Happy Hotelier - Preparing for the Travel Bloggers Summit in Berlin: Nothing Zen!
February 29, 2008
I am looking forward to the opportunity: On March 5 and 6, 2008 I will be meeting a couple of fellow Travel Bloggers (T-Listers) at a Travel bloggers Summit at ITB Berlin (International Travel Boerse (or Fair), Berlin.
Nothing Zen
In December 2006 I started my Zen series as a sort of status report about how the Internet is developing to help you with planning and booking a trip. Nothing better than to report about your own travel preparations to see how advanced or not the Internet is with respect to DIY Travel.
My 5 Areas of Interest
I said earlier: Traveling is about 4 distinctive areas of interest, but actually there are 5 (I now have added as nr 2: “Where to stay in B?”, because that is also the main focus of my own blog). Here is the list:
- How to travel from A to B? Like: by plane, train, car or by boat? (I hate buses)
- Where to stay in B?
- How is B looking? Maps, pictures and descriptions (what you usually look for in a paper guide)
- How are the people of B?
- Things to do in B? Bars, restaurants, theaters, musea, scenic parts
1) How to travel from The Hague to Berlin?
Well this one is simple this time. First, as a hotelier, it is always difficult to plan well ahead of time as there are always last minute guests and/or last minute changes of guests. I have a decent car. The trip to Berlin is 703 km according to my Tom Tom. Main part of the trip is over German motorways without speed limits, so I can burn the rubber a bit. I also like to tour around a bit by car at destinations, because it gives me a better feel of the geography. I have a laptop and some camera gear to take with me which would be a lot of weight for an airplane and last, but not least I like to smoke which is not allowed anymore in planes and trains. Finally, with the very low level of service at airports (I always feel like being in a lorry of pigs heading to the slaughterhouse) and in airplanes and all the delays, there is not so much time to gain when you travel up to 700/800 km. So I decided to go by car.
More to follow, because I hit the “Publish Button” far too early:-)
And p.s.: Happy Leap Day!
Jaime Horwitz
February 29, 2008
A few days to go. On Tuesday I will catch a flight to Newark, New Jersey and from there direct to Berlin. I am one of the T-List bloggers attending the PhoCusWright summit and I’m excited about the occasion. I have been blogging for a few years now. It began with my Blog de Canada, Spanish language blog, to complement my Web 1.0 Canada en Espanol sites. The idea was to have an online vehicle to get closer to my visitors and to allow them to interact by posting comments. The blog is a more personal medium of communication than the sites and it allows me to express opinions about Canada as well as to post content on current affairs at any time.
After the Blog de Canada, came the Canadian Tourism Blog. The idea for this blog came about because of all the talk about Web 2.0 in various canadian tourism conferences. I figured that it would be a good idea and a service to the industry to launch a blog for and about the canadian tourism industry and canadian tourism. This blog is intended as an open forum for canadian tourism businesses and organizations wherein people can express opinions, rants and concerns about what is going on in Canadian tourism. In contrast to my Spanish language blog, the Canadian Tourism Blog is not intended for the consumer.
I also keep a blog in Turismo 2.0, the tourism professionals’ social network founded by the indefatigable Albert Barra (among others) from Barcelona. I am not as active on this blog due to time constraints, but the site is a great place to learn and share knowledge about tourism with fellow Spanish speakers.
Finally (another blog) last December, I launched Canadamigos, a social network to foster travel and friendship among Canadians, Canadian Hispanics and Hispanics around the world. I also blog on this site which is doing well so far. The idea for this site is to take advantage of the growth of niche Web 2.0 social media to complement my business. I want to put into practice a “model based on knowledge,” as Edu William pointed out in his Tips from the T-List article (The abundance in tourism). The hope is that the site will foster travel based on a human recommendation system (a la TripAdvisor, but more personal) and, from the business point of view, bring in some abundance from the supplier side as well. Time will tell if the site will be successful as a complement to the business. As far as users is concerned, I feel confident given the growth in memberships since it began last December.
This brings me to Berlin, where I hope to acquire more practical knowledge from fellow bloggers. I also look forward to gaining some insight as to what tourism marketers are looking for from bloggers and social media as well as whether the industry is willing to support niche players.
