TravelWatchNews- Travel marketing and Travel technology Research and prespective

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TRAVELWATCH Articles

01/29/2012

01/20/2012 - SocialIndexEngine Campaign Case Study
The early results of Social Index Marketing campaign to promote Marigot Beach Hotel in St. Lucia are very encouraging. Compared to the same time last year, the hotel has had a 200% increase in bookings. The page rank for their website, MarigotBeachClub.com, has increased from PR3 to PR4. This new marketing strategy is at the core of our approach to SEO Marketing. For more on this marketing campaign and how the SocialIndexEngine can work for your hotel or tourism operation, see our video . You can also read our blog.
>> http://socialindexengine.com

01/13/2012 - New Video promoting Marigot Bay Blasted
We have just published another video blast for Marigot Bay in St. Lucia for TraveltoExoticPlaces.com. Unlike the previous video, which focused mainly on the Marigot Beach Hotel, this one is featuring the destination of St. Lucia. We are publishing a separate blog that describes the success of this campaign, explains what we did and why and offers some insights as to why our SocialIndexEngine works. See our blog for more details.
>> http://bit.ly/marigotbay

12/04/2011 - Social Media Marketing for Travel #2: Automation Tools and Risks
HubPages covering SEO, Social Index and strategies, tools and risk used to market and bring viral power to brands see hub page Hubpages Article

Link below for ViralPowerBranding with Social Indexing>>>
>> http://SocialIndExengine.com

12/04/2011 - Article Marketing To Power Your Brand

For an Example of Content Marketing see our Video on Marketing Dominica: BookingsDominica.com. The site has over 50 standard pages of information and 100 dynamic pages of continent that is configured to suite the travellers search. We wrote many articles and created a magazine. The campaign included comments and post to bookmarks, twitter and press releases. The result: In just under a year, the site gained a Page Rank of 4. and over 500,000 Unique Visitors visitors. We had 30,000 link directly to the Hotel Members Websites from the portal alone and an unmeasured number of links from the Internet resulting from the viral power of the Social Media and content marketing.

See blog

NB: article marketing is part of the SocialIndexEngine.com (SIE) service by AXSES. SIE creates viral powered brands
>> http://SocialIndexEngine.com

11/28/2011 - Lessons from Affiliate Marketers
Jeff Johnson is reputed to be one of the top Affiliate marketers in the world - Travel companies can learn a lot about marketing on the net by following Jeff Johnson. A top Internet Marketing Guru who is telling it like it is in this series of videos. We have subscribed to some of his courses and have had success with strategies which we have modified for tourism marketing and also integrated in our Social Indexing and SEO marketing for travel: SocialIndexEngine.com- Check out - Jeffs videos
>> http://bit.ly/autotrafic

11/03/2011 - Working with Bolivia Cultural Tourism
AXSES is in the early stages of implementing a basic Social Index campaign for the country of Bolivia. We are promoting Bolivia with appealing tours and packaged holidays that showcase several cities for travellers to see the country's many unique points of interest. Our newest international client, Hostal de Su Merced, is working on creating the tours and teaming up with other hotels and local experts to deliver a unique countrywide experience. See our blog for more on our new YouTube Video and blogs on Bolivia.
>> http://BoliviaHotelSpecials.com

10/21/2011 - How Google is Changing Travel Search
Since Google is trying more and more to deliver customized results for each individual, hotels and travel companies will need to get Google's attention. This means that they will need to engage more in Social Media. How can they compete in this new environment? See our blog
>> http://socialindexengine.com

10/13/2011 - Is Search Failing Small Hotels?
Google is making it difficult for small hotels to be seen in organic search as it changes the layout of results to promote advertisers and its own results like Google Places. Google Search is now in the eCommerce business, offering rates by date and links to booking options. Google is also providing its own places' websites in several cases. It lists seven properties on top of the map; these are 7 they think are the most appropriate search results. The mechanics of choosing the top 7 is not clear at all. Google has added their own eCommerce into the mix, displaying season rates and linking off to shopping sites like Expedia. How will small hotels survive? See our blog
>> http://socialmarketing4travel.com/

