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 Receptionist
13 Feb
2017

Robots and Chatbots

 In the news this week is the new exhibition starting at the London Science Museum this month. It is called Robots. It will explore humanity’s 500-year quest to recreate ourselves in mechanised form. On display will be a unique collection of over 100 robots, from a 16th-century mechanical monk to the most up to date walking, talking humanoid robots.
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Broken Wheel
17 Jan
2017

To buy or not to buy? That is the question

 I have helped many travel companies to buy new systems across the years. It is critically important to choose the system that best suits your operation. Choose the wrong system and you are almost guaranteed some serious business disruption.
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Profit
13 Dec
2016

Is Total Profit Management the Way Forward?

 I have frequently said that travel is no more than information at the point of sale. When a customer buys travel it is just information on a computer. It does not yet exist. Interestingly, the appeal of the product can grow or shrink depending on the date it will actually be consumed. A room night in Sydney with a view of the New Year’s Eve celebrations has far more appeal than the same room out of season in August.
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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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Lowcostwebsite
16 Aug
2016

The Online Con

 It was shocking to read about the recent demise of LowCost Travel Group last month. Just take a look at the Administrator’s message on the Group’s website. Under the heading, “Accommodation,” you can read, “In most cases, accommodation in resort has regrettably not been paid and your booking is not secured.”
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Trip Planners
18 Jul
2016

The Customer has Arrived

 At the beginning of the month I ran the first of my Genesys Happiest Minds Executive Series seminars in partnership with Happiest Minds. The idea is that we will hold regular seminars exploring the most topical and pressing digital transformation issues that are concerning us in today’s travel industry.
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Thepriceisright
14 Jun
2016

The Price is Right

 Last week I was moderating Travel Technology Initiative’s Summer Forum that I organised. The subject was Revenue Management. I called the Forum ‘Money for Nothing.’ My thinking was that this is a good title for a revenue management event as the discipline is about conjuring more revenue/profit from an existing, finite inventory.
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