See you in Berlin. Danke,
Jaime
Digital Divide and Travel Buying
February 29, 2008
When one attends ITB one also realises that the outbound and inbound travel business structure is still pretty much the same. Except the large travel companies, who can invest in IT, E-commerce and content management platforms, the smaller, regional companies have yet to leverage the full digital arsenal. The investments might be too much. I dont think the Travel 2.0 and web 2.0 paradigm has also been leveraged by the small and medium size travel enterprises that dot the landscape in Europe and Asia. Beyond e-mail and maybe a reservation platform for hotels, one has yet to see a platform for the SME’s. Exciting time to be a part of this travel mega mart. The scale is quite mind boggling.
Joe Buhler
February 27, 2008
I started my blog in January 2005 and focus on vision, innovation and strategy related to web marketing, especially on what’s going to happen next on the web as it becomes smarter and ever more useful for consumers to research, plan and buy their travel services. My particular area of interest is how social media, social networking and user generated content form ongoing conversations about any topic imaginable and how these conversations affect organizations and their brands in ways many still do not realize and appreciate. Social media measurement, brand monitoring and reputation management are the key elements to pay attention to as they will determine future success. More on that topic can be found on my website.
I gained my professional experience in destination marketing, tour operations, retail travel and the airline industry, in descending order of importance. For the past twelve years, I’ve been involved in the largest vertical on the web - online travel. I was on the management team of an innovative online travel start-up and besides my consulting work and involvement with PhoCusWright as Senior Destination Marketing Analyst, I am also a partner in a web development and design firm providing innovative solutions to the financial services industry.
During my long business career, I’ve held senior executive positions in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and in the United States. For the past 15 years I’ve lived in Connecticut, within an hour train ride from New York City.
Ludolf Stavenga - Reisportals
February 27, 2008
I’m Ludolf Stavenga and my blog Reisportals is on travel portals and the travel & media industry.
I’m an internet consultant for the travel and media industry, and I’m based in the Netherlands. 
I work as business development manager for Inpakken en wegwezen, the largest travel portal of the Netherlands, and for several large Dutch publishers, among them Sanoma Uitgevers.
I started my career out in media/publishing, and always had a fascination about the internet. When I entered the tourism industry, finally all internet possibilities and dreams :-) came true.
Besides all the opportunities of video, interaction, communication, tourism and internet also gives a chance to be commercial and earn money. All new models (cps, cpl, auctions, affiliate programmes etc) are possible. Combining tourism and internet are two dream places coming together!
Having my origins in media and tourism, in my blog reisportals (written in Dutch) I try to combine both worlds of publishers and travel companies. As travel companies add more content and communication, and publishers are adding travel offers, it’s getting a very competitive space! And interesting to write and communicate about!
At ITB I will be meeting some of our (potential) customers, and also hope to contribute to the bloggers summit. Learning about the new developments on travel technology is also a great chance. Looking forward meeting you at ITB!
tourismuszukunft.de
February 27, 2008
This is the team of tourismuszukunft.de: Jens Oellrich and Florian Bauhuber. For more than 1 1/2 years we are blogging about the tourism branch in Germany. On the blog tourismuszukunft.de (tourism future) we are describing and commenting new trends and developments, which are important for the travel industry. Due to our jobs we try to take care about both aspects of tourism. Germany as a destination for tourists and Germany as an outgoing market with all the tour operators and travel agencies.
Florian is client manager for intermaps, that is providing web mapping services for destinations in Germany, Italy Switzerland and Austria. Jens runs his own business as a start-up and is developing a website for SME tour operators to let them promote themselves in a better way.
We both organized the tourismuscamp, which took place last month. With the help of Prof. Hopfinger from the KU-Eichstätt, a university for tourism science, we realized this un-conference in the style of the BarCamps. More than 50 participiants came to the small town of Eichstätt to talk about web trends and tourism.
We both are looking forward to the blogger summit at the ITB and to see you soon!
Detlef Meyer
February 26, 2008
I am happy that this interesting event takes place in Berlin, where I lived and worked a long time. The ITB is of course the best place to bring together a lot of Blogger from all over the world.