10/06/2011 - Travel to Exotic Places
AXSES builds market leads capture site http://travel2ExoticPlaces.com as part of its marketing campaign St. Lucia hotels and other exotic destinations. This is a tiny part of the overall strategy that includes content marketing, video positioning and social media with the new service and tools of its SocialIndexEngine.com - For details on the marketing strategy and technology, please see our blog
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>> http://Travel2ExoticPlaces.com

09/25/2011 - Is Search the New Media
Search Engines morphing into a far more interactive channel. We have interactive maps and pricing options now right in search results. Look at Google + and remember that new media is not about broadcasting but about enabling participation. Hangouts is new media! Blog
>> http://socialindexengine.com

09/19/2011 - Facebook Places Moves to Pages
Facebook is abanding its PLACES app in favour of moving it to conventional pages. It is not ducking the location game, but moving it to the mainstream. They are moving away the check-in services and in this way Places is being killed off and being replaced by new Nearby area.
>> http://bit.ly/fbplacesmoves

08/22/2011 - Social Media Marketing 4 Travel
New service in Social Media with a focus on travel described as SocialMarketing4Travel.com is full service solution for travel marketing using social media. Social media is now the primary source of influence and leads for many travel companies (more later on this when we discuss National Geographics case study). Social media networking incorporates videos, mobile, bookmarks, podcasts, articles, blogs, Twitter and other social sites like LinkedIn. It is geared to the new media landscape and the future of all marketing and all media. see blog About Social Marketing for Travel | Site: http://Social4travel.com
>> http://social4travel.com

08/22/2011 - Future Social Media for Hotel Marketing Travel & Tourism (hub)
This is the second in the series on the future of Media. Our Previous TravelWatchNews blog on Clay Shirky looks into the future of Social Media Networking and Marketing for travel and tourism. It concludes that Social Media is not about being social but about participation. This blog delves into social networking and its form and function in the age of participation HubPages on The Future of Social Media for Hotel Marketing Travel & Tourism
>> http://hubpages.com/t/2859a7

08/08/2011 - Clay Shirkly on Social Media
review of how Social Media is changing the marketing landscape for travel. Blog looks at his core principles and how they relate to hotel, travel and tourism marketing - Social Media it seems, is not really social at all. Great video on TED and You Tube - A must watch for the thinking marketer
>> http://bit.ly/notsosocial-media

08/04/2011 - Facebook Posts Engine Gets More Fans
New arcRes Facebook application automates Fan Page Posts and Facebook Wall Post with Special Offers for Travelers and Fans. "Posting Special Offers and Packages" are great content for Fan Conversation, status updates and wall posts. They also get shared amongst Fans and friends of Fans giving good exposure. With arcRes Special Offers application for Facebook, Hotels and Tourism suppliers can quickly build and display engaging Facebook content and get more fans.See Blog
>> http://FanPagePosts.com

06/10/2011 - Facebook Sweepstake 4 Tourism
AXSES has set up a Sweepstake on the Barbados Tourism Encyclopedia Facebook Fan page. There are several objectives as outlined in the TravelWatchNow blog at See the blog. One of the prime focuses is to continue and test Facebook as a tourism platform. This is part of the AXSES http://SocialMarketing4Travel.com strategy to build Social Media Service, technology and deliver unique products to the tourism industry internationally. AXSES' expertise in this area was rewarded by recognition in a recent New York Times article on Social Media for Travel. Keep tuned in as we roll out our 10-point strategy for Facebook and Social Media! Win at http://barbados.org/win See the Video on YouTube below.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6ohqkDs0AY

05/19/2011 - Facebook TravelAds #2 Mobile Results
Facebook ads for mobile travel generated a high click-through rate and interest. Visitors stayed over 2 minutes and visited many pages. They visited the suppliers' offers and some used the booking engine to get quotes. Just under 1 million impressions were delivered for 330 Clicks. Google's AdWords' visitors, by comparison, stayed under 30 seconds and many visited no pages. Google Adwords underperformed, whereas Facebook exceeded expectations. See our blog for more info. Results also on our YouTube video below.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YezSUrhg1rQ

04/23/2011 - Facebook Travel Ads #2 Mobile
Second in a series of case studies using Facebook as a channel for marketing hotels and travel. In this issue, we look at Mobile Travel. How to advertise a Mobile Travel Site like http://travelonthego.mobi. Facebook advertising does not appear on mobile sites, so we are driving desktop users to a mobile site. A bit odd, but it had merit. We are testing out various options in split tests and will report back shortly.
>> http://bit.ly/facebooktravel2mobile

