Hotel alternatives aggregators
March 3, 2008
In my opinion the long tail phenomenon is impacting the media, entertainment, books and travel industry the most. Philip Wolf, our CEO and the analyst team were discussing whether long tail in travel is a company or strategy. The hypothesis is to say that a eco-friendly lodge in Cape town is a long tail company. But his point which is valid, is that long tail is a strategy not a company. So Travelocity can execute a long tail strategy. Anyway among the see of long tail products two I find interesting - couchsurfing and home exchange. The home exchange concept actually was part of recent cameron diaz romantic comedy flick “The Holiday”. The concept is self explanatory. Aggregators include Homeexchange, Internationalhomeexchange. The homexchange claims 12,000 members. Home exchange actually addresses a growing consumer disenchantment with hotel environment and the need for authenticity in staying.
That need is also address by sites like Couchsurfing where one can bunk out in registered members. The hosts have the option of rejecting the prospective guests. My friend in Bombay actually had two interesting guests. A swedish journalist in Bombay to do a story on guess what , the new Indian export Indian cinema or dumbly called Bollywood. This experience works both ways, because it allows for true interactions between the cultures. The tourist experience has made the traveler disconnected from the local citizens. The absence of dialogue results in tourists seeing a country through its past ( musuems), physical spaces (natural landscapes) or stage cultural experiences. Rarely through the eyes of the citizens. Now the Internet is building enabling trust networks to emerge to connect the traveler with local residents.
Comments
Got something to say?
Event Sponsors
Global Sponsors