I am blogging since a little bit more then two years. First - to try out this new kind of communication with my customers and an interested audience. And it is all the time a walk on a thin line between news, comments and personal stories.
My core business are consulting services for tourism suppliers from outside Germany, which are interested to step into the German market. We provide all necessary services from research to marketing, PR and sales support. The days around the ITB are the busiest in the year. Harvest time!
A small department offers such services for travel technology companies too.
And so are my blogs:
Roundtrip (http://www.eastservices.de/wordpress) about destination management, marketing and news from our destinations.
It’s Travel Technology (http://traveltechnologies.blogspot.com) about travel technology news and ideas.
Written for the German audience in German. Have a look and enjoy.
Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte
February 26, 2008
I’m Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte a UK based travel website which focuses on European travel. I started my online travel business in 2002 as I believed that travellers were looking for something different to the traditional package holiday. Low cost airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair were expanding fast and it was easy and cheap for consumers to book their own flights to Europe. I wanted to create a site to promote less well known destinations in Europe, in the belief that if you venture, even slightly, off the well worn tourist track, you will have a more authentic experience and get better value for money.
I planned to make money by commission on accommodation featured in my destination guides, through direct agreements with suppliers. However this model was too slow with me contacting suppliers and then getting back to the potential customer and I’d some problems with suppliers not paying commission. I decided to go down the affiliate route where although I earn less commission than with a direct supplier agreement, the potential customer can immediately check online availability and make a booking and my commission is always paid promptly.
I started a blog for my business in October 2006 . I received an email from a business studies student doing research about travel business blogs for her dissertation. This email prompted me to look into business blogging. After reading about all the benefits a blog can bring to your business I took the plunge.
It’s been a bit of balancing act writing for the blog. I always have to bear in mind that it’s a business blog but as I’m the sole author the blog is bound to be, to some extent, personal. In a small business that can be a positive thing as it makes your blog unique and more human than a blog from a large corporation. A business blog has to be an asset to your business, not just a channel of your ravings.
I try to write posts that will inform, interest and entertain readers while simultaneously promoting my business by creating brand identity, increasing brand loyalty and increasing sales. Readers will soon tire of blatant sales copy but if I invest time and effort researching and writing blog posts I need to see a return on that investment.
I love working in the travel industry but it is challenging being a small independent in such a competitive market.
Happy Hotelier - Profile
February 25, 2008
Happy Hotelier is the proud owner of a trend setting very small 3 suites hotel in The Hague, The Netherlands: Haagsche Suites which he started to develop from scratch in 2000. Haagsche Suites opened in fall 2002. He is also involved in developing and renting of various residential properties in and around The Hague. From 1978 until 2001 he has also practiced as a lawyer specialized in international taxation.
Happy Hotelier blogs about many subjects of interest to him and hopefully to his readers at Happy Hotelier.
From time to time he has published an unofficial ranking of Travel and Hospitality related Blogs (T-List) and counts over 265 bloggers.
During his past 4 years of blogging Happy Hotelier got in contact with several Hospitality and Travel related Bloggers. On several occasions he has expressed a wish to form a real Community of T-Listers. He is happy that, thanks to the efforts of several individuals and now by generous sponsorship of several companies, he is able to meet some of the individuals he “knows” already IRL (In Real Life).
Finally: He doesn’t necessarily have to be anonymous, but prefers to maintain his nick name as much as possible. If you are interested in his background, real name and many more interests, check out Happy Hotelier | About.
Thank you and Cheers!
Philip Caines’ Profile
February 20, 2008
Managing Editorhttp://tourismtide.blogspot.com
Vancouver, BC, Canada
As head of Tourism Solutions at Sentias Software Corp., Philip is currently focused on Web 2.0 solutions for Travel and Tourism SMEs, primarily in the online sales vertical. One such solution, www.Rezgo.com has empowered numerous companies to sell their travel and tourism products through their existing website as well as adding distribution capabilities through a number of partner portals. His previous work includes working with an award winning DMO, Tourism Vancouver, with the focus on improving the Visitor Services department. You can find his Tourism Industry blog at http://tourismtide.blogspot.com.
Event Sponsors
Global Sponsors
