Listed below are the conferences and seminars that Genesys has organised or in which Genesys consultants are participating. As well as future events, details are given of past conferences where transcripts or slides from presentations are available online. We have also written reports about other conferences we have attended.
All players within the Travel Industry have suffered significantly from the drastic reduction in business brought on by the restrictions introduced by Governments across the globe. The rules that have been imposed are like shifting sands, changing all the time. This has let to considerable consumer uncertainty. Given that travel is a product that is usually bought well in advance of its consumption, this has led to consumers simply not wishing to book for fear of their trips being cancelled. At TTI’s Winter Forum organised by Genesys, we examined how the travel industry would fight its way back to normality.
Click here to view the video of the webinar
Click on speakers names to view their presentations
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this conference webinar for Travel Technology Initiative. Emotion is a powerful motivator. Positively appeal to a person’s emotions and they will act as you need them to. This is the basis of just about all advertising from political campaigns to selling travel.
Click here to view the webinar video.
Click the speakers names to download their presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this webinar for TTI. With Google previewing new ways of ranking sites, based on how its algorithms perceive user experience and an ever-growing focus on content, where should brands be directing their efforts? We will look at the current state of play and outline what the future may hold. And we’ll provide some tips to help you prepare your digital experiences to compete and excel in 2020, and beyond!
Click here to view the webinar video
Speaker
Kier Humphreys, Head of Customer Experience, Sagittarius
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this webinar for TTI. Covid-19 and its associated lockdown has had a devastating effect on the entire travel industry, with our customers unable to or simply not willing to travel. For this event, TTI assembled a team of experts across a variety of different disciplines. The aim was to provide some guidance and inspiration that could contribute to business survival and help attendees look beyond the current period to how one might start ramping up business as better times begin to beckon.
Click here to view the webinar video. (first presentation missing)
Click the speakers names to download their presentations:
Three digital travel and tourism experts will present their views on what it takes to succeed online. They will tackle topics such as digital tourism, smart destinations, virtual reality photography and customer engagement, based on own their hands-on experiences of driving their organisations forward into the digital world. You will have the opportunity to question the experts on the issues that really matter to you.
Click on speakers' names to download their presentations:
Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Consumers are switching from the pre-Internet ways of researching and booking travel to using their mobile phones, tablets and computers. There may come a time when only the smallest percentage of travel is researched and booked offline.
Digital Travel 4.0 holds out the prospect that online travel will be the new norm with search and book capabilities that are intuitive and easy to use. Aided by artificial intelligence driven personalisation, consumers will be able to quickly home in on the products they want rather than spending hours and hours of research, trawling websites.
Click the speakers names to download their presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this forum for Travel Technology Initiative. Opportunities for meaningful customer engagement in the digital world are many and varied. From the first time a potential customer hits your website through the many years of a customer’s entire life cycle with your organisation there are ongoing potential touchpoints that, if well managed, can strengthen the bonds between your customers and your brand.
Hands-On with Customer Engagement, TTI’’s Summer Forum, covered
some of the practicalities and methodologies you can use to build
better relationships with your customers, keeping them engaged with your
business rather than your competitors’.
Click on Speakers' names to view their presentations
Paul Richer organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. We heard from the experts who provided us with their take on creating the best customer experience whether this is purely online, mobile app or web, or involves real-life person to person interaction.
Click on speakers' names to download their presentations::
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to affect all our lives. As we move to a new age of sophisticated machine learning, AI is set to revolutionise the way we conduct business, yielding opportunities for improved customer service, increased business efficiency and more effective customer targeting. In this forum we heard from four experts who are already making use of AI to transform businesses.
Click on speakers' names to download their presentations:
What are the web technologies that your business really needs in 2019? There is a constant flow of new digital applications and techniques being introduced, usually in a fanfare of hype. It is difficult to know which are the ones that will positively impact your bottom line and which can be left alone. In this seminar, Paul Richer of Genesys homed in on three must have technologies for 2019 – gaining control of meta-search to bring the customers in - Visual Composer to easily create stunning websites - virtual reality imaging to bring your website alive. These technologies are not expensive and could yield a considerable return on investment.
Click on speakers' names to download presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Content is king, so the old saying goes, and that statement has never been truer. A quiet revolution has been taking place that is seeing content becoming increasingly sophisticated, taking centre stage as one of the most important drivers of online business success. As the whole content arena becomes more complex, it is vital that you stay up to date with the latest techniques and opportunities.
Click speakers' names to view presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative.
Blockchain is being hyped as the new, great technology that will disrupt the Internet. It has gained infamy as the technology behind speculative crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin but, those in the know, see it as a useful piece of tech that will enable us to conduct business in new ways.
For travel, there is potential for blockchain to be used to record transactions between industry players, so not requiring a settlements authority such as IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP). There is also potential for new entrants to the travel industry to take advantage of Blockchain to lower transaction costs or create loyalty schemes.
For this forum, TTI assembled a team of blockchain experts who will gave the lowdown on blockchain.
Click on speakers names to view their presentations:
Paul Richer organised this seminar. Smart tourism is the new frontier for destinations. It describes the increasing reliance of tourism destinations, their product providers and their tourists on emerging forms of digital technology. From artificial intelligence to advanced mobile apps to the use of virtual and augmented reality, destinations are competing to use the latest digital technologies to bring in and retain tourists. .
Click speakers's names to download their presentations:
PTravel distribution has undergone radical change over the last few years. Traditional sales and distribution techniques are fading into obsolescence as we move further and further into a digitally connected world. At this Summit, you will hear from the experts about how distribution is set to change for our two primary products: flights and accommodation.
Accommodating the Future: 10:30 to 11:30
Accommodation distribution has become increasingly complex in recent
years with hotels seeking to optimise their channel mix between
resellers such as the OTAs and their own websites and other outlets. In
this seminar you will hear about how accommodation distribution is set
to develop in the future.
Click speakers' names to view their presentations:
The Future of Air Distribution: 11:30 to 12:30
With IATA launching its New Distribution Capability and
technologically sophisticated flight aggregators competing with the
GDSs, air distribution is undergoing a period of significant change. At
this session, you will learn about the developments that are taking
place, the concerns for the industry and how air distribution is set to
shake out in the future.
Click speakers' names to view their presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving a paradigm shift in the way we use data and is giving rise to intelligent bots that are almost human in their interactions.The opportunity of utilising data, applying artificial intelligence and developing bot applications is being grasped by the travel industry. Forward thinking travel organisations are finding that they can offer higher levels of customer service, increase customer satisfaction and raise sales levels by introducing AI-driven bots to their customer bases. For this conference, TTI has brought together a group of experts from across the travel industry who are already applying artificial intelligence and have already developed customer-facing bots.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations:
Future thinking requires you to look ahead three to five years and put strategies in place that will allow your business to continue to thrive in these ever-changing times. Is your organisation addressing the growing consumer market of digital natives? Are you positioning your business for the future? Where should you be focusing your resources? These were just three of the questions that were addressed at the Genesys Summit.
