Search is still king for travel marketing | Eyefortravel

EyeForTravel says search still rules travel marketing. According to the article,

“A massive 60% of Travel industry marketing gurus still rank search as the number 1 way to drive traffic.

Globally, organic search is the most influential marketing channel for online travel marketing followed by paid search, then good old email marketing, social media, meta search and lastly mobile marketing.”

So, while social is on the rise (and is becoming increasingly important for organic search rankings), search still is on top of the world.

Travel Channel Invests $7.5 Million in Oyster.com – NYTimes.com

Coming on the heels of Expedia’s proposed spin-off of TripAdvisor, it looks like another player in the online travel review/transaction space is gaining access to deeper pockets. The New York Times reports that Travel Channel Invests $7.5 Million in Oyster.com.

Google Is Cleared to Buy ITA, a Travel Firm – NYTimes.com

The New York Times reports that Google Is Cleared to Buy ITA, a Travel Firm. I have a more detailed analysis of how you should deal with Google’s coming antitrust problems over at my main blog.

BBC – Travel – The free Wi-Fi war

The BBC looks at free WiFi (or the lack thereof) among hotel brands in an article called, “The free Wi-Fi war”. The article opens:

“Ask any business traveller about his or her biggest travel-related gripes and you’ll undoubtedly find hotel fees for in-room Internet access near the top of the list.

As much as travellers (and travel writers) squawk about how wrong it feels to have to pay for something that has become as basic to a hotel stay as hot water, the hotel industry has resisted – especially at the high-end.

But I think we might have reached a tipping point in the war against these fees.”

Expedia To Spin Off TripAdvisor As A Public Company In Q3 2011

TechCrunch has a write-up of Expedia’s plan to spin off TripAdvisor as a public company later this year.

First Look: Hotel Price Ads In Google.com Search Results

Search Engine Land has a “First Look” at Hotel Price Ads In Google.com Search Results. Their paid ads with hotel rates have appeared on Google Maps for several months. Are they coming to the main search engine results pages, too?

How are SEO and paid search progressing in the travel sector? | Eyefortravel

EyeforTravel looks at how SEO and paid search are progressing in the travel sector. A little long, but worth the read.

Facebook is the best social media channel for hotel marketing

Great post over on HSMAI’s eConnect Internet Marketing blog showing that Facebook is the best social media channel for hotel marketing, based on a survey conducted on the site. And it’s not even close. Good stuff.