Manvsmachine
17 May
2017

Man vs Machine – No Contest!

 A couple of weeks ago I was moderating this year’s Eyefortravel Europe conference. There was a mammoth line-up of speakers covering all the important topics of the day. We talked about mobile, personalisation, data, artificial intelligence, disruption and so on. It was a really absorbing event with lots to learn.
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The Tourist
13 Mar
2017

DMOs vs Tour Operators

 In the heady young days of the Internet, we were making predictions about how the web would change the face of travel. A popular prediction amongst ‘thought leaders’ was that the web would catalyse the death of the travel agent. Quite a few did die but quite a few remained. Another sector of the industry was also predicted to undergo a transformation. This was tourism.
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Hotel Bonanza
15 Nov
2016

Hotel Bonanza

 Hotel Bonanza is trying to break the power of the mega-accommodation intermediaries with a fairer business model that will appeal to both hoteliers and consumers.
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Cyber Seat
20 Oct
2016

World Travel Market Tech Events

 Once again, I have organised a couple of the technology/digital travel events at World Travel Market this year. I have been doing this for quite a few years. I am one of these people who are quite pedantic about keeping all my electronic files, so I was looking back to see what I had to say in some of my early presentations.
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Iceland
13 Sep
2016

Could Artificial Intelligence Replace the Travel Agent?

 I like to think that I am online savvy, so when my wife suggested we have a short break in Iceland, my first thought was to get on the web and book everything we needed.
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Sydney Nova Scotia
17 May
2016

Telling the customer where to go

 Do you remember the story from 2009 of the flying Dutchman? He was looking forward to visiting his family in Wollongong and Tallong, just South of Sydney. Accompanied by his 15 year old grandson, they departed Amsterdam and after a change of planes at Halifax, finally touched down in Sydney. I guess they might have been surprised at how short the journey was as they had arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia, not Australia. They had booked flights to the wrong place.
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Crystalball
16 Mar
2016

Predicting Disruption

 Disruption is the buzzword of our times. It is being powered by forward-thinking entrepreneurs who have the vision and tenacity to make their dreams come true.
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Ye Olde Tripadvisor
17 Feb
2016

Has TripAdvisor peaked?

 TripAdvisor is the largest travel site on Earth. Its statistics are staggering. In Q3 2015, it reported reaching 350 million unique monthly visitors. It has more than 290 million reviews and opinions, covering more than 5.3 million accommodations, restaurants, and attractions.
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Floodwindow
12 Jan
2016

The new norm: expect the un-normal

 At this time of year, it is always fun to try and predict what significant happenings are going to take place in the coming twelve months. Thankfully, no one bothers to check back at the end of the year to see how wrong one was! One thing I have been saying for a while is that the new norm is to expect the un-normal and this is not going to change for 2016.
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Vacation Planning
19 Nov
2015

The Two Ps

 I had a busy few days at World Travel Market at the beginning of this month. On Monday, I was moderating the WTM Travel Innovation Summit in Association with TTI and taking part in an Arabian Travel Market Roundtable. On Tuesday, I was running my Genesys Sessions seminars, non-stop from 10:30 to 17:30.
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