Digital Thinking in the Hospitality Sector
The application of technology in the hospitality sector is quite variable. Some hotel chains are forging ahead into the digital world whilst others are still lagging. In this session we heard from three forward thinkers who are making the most of the opportunities offered by the digital world.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations:
Meet the Innovators
New travel businesses continue to be launched, focusing on unexploited niches and making the most of the digital environment. We heard from three founders of new online businesses about the lessons that they can teach their more established competitors.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations:
Paul Richer organised this event for World Travel Market and Travel Technology Initiative. What does the future hold for the travel and hotel industry? As technology continues to evolve, new opportunities present themselves to operate our businesses in an increasingly sophisticated manner. Yet these opportunities also provide an entrance into our industry for new technology-led companies that are challenging the accepted orthodoxy – and revolutionising the way travellers connect with independent hotels, hotel chains and OTAs. At this seminar we heard from leading industry players on how the industry is set to develop in the years to come.
Speakers:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this forum for Travel Technology Initiative. At the Forum we learnt from the experts about the General Data Protection Regulation and how you need to prepare for when it comes into force. We heard from travel company executives who are already in the midst of their GDPR compliance project, as well as finding out about the opportunities better data handling can bring.
Paul Richer organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Travel management companies (TMCs) have evolved to serve business travellers and their corporate organisations. Leisure travel companies service consumers’ desire to take a break, whether this is a weekend away or a round the world cruise. At first sight, one would guess that the two sectors have little in common. However, a growing proportion of travel can now be categorised as Bleisure, a business trip combined with a leisure break. and this has catalysed TTI to bring the business and leisure travel communities together to explore the commonalities and differences between the two. At this conference we heard from tech companies, corporate and leisure agencies and product providers serving both sectors.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations:
Paul Richer organised this Forum for Travel Technology Initiative. From May 2018 the EU General Data Protection Regulation will apply to all organisations located within the EU as well as organisations located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, EU data subjects. The penalty for breaching the regulation will be up to 4% of your annual turnover or €20 Million. Thus it is vital that you understand GDPR and what your company is required to do to comply. At this Forum learnt from the experts about the General Data Protection Regulation and how you need to prepare for when it comes into force. Click on speakers' names to view their presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised the 2017 ATM Digital Transformation Summit. We heard from industry thought leaders who are making a real difference in the world of digital travel. Click on presentation titles to view the presentations or click here to view the video.
The Digital Transformation of Online Travel in the Middle East
Benjo Van Laar Hoven, Chief Executive Officer, Prizm
The Middle East is forging a strong path into the era of digital travel but there are many twists and turns to be negotiated. In this session, we heard from an expert who understands both the Middle Eastern travel market and what is required to succeed in the digital world.
Addressing the World - what3words
Richard Lewis, Partnerships Director Travel & Tourism, what3words
what3words is a trail-blazing, disruptive business that is changing the shape of global mapping. Every 3 metre by 3 metre square of Planet Earth can now be referenced by a 3 word address. We heard about the potential forwhat3words’ global addressing system to transform travel and tourism.
Digital Transformation in Travel
Three top digital transformation experts presented on and debated different aspects of digital travel. We heard about the transformation of hotel distribution, how trip planning is being revolutionised and how data is being used to personalise customer interactions.
Paul Richer organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. You need to be in the personalisation and data game, understand and use any data-sets you can gather about your customers and match your product offerings to their expectations. The conference explored the use of data to improve the effectiveness of customer communications, raise sales conversion rates, increase customer loyalty and manipulate price in response to demand.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations:
Digital Transformation is the number one goal for every travel and tourism organisation. Your consumers are online and digital savvy. The Summit was split into two one hour sessions.
10:30 to 11:30. Established Players Make Good
The first session featured speakers from established travel companies who are successfully making the transition to become mainstream players in the digital world. Click on the speakers' names to view their presentations:
Click this link to watch the video
11:30 to 12:30. New Entrants and New Business Models
The second session featured speakers who have seen the opportunity to launch new business models. Typically, these are intermediary plays, using technology to power their new businesses in a way that was simply not possible pre- the digital era. Click on the speakers' names to view their presentations:
Paul Richer organised this summit on behalf of World Travel Market and Travel Technology Initiative. We heard about the latest trail-blazing developments in travel distribution. Click on the speaker's name to view his presentation. Topics and speakers were:
Paul Richer of Genesys moderated New Horizons in Digital Travel at ETOA's Showcase.Digital. Click on the links below to view videos from the session:
Paul Richer organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative to place a marker in the ground, to assess the current state of play of digital travel. Speakers provided their thoughts and opinions based on their own experiences of digital travel. They were drawn from across the spectrum of digital travel. They are long-established travel players, new start-ups, dotcom entrepreneurs, social media and digital technology experts.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations.
Click this link to download the conference leaflet with details of the agenda.
This seminar was held jointly with Happiest Minds as part of the Genesys Happiest Minds Executive Series.
As travel companies develop more sophisticated customer relationship management, there is an increasing emphasis on owning the whole customer trip from booking to departure, from arrival to in-stay services and activities. The trip is a vital part of the customer’s commercial journey with your company.
Speaking at the event were:
(Click on speakers' names to view their presentations.)
Increasing profitability whilst not selling any additional inventory is just one of the benefits of revenue management. Revenue management is one of the most important disciplines to grasp in an industry such as travel that has a finite and perishable stock; finite because we cannot easily build more hotel rooms or increase flight seat capacity; perishable because once the flight has departed or the hotel stay date has passed, any unsold inventory has been irretrievably lost. It is not only vital to fill the rooms or seats but do so whilst at the same time achieving the maximum revenue possible giving the demand environment.
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this forum for Travel Technology Initiative and European Tour Operators Association.
We assembled a team of revenue management experts who talked about this discipline from the perspectives of tour operators and hoteliers.
Do we all have the same issues? Are there common solutions? Can one industry sector learn from another? Where does one start with revenue management? These are just some of the questions that were addressed at the Forum.
Click on speakers names to view their presentations. Speakers were:
Paul Richer of Genesys chaired this conference organised by Eyefortravel.
You can view a video of the Day 2 keynote session from this link. This was called 'Mobile Savvy, Data Driven and Consumer Focused - What's driving intermediaries?' Speaking at this session were:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. From pure voice to virtual reality, there has never been such an extensive range of user experiences (Ux) that can be used by consumers to access the digital world. Voice services such as Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana personal assistants are becoming increasingly intelligent. Amazon is bringing a voice-based personal assistant into the home with its Amazon Echo. At the other end of the sensory scale is virtual reality with immersive technology such as the Oculus Rift Gear VR and other VR headsets providing a completely immersive 360 degree sound and vision experience. With many travel companies having created mobile responsive websites, high utility apps and providing context specific content, the travel industry is certainly at the leading edge of the Ux Revolution; but are we doing enough?
Click on speakers' names below to view their presentations:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Our customers are undergoing a paradigm shift in the way that they conduct business with us. Digital is now the primary method of communication and transaction. Digital transformation has become the new imperative. In a poll conducted by CMO.com, 51% of senior executives surveyed believe it is critical to implement digital transformation in the next 12 months. Yet they estimate that, at best, companies are 25% of the way toward realising the end-state vision for their digital programmes. Travel companies are realising that to meet the demands of the evolving consumer and competitive environment they must undergo a digital transformation. Click on speakers names below to view their presentations:
Click here to download the conference leaflet with full agenda.