04/19/2011 - AXSES Facebook app in New York Times
arcResBookings for Facebook is featured in New York Times Social Media Travel article today. In an honourable mention to AXSES, the Times article covers 19 properties, from Trump to Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. The articles follow up on AXSES leadership with the first travel app for direct bookings in Social media. AXSES is offering a service to help independent hotels, small chains and tourism operators engage fans on Facebook with interactive and immediate quotes and bookings, tailored to their Fan pages on Facebook. The article also notes the importance of mobiles and the increase in Smartphone travellers' booking and planning holidays from their mobile phones. This is interesting, as AXSES is currently integrating its TravelOnTheGo.mobi and SmarphoneTraveller marketing with Facebook travel marketing. We plan to offer an innovative Social Media marketing service, integrated with Mobile marketing very shortly. See more in our blog.
>> http://bit.ly/nytimes-facebook

04/08/2011 - Facebook Travel Ads #1 Concept
Facebook Hotel and Travel Ads work! Check out our latest blog. Details on our market test and proof of concept. Follow this blog for a complete market analysis and strategy on how to market Travel with Facebook. How to do a split test, create effective ads, landing pages and close business. More to follow.
>> http://bit.ly/facebooktravelads2

03/24/2011 - Dominica Kalinago - Carib Warner
This blog summaries the latest story in our series on the Kalinago. It's a new story of the Caribbean. Blog on Carib Warner. The hub is linked below.
>> http://bit.ly/CaribWarner

03/18/2011 - New Features for Direct Bookings/Marketing
arcRes V5: Real-time booking with new travel marketing options. This streamlined booking engine, marketing and publishing system brings the latest technology to hotels and tourism and makes it easy for travellers to shop, evaluate, decide and book.
>> http://bit.ly/arcresupgradeblog

03/14/2011 - arcRes WordPress Booking Widget
Axses launches arcRes Booking Widget for WordPress Hotel and Tourism websites. The arcRes Booking Widget provides flexible inventory and payment options and can work for WordPress merchants. It also provides a credit card guarantee system which is becoming very popular, as many hotels have excellent discount rates with local banks. Credit Card Guarantee is a standard used by the majority of international hotels, and it is very suited to small hotels that don't have a need for Internet merchant accounts.
>> http://bit.ly/wordpressbookings

03/03/2011 - Hotel Rates Hurt Direct Business
OTAs gain followings at the expense of the direct channel. Price is a huge reason for their success. They advertise 50% discounts and have been know to sell below cost to create the expectation that they have the best deals around. Hotels have been asked to step up the game with Deals and Specials layered onto the already deep discounts, leaving many with little margin on rooms sold in the OTA channels. See Blog
>> http://bit.ly/dVKC0V

02/26/2011 - Confirmed Booking vs. Request
AXSES pioneered the idea of an open booking engine that does not require inventory management and captures all lookers in a marketing database. It is an easy system to work with and is very popular with hotels and tourism operators, especially those who follow up and send out direct mails to all those lookers who get quotes and show interest. Our latest research casts some question on the effectiveness of this technique and looks at alternatives with Confirmed Bookings. Boookings Blog
>> http://arcres.com/upgrade/

02/20/2011 - dotMobi Advantages
AXSES R&D comments on dotMobi, the ICANN standard for mobile devices and mobile websites- Article outlines the AXSES 4-Point Mobile Marketing strategy. See Blog
>> http://smartphonetraveller.com

02/15/2011 - Facebook Phones for Smartphone Travellers: Social Search Gets Local
HTC and INQ both unveiled a couple of new smartphone models for Facebook. These are phones that launch with your Facebook page and make it easier to use Facebook on a smartphone to connect to others, share information and find local travel attractions and resources near to you. For Facebook travellers on the go, it will be useful for looking up Facebook offers at local hotel, restaurant and activities nearby. Primed by the Geolocation capabilities built into the phone, it makes search personal and local. More on our Blog Subscribe to SmartphoneTraveller.com marketing below.
>> http://smartphonetraveller.com

