominated on the Bangkok sundown cruise, where Zhou Jingjian, 51, a power company employee from Shandong Province on a company trip, confidently but misleadingly lectured his traveling colleagues on geography. "This river divides Thailand and Vietnam," Mr. Zhou was heard to say. "That side is Vietnam. This side is Thailand." The two countries are not adjacent.