This year Paul Richer of Genesys once again organised a series of technology and online travel seminars at World Travel Market. All these events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
Customers Crave Content (10:30 to 11:30)
Great content turns lookers into bookers. What consumers see and read about your product will persuade them to make that purchase. Travel is information at the point of sale - it cannot be touched or sampled like other products - so it is vital to make that information compelling and persuasive. Our team of experts described the tips and techniques they use to ensure that content counts.
Click on this link to view the video of the Session or click the speakers' names to download their presentations.
Search Engine Update 2015(12:00 to 13:00)
Search engine marketing and optimisation is an ever-evolving science. The search engines regularly update their algorithms and introduce new features. You need to keep abreast of these to avoid falling behind your competitors. In this session we heard about the latest updates that the engines are introducing.
Click on this link to view the video of the Session or click the speakers' names to download their presentations.
Getting Personal (13:30 to 14:30)
Big data is driving personalisation. The ultimate goal is one to one marketing with your customers, building a relationship that is personalised to customers' individual needs. This approach requires the collection of pertinent data and the use of sophisticated analytics. This may sound complex but the payback is huge. Our speakers provided their expert insights into big data, analytics and personalisation.
Click on this link to view the video of the Session or click the speakers' names to download their presentations.
Digital Marketing (15:00 to 16:00)
Digital marketing is one of the key success factors that drives a profitable travel business. It is complex, though. Your customers are viewing your business on multiple devices: mobile, tablet and computer. They are learning about you through channels that you don't control such as social media and review sites. In this session, our speakers gave the guidance you need to steer you through the digital marketing minefield.
Click on this link to view the video of the Session or click the speakers' names to download their presentations.
Innovation drives the travel industry. At this Summit we heard from senior travel executives who have led innovative initiatives within their own businesses. They shared their thoughts and experiences. From starting a new innovative travel business to looking into the future of travel distribution and online search, the Summit provided vital insights that are applicable to your own business.
Click on this link to view the video of the Summit or click the speakers' names to download their presentations.
Innovation in Business
A Look at the Future
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this Forum for Travel Technology Initiative. The tools and techniques that are in play for the distribution of hotel accommodation have changed out of all recognition to pre-internet days. The world wide web would provide hotels with a platform to sell direct, blowing apart the intermediary model. For many hoteliers this simply has not happened. Instead they have seen new intermediaries entering the market, primarily the online travel agents. The subject has become frighteningly complex yet. Click on the speakers' names below to view their presentations.
Paul Richer of Genesys organised two technology seminars at Arabian Travel Market. These events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some great insights into how to succeed online and digital transformation.
You can view speakers' presentations just by clicking on their names below.
Succeeding Online
How to succeed online is far from straightforward. It is easy to fail, so that your online presence becomes expensive to maintain with little to show in the way of profit. In this seminar we heard from three leading lights of the online world of travel. Each provided their perspective on how to succeed online. We learnt about how to harness the mobile channel, create compelling content and raise your online conversion ratio so that more lookers become bookers. Click on the speakers names to view their presentations.
Speakers:
Digital Transformation
There are 10 facts you need to take account of when transforming your organisation to meet the challenges of the digital age. In this seminar we learnt about these facts and what they mean for your business. In addition, we heard about the latest technology that is transforming our lives. Click on the speakers name to view the presentation.
Speaker:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. There is no other industry that needs to be embracing mobile more than travel. It is just information when it is being researched and purchased, so lending itself to electronic delivery. When our products are being consumed, our customers are actually mobile themselves, increasingly reliant on their handheld devices to deliver the information they need to enhance their travel experiences. Moreover, travel is charismatic, encouraging our customers to share their experiences on social medial using their mobiles. This viral marketing aspect of social media is a powerful way in which to bring in new customers. It is, therefore, vital to understand how mobile is developing and how the travel industry’s thought leaders see the market changing. With this in mind, TTI assembled a team of experts that gave their views. Click on the speaker names below to view their presentations.
This year Paul Richer of Genesys once again organised a series of technology and online travel seminars at World Travel Market. All these events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
Click on speakers' names to view their presentations. Use this link to view videos of all the sessions.
Mobile First
Mobile has now established itself as the primary channel used by your customers to reach you online. Whether it is the mobile web or an app, you need a mobile first, online strategy to ensure you are on the channel now being used by the majority of your customers. Is mobile working for your organisation or are you in danger of being left behind?
Search Engine Update 2014
Search engine strategies continue to evolve. The tactics that you used last year to achieve high rankings may no longer work. It is vital to keep up to date with what is happening, so that you can stay ahead of your competitors.
Big Data
Big data is not just a turn of phrase. It is about using the intelligence you hold on your customers and the data you can glean from other channels to personalise your product offerings. Get it right and you are much more likely to convert your prospects to customers. Ignore big data and you are simply throwing away valuable business.
Social Media Master Class 2014
In this Master Class we heard from the experts on how to harness the power of social media. Every travel company should be using Facebook, Twitter, customer reviews and other social channels to build brand awareness, improve customer service and drive sales. Is your organisation succeeding at this? Are you making the effort but not reaping the rewards?
Travel Technology - Latest Trends
We heard about the latest fact about how we are transforming into a digital economy. Last year's technology fads become this year's technology tools. You need to keep up to date and be ready to harness the power of technology to keep your business moving ahead.
Innovation is at the heart of the travel industry. We adopt the newest technology and the latest business models to ensure we offer our customers the best service. WTM has teamed up with Travel Technology Initiative to bring together a selection of top flight speakers. They will give you their take on the very latest developments in travel that will affect all of us now and in the near future. Click on speakers' names to view their presentations. Click here to view the video.
Confirmed programme:
Keynote Speeches
Moving with the Times
Accelerating Innovation
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Big data is a hot topic. In the travel industry, we have always collected a lot of data about our customers. Much of this has traditionally been operational data, the information that is required to process bookings and visas. Now we are moving into the era of big data. Our technology has the storage capability and processing power to collect granular customer data, sift and filter this to provide business intelligence that can be profitably applied to increase the likelihood of customers re-booking with us or enabling us to sell more profitable products that precisely meet our customers’ needs.For this conference, we assembled a group of expert speakers. They shared their expertise and experiences to give you the opportunity to tap into the power of data and analytics. Due to the confidential nature of their presentations, several speakers declined to make their presentations available for download. For the three speakers that were happy to make their presentations available, click on their names below:
Click here to view the conference leaflet with the full agenda.
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. The advent of the computer reservation system and, in more recent times, the Internet has led to an exponential increase in the sophistication and complexity of travel distribution. This is fuelled by the need to maximise the price received from the sale of what is a perishable product. With these constraints in mind, it is clear that achieving best practice in distribution is a critical success factor for every travel company. For this forum, a team of experts gave their views on distribution best practice from a variety of perspectives. Click on the speaker's name below to view their presentation:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised two technology seminars at Arabian Travel Market. These events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into the latest technology and digital travel.