02/02/2011 - Google Launches Web Browsing for Android Apps Market
Android Apps Marketplace now at http://market.android.com/ This is a great online resources that is easily search-able and available for any web browser - see our bog - Sign up for SmartphoneTraveller marketing at http://smartphone.arcres.biz
>> http://smartphone.arcres.biz

01/31/2011 - Persuasion in the Age of Engagement
Google's new rules make it hard for marketers to be seen and to persuade. We wonder: is persuasion dying in the new age of engagement? Are personal referrals and friends' advice on social networks going to replace search and marketing? Blog
>> http://hubpages.com/t/1f9047

01/13/2011 - TravelOnTheGo Mobile Marketing
DotMobi has been the right decision for us on a number of counts. Most notably is the adoption of .Mobi by ICANN and the thousands of search engines and Mobile Directories that get the information on new dotMobi sites. This has great benefit for hotel and tourism brands that market with arcRes Publishing. Our travelonthego.mobi (view on smartphones) directories help get hotels on the first page of Google search results. See Blog
>> http://hubpages.com/hub/travel-on-the-go

01/11/2011 - Engagement Turned Upside-Down
In researching for our HubPage on Facebook as a Travel Platform (see link Below), I came across Simon Sinek. Simon talks about this concept, which he calls the "Golden Circle". His research on the great successes of the Wright Brothers to modern-day Apple Computers shows a common thread that defies tradition. Blog
>> http://hubpages.com/hub/the-facebook-business-model

12/29/2010 - Cultural Tourism and Adventure Travel
Adventure Travel has been described as any combination of Sports and activities (generally extreme), cultural exchanges and exploration and nature. This article looks at cultural adventure travel with stories about people, places and elephants in the world of adventure.
>> http://slidesha.re/culturaltravel

12/28/2010 - Selecting Facebook Apps for Travel
As a Hotel and Travel Platform, Facebook has to provide help for you to organize your data, so that it is meaningful, relevant and actionable. Online Travel agents are leading this move, which is unfortunate, as Facebook is a brand-friendly channel that can- and should- be used by hotels, tourism operators and destinations to build their own brand integrity, Fan loyalty and direct bookings. See our Blog |
>> http://bit.ly/facebook-ezine

12/26/2010 - 10 tips - Article Writing for Travel Marketing
Do not write advertorials or what are seen as self-service promotions. Advertorials are not generally effective, neither are infomercials. Self-serving articles do not impress those who are looking for good independent information. See our Blog

Also, see an example below for a promo of Romantic-Holiday-Destinations. A site marketing hotel and tourism companies: Adventure Holidays
>> http://hubpages.com/hub/Romantic-holiday-Travel

12/14/2010 - Can Google +1 Catch Facebook?
Travel shoppers are looking to friends and friends of friends for advice and suggestions on travel, destinations, hotels and holiday activities. Many are going to Facebook hotel pages, groups and reading Facebook friends' reviews. This "social trend" is influencing where they go, how they get there and what they do. See our Blog for more info. Try arcResBooking for Facebook by clicking the link below. This free trial will load your brand, seasons, rates, rooms, images and content onto your Facebook page and allow Facebook Fans to get instant quotes or book holidays with you, directly from Facebook.
>> http://arcres.com/facebook-offer-bookings.cfm

11/24/2010 - Adventure Holiday Specials Marketing
Here are 10 reasons to book adventure holidays direct. It's not all about the best holiday specials and deals, but best rates and specials have become a necessity.
More about promoting your adventure holiday specials: Go to Adventure Travel Destinations affiliates . For 10 top reasons why Adventure travellers should buy direct - See our Blog below.
>> http://bit.ly/adventure-holiday-specials

11/21/2010 - Dominica Carib People
A personal account and view of a culture on the edge! A part of the Dominica Article Ranking and video blogging in AXSES Destination Marketing.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/11/dominica-carib-people.html

10/30/2010 - Romantic Holiday Marketing
Romance is all of this: Adventure, mystery, luxury, exotic, wild, peaceful, tempting, dangerous, exciting, a hideaway and an escape. Romance is a state of mind and an expectation. Romantic holiday sare now family affairs. Holidays to romantic places are as appealing to families, singles, groups, and business as they are to couples and honeymooners. See this story on our Blog: Blog
>> http://Romantic-Holiday-Destinations.com