You can view speakers' presentations just by clicking on their names below.
Travel and Technology - Latest Trends
Using Amazon as a case study, we learnt about what you need to be doing to keep ahead of your competitors. We also heard about the latest consumer and travel technology trends that will be affecting you and your customers. Travel is information at the point of sale. When it is purchased, it just exists on the computer systems that powers the travel industry. Virtually no other industry is as technology-driven as travel. This means that we need to keep up with the latest technology trends. Whether it is mobile and tablet distribution, social media, the latest generation of reservation systems you cannot afford to get left behind.
Speaker:
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy
Digital Travel
The web has gone multi-platform with your customers using PCs, tablets and mobiles to learn more about your company and its products. They have also gone social, increasingly relying on what other travellers have to say about you rather than what you have to say about yourself. In this seminar we heard about the latest developments in digital selling, content and customer reviews. We learnt about making the most of social media from an SEO and content marketing agency with global international clients, you will hear from TripAdvisor, one of the most influential social media travel sites and you will hear from a top technology company that is helping travel companies to sell more product online. Three experts will tell you how you should be tackling digital travel.
Speakers:
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. The first travel website was launched nearly 20 years ago. Since those early days, the digital revolution has not slowed down. Innovations and developments in the digital world have continued to arrive thick and fast. In the 1990s, no one expected mobile to become a major travel sales channel, no one predicted the advent of the tablet, social media was not thought of. The world of digital travel is ever-evolving and almost beyond prediction. Click on speakers names below to view their presentations:
Click here to download a copy of the conference leaflet with details of the agend
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. As the dotcom era gathered pace in the 1990s, many commentators were preaching the gospel of disintermediation. With the advent of the web, here was a technology that would allow travel principals - such as hotels, airlines, attractions - to reach out across the world to gather their customers. The introduction of online bookings and payments only strengthened that belief. As it turns out, the reality has not been so black and white. Whilst principals have, indeed, been the beneficiaries of more direct business via online channels, intermediaries are still with us.
View speakers' presentations by clicking on their names below:
Click here to download a copy of the conference leaflet with details of timings and location
This year Paul Richer of Genesys once again organised a series of technology and online travel seminars at World Travel Market. All these events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
Search Engine Update 2013
It is vital that you get your search engine strategy right. Succeed and visitors will be beating a path to your online door. Get it wrong and your website will be an expensive failure. Getting it right, though, is becoming increasingly difficult as the two disciplines - search engine optimisation and search engine marketing - become increasingly complex. We heard from the experts about how to maximise your presence on the search engines.
Click here to view the video of this session.
Consumers Crave Content
Content Marketing is about branding, consumer engagement, social media and of course search engine optimisation. If you can get your content marketing right, you will be forging ahead of the competition. Whether on PC, mobile or tablet, you need to be presenting the right content to consumers to persuade them to become customers. It needs to be engaging and sufficiently compelling to persuade travellers that they should be booking with your company. From reviews to video, there are a wealth of options. In this seminar, we heard from the experts who understand which how best to deploy content so that it really works for your business.
Click here to view the video of this session.
Are You Mobile?
The mobile channel continues to grow in importance. Not to be confused with tablets, mobiles have limited screen real estate. However, they are carried by consumers and are always at hand to address any thoughts, questions or queries. If consumers are researching a trip or even wishing to book, is your company's online presence sufficiently mobile friendly to address their needs? Is mobile working for your organisation or are you in danger of being left behind? We heard from those who already have the hard-won experience about how to profit from going mobile.
Click here to view the video of this session.
Social Media Master Class 2013
Social media is now mainstream. Every travel company should be using Facebook, Twitter, customer reviews and other social channels to build brand awareness, improve customer service and drive sales. Does your company have a social media strategy? Is it succeeding? Are you concerned you are making the effort but not reaping the rewards? We heard from the experts on how to make social media work for your organisation.
Click here to view the video of this session.
Travel Technology - Latest Trends
Travel is information at the point of sale. When it is purchased, it just exists on the computer systems that powers the travel industry. Virtually no other industry is as technology-driven as travel. This means that we need to keep up with the latest technology trends. Whether it is mobile and tablet distribution, social media, the latest generation of reservation systems you cannot afford to get left behind. At this seminar we learnt about the latest consumer and
Innovative technology and business models are having a sustained impact on the travel industry as new players introduce ever more sophisticated ways of doing business. Travel Technology Initiative, at the forefront of the deployment of technology in the travel industry, teamed up with World Travel Market to assemble a team of top-flight speakers who will gave their take on the very latest developments in travel that will affect all of us now and in the near future.
View speakers' presentations by clicking on their names below.
Programme:
Moving with the Times
Successful businesses don't stand still. In this session we heard from two of the world's premier travel brands about how they are adopting innovation in technology, business practices and organisational culture to position as front-runners amongst their peers.
The Online Players
It is no longer good enough just to be online, the world has moved on. The go ahead online players are continually developing their business models and innovating to stay ahead. Two leading players gave their views on where travel is heading both online and on mobile.
Ahead of the Game
Looking into the future, we heard from three speakers who spoke about their experiences of launching an innovative business, provide an insight into gamification and take the long view of how mobile is becoming indispensable.
Paul Richer of Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. In 2010, Google sent shockwaves through the travel industry by acquiring flight distribution technology specialist, ITA Software. The company’s technology powers Google Flight Search which, as with all Google features, is astonishingly simple and fast to use. More recently, the International Air Transport Association has launched its New Distribution Capability (NDC). However, as such a standard would allow travel agents and airlines to message directly with each other, is NDC set to challenge the flight distribution dominance of the global distribution systems? Clearly, there is turmoil surrounding the whole issue of access to flight inventory. In response to this, TTI assembled an authoritative group of speakers who gave their expert views on what is needed by airlines & travel management companies and who might be the winners and the losers as the latest technological developments take hold.
You can view speakers' presentations just by clicking on their names below.
Paul Richer of Genesys organised two technology seminars at Arabian Travel Market. These events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
The two seminars in which Genesys was involved were:
- Travel and Technology - Latest Trends
- Being Sociable
You can view speakers' presentations just by clicking on their names below.
Travel and Technology - Latest Trends
At this seminar we learnt about the latest consumer and travel technology trends that will be affecting you and your customers. The entire travel and tourism industry is driven by its technology. Global distribution systems, CRSs, the web, mobile, social media and more all come together to create a complex technological infrastructure. Consumers find out about our products and make that all important purchase via the same infrastructure. But today’s latest device might be tomorrow’s dinosaur. A system that has served your organisation for years might be in danger of becoming hopelessly outdated. Whatever the tech - social media, mobile, travel systems – you cannot afford to get left behind.
Speaker:
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy
Being Sociable
In this seminar we heard how social media and mobile are being harnessed by travel companies to drive more sales, improve customer services and strengthen your brand. From the use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to blogs and customer reviews, we heard from the experts who can tell you what you should be doing on these important customer communication channels.
Speakers:
Dan Cross, Territory Manager MEA, TripAdvisor
Timothy O'Neil-Dunne, Managing Partner International, T2 Impact
Ruth Haffenden, Social Media Account Director, Four Communications
Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Before the internet era, the best travel agents were already practising social media, they just didn’t know it. They would talk to their customers, understand the kind of holidays they preferred and make personalised offers. After the holiday had been taken they would be interested to hear about it and learn from the feedback. They had personal relationships with their customers.
This time intensive approach has given way to social media and customer relationship management, facilitating one to one marketing on a large scale. We are living through a social commerce revolution and those companies that are not harnessing the tools and disciplines are losing out.
With this in mind, TTI assembled a grouping of top-rate speakers who delivered the low-down on how they are managing social media, which channels you should be focusing on, how to yield results from one to one marketing and what the future holds for social commerce. Click on speakers names below to view their presentations:
Click here to view the conference leaflet with details of the agenda
Hotel distribution is becoming an increasingly complex discipline. It is essential to profitability that hotels maximise the yield on their finite, perishable stock. A room that remains empty is an expensively lost business opportunity that can never be recovered. Similarly, a room that is sold through the wrong channel at a less than optimum rate results in an irrecoverably reduced profit. At this seminar we heard from four experts about how to maximise your hotel's profitability as a result of effective direct sales and an efficiently managed channel distribution strategy.
This year Paul Richer of Genesys once again organised the Technology and Online Travel seminar programme at World Travel Market. All these events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
Search Engine Update 2012
In this seminar we heard about the latest developments from those who are really in the know. Even with the fast-growing popularity of social media, the search engines continue to be the primary influence on the success or otherwise of all travel businesses. It is vital to get your search engine strategy working well for your business whether this is based on going for top-ranking in organic search listings or deploying a search engine marketing budget that hits the keywords with the highest return on investment. For your own travel website, new innovations such as semantic natural language search and product data optimisation are making much easier for your customers to quickly find the products they want to book.
Content Converts
This seminar told us about the latest advances in content that converts website visitors to customers. It is now possible for travel companies to give their customers the ability to create custom travel guides, personalised to their own tastes and interests With broadband now widespread and 4G mobile launching across the world, video content is becoming the norm. It is now possible to embed menuing systems in videos to provide a seamless viewing experience. Mapping continues to develop, allowing travellers to see their destinations and learn their way around before arriving. Attend this seminar and hear about these latest developments.
Social Media Master Class
In this session, we heard from those with the experience to give you a real insight into succeeding on this important channel. Many travel organisations are now finding that social media is not just a fantastic customer service channel but is also driving a significant proportion of sales. This is not straightforward to achieve but requires dedication and effort, correctly focused towards meeting your business objectives. Does your organisation have a social media strategy? If so, is it working to your satisfaction?
Going Mobile
We heard from those who already have the hard-won experience about how to profit from going mobile.As PC sales fall, smartphone sales continue to rocket with Android handsets now taking the lion's share. The PC has entered a period of decline, netbooks are dead and it appears that mobile computing is the future. Is mobile working for your organisation or are you in danger of being left behind? Is the time now right to invest in this channel or is it still a viable option just to rely on the web?
Latest Tech Trends
In this seminar we learnt about the latest consumer and travel technology trends that will be affecting you and your customers. The entire travel and tourism industry is driven by its technology. Global distribution systems, CRSs, the web, mobile, social media and more all come together to create a complex technological infrastructure. The travel industry communicates and shares product through this. Consumers find out about our products and make that all important purchase via the same infrastructure. But technology changes fast. Today's latest device might be tomorrow's dinosaur. A system that has served your organisation for years might be in danger of becoming hopelessly outdated. Whatever the tech - social media, mobile, travel systems - you cannot afford to get left behind.
At this summit we heard from the leading lights of the travel industry as well as new entrants with innovative business models. They gave their take on the very latest developments in travel that will affect all of us now and in the near future. Innovation is the lifeblood of travel. From the first travel agents in the 19th century to the soon to be realised expectation of space tourism, the industry has continued to innovate. At the forefront of the deployment of technology in the travel industry are Travel Technology Initiative and OpenTravel. The two organisations have teamed up with World Travel Market, organising this Summit to throw a spotlight on innovation.
Programme
Innovating in Travel
The travel industry thrives on innovation. The never-ending process of launching new products and new ways of selling them create a continually vibrant travel marketplace. In this session, three of the industry's top innovators spoke about their experiences and gave their thoughts on innovation in travel.
Maps & Money
In this session, two vital aspects of the world of travel were examined. Mapping and payments continue to be the subjects of great innovation, effecting every travel company. There have been great strides in the way payments are handled, keeping pace with the progress of the online world. Advances in mapping have revolutionised the way in which travellers are able to plan their trips.
A Glimpse of the Future
Representatives from three of the world's most innovative organisations gave us a view of future technology and online developments. BT has been responsible for trail-blazing inventions such as the LED, Google is now a byword for innovation and FACT-Finder Travel leads the way in semantic search.
Leisure travel distribution is a fast moving discipline. Across the recent decades It has changed out of all recognition. Effective distribution has become comprehensive and complex.
At the start of the Internet era, it was thought that the Web would render the role of the travel agent and other intermediaries redundant as suppliers now had the means to reach out directly to their customers. The thinking was that this would simplify distribution, for example, allowing hotels to sell direct to the consumer via their websites.
It turns out that travel agents are still very much in the game and online travel agents have become a significant distribution channel. In fact, a new generation of distributors such as bedbanks and online aggregators have come into existence. Hotels now face incredibly complex distribution choices requiring a new genre of channel management organisations to assist them. Meanwhile, with easy to implement XML connectivity, airlines find themselves in the position that they can also be tour operators, selling accommodation alongside their flights whilst tour operators compete with their own customers who now find that they can easily make their own independent holiday arrangements and self-package.
How are established players, online travel agents and new start-ups responding to new distribution opportunities? What is happening on the web? What are the possibilities for mobile distribution? These were the topics discussed at this conference. You can view speakers' presentations by clicking on their names.
Click here to view the conference leaflet with details of the agenda
Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. Understanding how your business is performing is absolutely vital. Only then can one make the required decisions to steer your organisation to success. Many businesses struggle to obtain the management information they need and to produce this in a useful format. Traditionally, much time has been spent manipulating spreadsheets, creating management information databases and using report writing tools. Yet there are now powerful analytics tools available that can provide you with the vital business information that you need. Meanwhile, the online world has created a whole new requirement for analytical information. The web, mobile and social media are performing for your company for better or worse. You can leave them to their own devices or make the most of analytics to improve your return on investment to these channels. Click on a speaker's name to download their presentation.
This year Paul Richer of Genesys organised several of the technology seminars at Arabian Travel Market. All these events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
The three programmes in which Genesys was involved were:
- Winning Online
- Managing Online Reputation
- Social and mobile
You can view speakers' presentations just by clicking on their names below.
Winning Online
This seminar told delegates how to convert more website visitors to purchasing customers. Social media and mobile are the start of the customer journey, driving visitors to your website. It is vital, though, to convert these visitors into paying clients. In this seminar, we learnt about how social media and mobile are being used by consumers and how to persuade your precious visitors not to leave your website without making a purchase.