10/24/2010 - New Video: How to Add Bookings To Facebook
Facebook takes centre stage for Hotel and Tourism Bookings & Marketing. The HubPage article covers several topics on Facebook and its future with Bing, Mobile Phones Search and Travel as it relates to tourism suppliers and hotel owners. See http://hubpages.com/hub/Marketing-Tourism-with-facebook-Bookings-Mobile

10/24/2010 - Adventure Travel Destinations Marketing
AAXSES launches Adventure Travel Destinations Marketing. The new site includes multiple destinations, all of which offer specials and deals for adventure holidays. There are adventure trips for family adventure holidays, romantic adventure vacations for couples, adventure getaways for singles, learning, culture, educational and gourmet adventures for wine tasting, great dining and every holiday escape. See Blog >>
>> http://adventure-travel-destinations.com

10/22/2010 - How Travellers Use Smartphones
Hilton Hotel International revealed that their Smartphone Mobile applications were downloaded more than 340,000 times as of August, 2010. The Hilton expects customers will book "well over" 100,000 room nights via mobile apps in 2010. Facebook smartphone users now account for 20% of daily logins and are growing fast. Smartphone Bookings by travellers requires a new look at how we market... see hub page
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>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-travelers-use-smartphone.html

10/13/2010 - AXSES Launched Tourism Video Blogging Marketing Service
Photography/video, story boarding, article writing, narration, blogging and marketing. Marketing video includes distribution of the video to 27 key video sites including YouTube and Dailymotion, to ezines, press release and bookmarking sites.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/10/axses-launched-tourism-video-blogging.html

10/02/2010 - Facebook Travel Blog Launched
AXSES launches a Facebook Travel Blog. While there are several Facebook blogs, this blog is for hotel and tourism suppliers and reports on Facebook issues and developments as they affect travel.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/10/facebook-travel-blog-launched.html

09/17/2010 - Facebook Bookings app & Video
AXSES new Release of arcResBookings.com for Facebook comes with a video showing just how easy it is to get your arcRes content, rooms, rates, images and property info onto your Facebook pages. Special rates and coupons can be offered to Facebook Fans, and special content and welcome messages may be customized for Facebook. Works for hotels, villas and all accommodation as well as car rentals and tourism operators. See our HubPages for the full story (below) - see our arcRes pages videos.arcResBookings.com and the story on HubPages (below):
>> http://hubpages.com/hub/Marketing-Tourism-with-facebook-Bookings-Mobile

09/12/2010 - The Leopard can Change its Spots
How and why Apple reserved its decision and opened up the iPhone platform to more developers and to Flash.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/09/apple-hears-market-and-opens-iphone

09/09/2010 - Selecting Mobile Travel Technology
Top 6 Criteria that will make the difference in successful iPhone/Smartphone marketing.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/09/mobile-travel-bookings-need-smartphone.html

09/03/2010 - Web preferred over Smartphone apps
Hotel and tourism operators need to make their information Smartphone-ready. Now, our new arcRes module will make it easy to publish your brand and products (rooms, car rentals, tourism activities, etc.) to Mobile and Smartphones. The new arcRes marketing application will also promote this information on the new web mobile channel and our smartphone app for Direct Travel shopping. See all this on the AXSES Smartphone website at Hotel Marketing to Smartphone travellers. For more on this story, see our blog below. Your browser cannot play this video? Learn how to fix this.
What this means is that we create a standard way for information to be loaded, stored and managed for websites, for Smartphone applications, Web 2.0 applications, like Facebook, and for web marketing. See the web. "while about a third of Smartphone owners use their devices for travel-related...
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/09/hotel-smartphone-website-bring-more.html

08/26/2010 - Hotel websites: rethinking for mobile
"Most regular web sites look horrible on a Smartphone." So says Chris Atkinson, Founder of MobiSphere. I agree, and we have the proof of that in the video below. This is particularly true for the Hotel and Tourism Operator's website, where bookings are complex and include many dimensions: Terms and meal plans, upgrades and add-ons, different rates by season, special deals and promotions, different rate plans, family plans and packages.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/08/hotel-website-on-smartphones-need.html

08/14/2010 - Publish or Perish
What better way to get noticed than getting publicity, print coverage online. One that you can do yourself or, at least, control yourself. It is a slightly new twist on an old and dying adage: replace print with the hybrid of digital marketing. Both in print and online, have it ready to download, ready to print on your own desktop, or have it shipped to your destination sales staff, travel agent or traveller.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/08/next-hotel-marketing-wave-publish-or.html

08/01/2010 - Will Jobs be a Past Piper?
Apple is becoming more and more of a closed system. The latest plans show a company moving away from the developers and looking to go it alone.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/08/jobs-wants-iphone-to-dominate-travel.html

07/27/2010 - AXSES SmartphoneTraveller Apps
AXSES Smartphone Travel app allows independent hotels, car rental companies, tourism operators and destinations to reach travellers directly on their mobile phones, as well as on many Internet marketing channels. See latest news about Smartphone Travel apps at http://smartphonetravelapps.com
>> http://smartphonetraveller.com

07/27/2010 - SmartphoneTraveller: Jobs not done well
Suddenly, is seems that the Apple iPhone is not the darling of the consumer. Google Android Smartphone shipping, at 1000 per day, is outpacing Apple. A quiet backlash is taking place, and for good reason. Read more on AXSES HubPages (link below) - also see AXSES SmartphoneTraveller.com and AXSES Smartphone applications page
>> http://hubpages.com/hub/smartphone-and-mobile-travelers

07/27/2010 - Dominica Selects AXSES Travel Platform
The Dominica Tourism Authority (Discover Dominica Authority, DDA) selects the AXSES Travel Platform for the tourism industry in Dominica. Colin Piper, CEO/Director of the Discover Dominica Authority, says, We selected AXSES because its people have a deep understanding of the travel marketplace and the right suite of products and resources to help our travel marketing.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2010/07/dominica-tourism-authority-gets-axses.html

04/20/2010 - The Interactive Brand
"A brand does not exist on a shelf, it exists in the hearts and minds of people..." Mahesh Murthy, 2010. We are in the age of the Interactive Brand. Check out our blog, newsletters and websites that explain the secrets of the brand that connects!
>> http://interactive-brand.com/

01/22/2010 - Branding at a Crossroads
Our point of view is that Hotels and Tourism Operators are getting sucked into giving away their brand. Reliance on OTAs is bad for brand integrity. It is important not to abdicate the responsibility of managing your own Brands and taking control of it. We have 3 related views on this. See a short version in the Newsletter #11.
More details in our blog on branding
Full article Tourism Shopping Technology Magazine
>> http://TourismPlatform.com

10/31/2009 - Is Expedia good for you?
The debate on OTAs vs. Direct heated up this week with the release of new stats on shifts in the channel and the decision by Choice to quite Expedia. See our blog (below). We have also created a detailed report on brand marketing and brand integrity. It is available as a free PDF download. A printed magazine version is also available on demand at a cost of a couple of dollars. http://tourismplatform.com - click on the magazine image to order or download.
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2009/10/otas.html

07/31/2009 - Booking-Partners - Boosts Destination Marketing!
Tourism operators and Hotels team up to market each others' products, increasing destination exposure and profits.
>> http://booking-partners.com

07/15/2009 - Rates & Revenue Management at a Crossroads
Rates and Revenue management are changing - See the latest trends and links on our Rates at a Crossroads Blog
>> http://arcres.com/ecommerce-rss-specials-tourism-marketing.cfm

07/08/2009 - Computing at a Crossroads
Google has made its intentions clear. They are going to take on Microsoft with a New Operating System for the desktop. It's a bold move that will see Google's Browser (Chrome) expand to managing your total computer resources. About time; Windows is a hog on resources, with software that has meandered through an evolution and got lost in a maze. It was never designed for the Internet, where we are spending more and more of our computing time. See our Computing Crossroads Blog.
>> bit.ly/comptingcrossrd

06/15/2009 - Google Wave - Another Crossroads?
Google Wave has set a new paradigm for computing. It could have far-reaching implications if it's adopted - For the full story, see our WaveBlog. For a simple definition of what it is, see our arcRes Social Media - What is Wave?
>> http://bit.ly/googlewave1

05/16/2009 - Facebook: Things you must know
Terms that may affect you. How to set up and optimise pages/groups. How to use Facebook for tourism and travel marketing.
>> http://arcres.com/facebook-travel-marketing.cfm