Speaker:
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy
Managing Online Reputation
The battlefields of travel are redrawing their lines – no longer are holidays pitched against each other in travel agencies, but online. With 92% of internet users reading online reviews and 89% of consumers saying that reviews influence their purchasing decisions, there has never been a more important time for hotels and travel suppliers to efficiently manage their online reputation. But with 35% of consumers changing their choice of hotel after browsing a social media platform – what can travel providers do to ensure that they maintain a spotless reputation? How do you find out what your customers saying about you? And what can these companies do to use these reviews to their marketing advantage?
Speakers:
RJ Friedlander, CEO, ReviewPro
Hari Nair, Vice President Lodging EMEA, Expedia
Kristof Roemer, Executive Vice President, TrustYou
Social and Mobile
In this seminar we heard how social media and mobile are being harnessed by travel companies to drive more sales, improve customer services and strengthen your brand. From the use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to the development of mobile apps, the world of travel is going social and mobile. Don’t miss out.
Speakers:
Debbie Hindle, Managing Director, four bgb
Giles Longhurst, Director EMEA, Frommers Unlimited
Sergio Falletti, Director, Future Platforms
Genesys organised this event for Travel Technology Initiative. Understanding how your business is performing is absolutely vital. Only then can one make the required decisions to steer your organisation to success. Many businesses struggle to obtain the management information they need and to produce this in a useful format. Traditionally, much time has been spent manipulating spreadsheets, creating management information databases and using report writing tools. Yet there are now powerful analytics tools available that can provide you with the vital business information that you need. Meanwhile, the online world has created a whole new requirement for analytical information. The web, mobile and social media are performing for your company for better or worse. You can leave them to their own devices or make the most of analytics to improve your return on investment to these channels. Click on a speaker's name to download their presentation.
Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. The online world throws down the challenge of a never-ending quest. Even if your website or mobile presence is producing excellent results there is no rest. You know that a further tweak here or re-design there might further increase sales. There is no option to sit back and be satisfied. The most successful websites are run by those who are continually trying something new, always running A/B testing to see which changes provide an incremental improvement and which should be discarded.
Even though this scenario of continual tweaking and testing sounds obsessive, optimising digital sales is actually far more complex. There are so many facets that need to be taken into account. The design of one’s website is of paramount importance. Your site needs to do everything it can to keep a visitor hooked and moving forward to making a purchase. Personalisation of online marketing communications is vital. Social media now drives a significant proportion of visitors towards one’s sales channels. Effective, efficient online selling is all about the above and more. Click on a speaker's name to download their presentation.
Click here to view the conference leaflet
This year Paul Richer of Genesys once again organised the Technology and Online Travel seminar programme at World Travel Market. All these events were free to attend with top class speakers providing some fantastic insights into how to make the best use of technology.
We asked speakers if they would allow Genesys to make their presentations available on the web. The majority kindly agreed.
You can view speakers' presentations just by clicking on their names below.
Search Engine Update 2011
The search engines are a major influence on all our online lives. Managing your company's presence on the search engines can make the difference between commercial success and failure. It is vital to keep up to date with what is happening in the world of search.
Speakers:
Paul Hill, Sales Director, Stickyeyes
Nate Bucholz, Industry Head of Travel, Google UK
Jon Myers, Director, Account Management, Yahoo
Content Counts
Your customers are only going to buy from you or visit your destination if they find your content convincing. It is vital that your web site is engaging. It needs to provide the necessary information and compelling content to persuade travellers that you have the destination and products they need. From traveller reviews to three dimensional online interactive tourist experiences, there are a wealth of content options. So what makes for compelling content? What can you do to gain the edge over your competitors?
Speakers:
Giles Longhurst, Director EMEA, Frommers Unlimited
Terence Mak, CEO, 3rd Planet
Maud Larpent, Senior Manager, Partnerships, TripAdvisor (presentation not available)
Making the Most of Social Media
Social media is now mainstream. Every travel company should now be using Facebook, Twitter, customer reviews and other channels to build brand awareness, improve customer service and drive sales. Does your company have a social media strategy? Is it succeeding? Are you concerned you are making the effort but not reaping the rewards?
Speakers:
Jakob Riegger, Co-Founder and Managing Director, TrustYou
Debbie Hindle, Four BGB
Mobile Developments
With Gartner reporting total smartphone sales of 468 million in 2011 and Forrester predicting tablets to overtake PC sales by 2015 few could deny that mobile will be the new technology battleground and never more so than in travel - a sector with mobility at its very core. With better value fixed price mobile data, smartphones are moving from upmarket to mass market. What are the implications for the travel industry? Is the time now right for your company to implement mobile? How do you market and communicate services for a multi-screen, multi-platform world?
Speakers:
Justin Cooke, Managing Director, Fortune Cookie
David Slocombe, Head of Mobile, lastminute (presentation not available)
Chris Carmichael, Manager Technical Innovation, British Airways (presentation not available)
Online Essentials
In 2011, all the talk has been about social media and mobile. Both of these are exciting new areas of online activity. However, for many travel businesses they are not necessarily an end in their own right. Much more important, is to use these communication channels as the start of the customer journey, driving visitors to your website that can then be converted into paying clients. In this seminar, you learnt about how social media and mobile is being used in this way and how to maximise the conversion capability of your website, so that your precious visitors do not leave without making a purchase.
Speaker:
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy
The goal of every hotel is to maximise the revenue from its limited bedstock. Yet this has become increasingly complex as more and more distribution options become available. Hoteliers can, of course, sell direct via their own websites but this means spending money on search engine marketing. Alternatively, hotels can offer contract rates to tour operators and travel agents, sign-up with accommodation wholesalers, use multi-channel distributors or channel management tools. Having a good understanding the options for hotel distribution is vital. With this in mind, World Travel Market in association with Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy held its second Hotel Distribution Summit. As with last year's successful event, this year's Summit featured sessions which brought together expert speakers who provided an inside track on the distribution opportunities available to hoteliers.
Click on speaker's names to view their presentations
Social Media in a Global Marketplace
By their very nature, hotels are inbound travel products, attracting customers from across the globe. Any social media strategies that you use will need to appeal across many languages and geographic markets. This additional complexity makes it vital that your social media campaigns are carefully planned and subsequent analysis of customer feedback is rigorous.
Speakers:
Jakob Riegger, Co-Founder and Managing Director, TrustYou
Steve Haydon, Sales & Marketing Director, Guestline
Jonathan Greensted, Business Development Director, Zolv
Channel Management in a Complex World
The distribution options available to hotels continue to increase year on year. As a result, excellent channel management has become the primary factor that can make the difference between ongoing high yields or lacklustre performance. How do you spread your finite bedstock across multiple channels? How do maintain control? How do you achieve the best rates? Attend this session and learn the answers to these pressing questions.