05/13/2009 - Social Media: Tourism & Travel Marketing
Who does what and how. Which channels are best for Travel Marketing. Tips & technology to help you compete.
>> http://arcres.com/Social-media-travel-marketing.cfm

05/06/2009 - e-Commerce and Travel Marketing Tools
Travel e-commerce and travel marketing tools help hotels and tourism operator market and manage distribution and direct business. See our detailed blog on the state of the industry: AXSES Blog- Travel Marketing Tools

arcRes Travel Marketing Suites is a world leader in making the Internet work for hotel brands and tourism operators. With AXSES' recently announced Facebook Bookings Application, it covers the entire spectrum of e-commerce from direct sales, Global Distribution and social networking:

Web info on arcRes Marketing Suites:
>> http://www.arcres.com/ecommerce-and-travel-marketing.cfm

04/30/2009 - Using Facebook for Travel Bookings
With arcResBookings, Hotels and Tourism operators can now market using Facebook Travel Bookings. arcResBookings is the first e-commerce Tourism Suite for Facebook. It was developed by AXSES in Barbados, programmed by Kathy-Lynn Ward.
>> http://www.arcres.com/Facebook-Travel-Bookings.cfm

04/04/2009 - The New Order of the Web
The Internet has evolved into a network: never conceived and still not defined. It is form, function, process and context that are changing and merging almost at the speed of thought. The web is now a platform for participation rather than a medium for delivery. It has a life of its own as it morphs into a new order, changing how we work, engage and communicate.
>>>more!

03/02/2009 - The Web at a Crossroads
We wrote about advertising at a Crossroads nearly a year ago; today we read about Expedia's new PassportAds, The first program of its kind in travel advertising. We wrote about Search at a Crossroads, and now, TripAdvisor (actually another Expedia company) launches Integrated Search. It's to be expected - the whole way we do business is shifting fundamentally. Like Philip C. Wolf, President and CEO of PhoCusWright Inc., says, it's a perfect storm: MORE >>>
>> http://axses-ianclayton.blogspot.com/2009/03/atacrossroads.html

02/05/2009 - Social Net - changing how we compute!
Obama has changed the way we perceive social networks like Facebook, now business are scrambling to create social Network Strategies. In this article we review its relevance and document our own attempts to come to grips with Facebook
>>>more!

02/02/2009 - Distribution at a Crossroads
While over 80% of chain hotels get their business directly, 59% of online travel shoppers still stop at online agents (like Travelocity) first, presumably to comparison shop. The average consumer makes 12 searches and visits 22 sites before they book (Uptake, June, 2008). To be found, you need to be seen.
>>>more!

10/27/2008 - Destination Marketing at a Crossroads
Today the traveler is overwhelmed with armchair choices. Travelers will look at several sites, consult friends and agents, read reviews on social sites, check airlines and look for the best value. Back and forth, they go looking at maybe a dozen sites. Much of what they see is lost and forgotten. In This article, we examine ways to keep them coming backk to the destination site!
>>>more!

10/21/2008 - Travel Search at a Crossroads
Global Distribution Systems, Social Networking, Local Knowledge, Vertical Search and Meta Search are encroaching on the traditional search territory. Meta Search travel sites, like Kayak, offer better search for travel. Social networks and consumer sites, like TripAdvisor, are improving the travel experience by offering relevant, unbiased advice, much favoured over paid search results.
>>>more!

07/29/2008 - Advertising at a Crossroads
Technology is fusing! Advertisements are being fused with shopping, searching and buying at a furious pace. This is the first of a series about the new fusion and its effect on marketing!
>>>more!

07/29/2008 - Who is the Supplier?
Who is the supplier of travel? It worries me that many of our small hotel and tourism customers do not perceive themselves as suppliers. They often see themselves as a product, supplied to the market by middlemen. Nothing is further from the truth. The tourism operator and hotel owner is the supplier of rooms and of an experience. Together, these make up the core product
>>>more!

07/28/2008 - TravelWatch intro
TravelWatch Over the next few weeks, I will be laying out our view of what we, at AXSES, think is in store for travel marketing on the Internet, what works and why. Our vision is tempered by current research, the opinions of people in the business and our own experience. It is an optimistic view, one that holds that the Internet is drastically changing market
>>>more!