Speakers:
David Williams, General Manager Sales & Marketing, SiteMinder
David Guilfoyle, UKI Sales Manager, ParityRate
David B.Chestler, President, Hospitality Solutions, RateGain
Independents/Small Hotel Chains - Gaining the Advantage
Independent hotels and small hotel chains face an ongoing battle to run their businesses efficiently whilst striving to build a market presence that will keep the customers coming in. There are tools and strategies that can help in the fight to maintain profitability. In this session you will hear about the latest software solutions for hotels and how to manage your brand presence to maximum effect.
Speakers:
Guillaume de Marcillac, Chief Operating Officer, FastBooking
Vishal Alimchandani, Founder, Booker Centric
Karen Plumb, Commercial Director, EMEA, TripAdvisor
Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. Travel is pure information at the point of sale. When a consumer purchases one of the industry’s products, it does not yet exist, it is just information sitting on one of the many computer systems that power the industry. Holidays, in particular, lend themselves to today’s modern, electronic, consumer-sales environment. As with flights and similar ‘commodity-style’ travel products, holidays have an element of bland information provision. In addition, however, they also have charismatic descriptive elements that lend themselves to the rich media distribution that is available to consumers. On the supply side, the industry is increasingly inter-connected. Each individual travel organisation can access a wide range of products that would have been beyond a travel company’s wildest dreams a couple of decades ago. As a result, it seems that everyone can sell everyone else’s products. With such significant advances, it could be assumed that technology is serving the travel industry well, but is this really so? For this conference, TTI assembled an expert group of speakers who provided an authoritative view on whether travel technology is doing a good job and where it should be heading. Click on speakers' names to download their presentations.
Click here to view the conference leaflet with details of the agenda.
Geneys organised Travel Technology Initiative's Summer Forum called Beyond Search. Reaching the consumer has become far more complex than just buying keyword advertising. Social media now has a vital role to play. Those who have successfully tapped into this customer communication channel have found that it does not only raise brand awareness but can also drive significant sales. There is also much to be achieved by sophisticated search engine optimisation.
The key differentiator between the search 'winners' and 'losers' is developing an effective integrated approach to brand engagement that brings together social media, search engine optimisation and search engine marketing into a cohesive promotional strategy . All your consumer communications now need to be aligned to a common theme so that your potential customers receive a consistent message across all touchpoints. Click on speakers names to download their presentations:
Click here to view the Forum leaflet with details of the agenda.
Paul Richer of Genesys organised two seminars at Arabian Travel Market 2011. Click on speakers' names below to download their presentations.
What's new on the web? Online Update 2011 Seminar
The online world is ever-evolving. Whilst the basics of having a good web site have changed little in recent years, the online marketplace is becoming ever more sophisticated. In order to compete successfully one needs to be well aware of the developments taking place and understand what matters and what does not. Social media sites, blogs, user generated content, rich media, mobile and more are all now mainstream tools of online marketing. Last year's quirky developments may be this year's major customer channels. This seminar gave an update on what has been taking place in the last year. The speaker was:
The importance of social media
2010 was the year in which the first few savvy travel companies realised that social media is a profitable customer communication channel. In 2011 it went mainstream as a viable online marketing and customer service tool. From the early days of blogging, social media has moved on to embrace user generated content, YouTube videos, Twitter, Facebook and more. Social media statistics are simply mind-blowing. Speaking at this seminar were the following:
Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative.
The Social Revolution is upon us. 2010 was the year inwhich the first few savvy travel companies realised thatsocial media is a profitable customer communicationchannel. It is vital for all travel and tourismorganisations to understand how to capitalise on socialmedia.
With this in mind, TTI assembled a group of experts whotalked about their experiences of social media. Speakingwere:
Click any of the speakers above to download pdfs oftheir presentations.
Hotel distribution has become increasingly complexover recent years. Whilst the goal remains the same - tomaximise revenue -the options have increased many-fold.Hoteliers have the option to sell direct via their ownweb sites, contract with tour operators and travelagents, sign-up with channel management distributors orsimply sell over the telephone. The tracking, analysingand smart decision-making is complex.
With this in mind, World Travel Market in associationwith Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy took thedecision to inaugurate its first Hotel DistributionSummit. The Summit featured three sessions which broughttogether expert speakers who provided an inside track onthe distribution opportunities available tohoteliers.
11:00 - 12:00 Hotel Revenue & ChannelManagement Techniques
Cheryl Hawksworth, Regional Sales Manager UK and Ireland,IDeaS
David Guilfoyle, UK & Ireland Sales & MarketingManager, Parityrate
David Williams, Business Development Manager,SiteMinder
It is vitally important for hoteliers to squeeze thelast drop of profitability from their bedstock. Therevenue management required to achieve this is complexbut can bring substantial rewards. In this session youwill hear about the latest techniques in revenuemanagement and how to effectively manage the manydistribution channels that are available to hotels.
13:00 - 14:00 Latest Developments in Hotel BookingSolutions
Peter Fitzgerald, Vice President Sales for StrategicAccounts, FastBooking
Peter Healey, CEO, Vertical Group
Booking solutions for hotels have been advancing at afast rate. The traditional property management systems ofold have given way to Internet enabled solutions thatenable hotels to keep a much tighter grip on their rateswhilst easing the task of administration. If you thinkyou are being left behind, attend this seminar and hearabout the latest developments in hotel bookingsolutions.
14:30 - 15:15 Search for Success: Rank Top inGoogle and Cut Out the Middlemen
Paul Reilly, Head of Search, Stickyeyes
Every hotel has a web site but many are bitterlydisappointed with how their sites are performing. Whatought to be a profitable channel, reaching out direct tocustomers, can simply be ineffective, getting lost in thecompetitive clutter of the search engines. In thissession, Paul Reilly, Head of Search at search engineconsultancy Stickyeyes, will give you the lowdown on whatneeds to be done to raise your hotel's visibility,drive visitors to your web site and convert lookers tobookers.
Genesys organised the Technology & Online Seminar Programme at World Travel Market. There were three seminars per day on the Tuesday and Wednesday. New for this year, Genesys organised a Hotel Distribution Summit on Thursday 11th.
Click on speaker names to view their presentations (not all presentations are available)
Tuesday 9 November
11:00 - 12:00 Online Update 2010
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The TravelTechnology Consultancy
View the video recording of this session
The online world is ever-evolving. Whilst, the basics of having a good web site have changed little in recent years, the online marketplace is becoming ever more sophisticated. In order to compete successfully one needs to be well aware of the developments taking place and understand what matters and what does not. Social media sites, blogs, user generated content, rich media, mobile and more are all now mainstream tools of online marketing. Last year's quirky developments may be this year's major customer channels. This seminar will give you an update on what has been taking place in the last year. It will tackle the basics whilst giving you a view of the latest online developments that matter.
12:30 - 13:30 The Social Revolution
Fifi Pottier, Senior Sales Executive, WAYN.com
Martin Verdon-Roe, Head of Sales for Europe,TripAdvisor
Tim Gunstone, Managing Director, EyeforTravel
The social media revolution is upon us. However, it is not yet clear how travel companies can capitalise on newer social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, how best to use blogs and viral marketing. In this seminar, you will hear from those in the know and learn how your company can join the Social Revolution
14:00 - 15:00 Mobile Matters
Giles Colborne, Managing Director, cxpartners
Marko Balabanovic, Head of Innovation,lastminute.com
With the launch of Apple's iphone and its strategy to encourage third parties to develop applications, the world of mobile apps really took off. Apps have been the spur to increased mobile usage beyond voice calls, email and messaging. Travel companies from many sectors now see mobile as an integral part of their distribution and customer service strategies. You can no longer afford to ignore mobile. Hear how travel companies are capitalising on mobile and learn about the design techniques you need to take into account when designing apps that will work successfully across all mobile platforms.
Wednesday 10 November
11:00 - 12:00 Customers Need Content
Anthony Rawlins, Managing Director, DigitalVisitor
Giles Longhurst, Director, Frommer's Unlimited,EMEA
Sandra Leonhard, Director Web Strategy & BusinessDevelopment, TUI Travel PLC
In the online world, it is your content that sells your products. Great content can make the difference between having a really successful website or just being an also-ran. Too much and you will overwhelm your visitors.Too little and they will just go elsewhere. How do youget the balance right? What content tips and tricks doyou need to know about? What will give you the edge over your competitors? In this seminar you will hear fromcontent experts on what you need to do to deliver compelling content on your website.
12:30 - 13:30 Ask the Engines
Caroline Mastoras, Travel Category Development Manager, Bing
Tracey Cheffey, Category Director (Travel), Yahoo
Nate Bucholz, Industry Manager, Travel, Google
Paul Reilly, Head of Search, Stickyeyes
View the video recording of this session
The search engines are the dominant force driving customers to our web sites. Whether you are optimising your web site to work well within natural search listings or you are relying on pay per click advertising to drive traffic, you need to get it right. If you site is performing poorly, potential customers will be going to your competitors and your online advertising and marketing spend will just be money down the drain. For this seminar, a search marketing expert will be putting questions to the search engines and getting the answers that you need to hear.
14:00 - 15:00
Online Update 2010
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The TravelTechnology Consultancy
View the video recording of this session
The online world is ever-evolving. Whilst, the basics of having a good web site have changed little in recent years, the online marketplace is becoming ever more sophisticated. In order to compete successfully one needs to be well aware of the developments taking place and understand what matters and what does not. Social media sites, blogs, user generated content, rich media, mobile and more are all now mainstream tools of online marketing. Last year's quirky developments may be this year's major customer channels. This seminar will give you an update on what has been taking place in the last year. It will tackle the basics whilst giving you a view of the latest online developments that matter.
Genesys organised Travel Technology Initiative's Autumn conference. Travel can claim to be amongst the most innovative of industries. From the first package holidays in 1841 and the first scheduled London to Paris passenger flights in 1919 to space tourism and modern-day online dynamic packaging, travel has always been at the forefront of technological adoption.
New technology is allowing some companies to makesignificant cost savings. Others are using innovation toimprove the customer experience through personalisationand other CRM techniques. Some are using technology topower new innovative business models.
Most recently, we have seen early adopters innovating inmobile, seeking to heighten customer convenience anddeliver pertinent information. Location based services,real-time travel information and augmented reality arejust some examples of how the travel industry is takingto mobile.
The TTI Travel Innovation Summit brought together some ofthe industry's top innovators, people who are makinga real difference to how consumers interact with thetravel industry. Speaking at the Summit were:
Click any of the speakers above to download pdfs of their presentations.
Genesys organised Travel Technology Initiative's Summer Forum. It seems that mobile is finally taking off. No longer is this new channel more hype than substance. Travel companies from all sectors are finding that there is business to be won and customer services to be delivered.
Apple, with its decision to provide an open developmentplatform for iPhone applications, has been mostinstrumental in taking mobile technology beyond voice andmessaging. There are now well over 6,000 travel specificapps for the iPhone. Users are downloading these in theirmillions, providing travel companies with a new means bywhich to reach out to customers.
Clearly, if you have been ignoring mobile, yourorganisation is in danger of missing out on the benefitsof this new, exciting channel. Whether you are looking tojust strengthen branding, provide customer service orcatalyse sales, mobile is a channel that is starting todeliver.
With this in mind, TTI's Summer Forum was puttogether to give an update on how mobile is beingsuccessfully deployed by a range of different travelcompanies. Speaking at the event were:
Click here to download the forum leaflet
Click here to go to TTI's web site to view the presentations
Genesys organised Travel Technology Initiative's Spring conference. In the excitement of the online world, developments in mobile, the introduction of social media and so on, the role of the travel agent has simply not been on any conference agenda. Yet, agents are still playing a major role in advising on and selling the travel industry's products.
Current thinking is that there is still a strong role for agents to play. Technology companies have been developing new tools that have allowed agents to raise their efficiency and remain competitive whilst still providing consumers with the service they demand. New business models have seen agents growing profitably. Agency organisations and groupings have provided independent agents with support services that they could never afford to provide for themselves.
This conference examined how travel agents are evolving to remain relevant in the 21st Century. Speaking at the event were:
Click here to download the conference leaflet
Click here to go to TTI's web site to view the presentations
Following its great success last year, once again, Genesys organised the Technology and Online Seminar Programme for World Travel Market. There were six seminars on the Tuesday and the Thursday. The details are below. Pdfs of the presentations can be downloaded by clicking this link.
Tuesday 10 November
11:00 - 12:00 Online and Onsale
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The TravelTechnology Consultancy
Being online and onsale is every travel company's goal. In order to compete you need to have a web site that is driving business and earning good revenues. However, many web sites simply do not realise their full potential. For some, what ought to be an effective sales channel falls short of what is achievable. It is vital to get the basics right. The good news is that this can be achieved without great expense by just applying some thought and consideration. In this seminar, hear how to take a critical look at your online presence and see what makes the difference between an also-ran web site and a top performer.
12:30 - 13:30 Content Matters
Brice J Bay, Founder & CEO, 10best.com
Joel Brandon-Bravo, Chief Operating Officer, Frommers
Dave Howard, Managing Director, Trailstream
Content really matters. Visitors have come to your web site to find out about your products. They have given you the opportunity to convert them to customers. If your content is not engaging and informative, they will simply move on to your competitors and may never come back. What content counts? How can you make your content comprehensive and enticing? What makes the difference that allows your products to stand out against the competition? Hear from the experts about how to make your web site's content truly compelling.
14:00 - 15:00 Take the Money
Sandeep Mander, Strategic Market Consultant, Cybersource
Steve Dobson, Director of Technical Development andInformation Security Officer, Anite Business Systems
David Hunter, UK CEO, Paysafecard Group (Cash-Ticket)
Mike Anderson, Managing Director, Web MarketplaceSolutions
Consumers are now so accustomed to shopping online that they have the expectation that they will be able to make a purchase online and pay for it there and then. This applies equally as much to travel products as it does to lower value items. If a payment system is not in place or is not fast and efficient then a customer may go elsewhere to do a deal. Whilst most online shoppers know that they are fully protected by their credit card companies when shopping online, the same is not true for retailers who can be susceptible to card fraud. Any travel company wishing to take online payments needs to know how best to implement this and how to protect itself against fraud. Learn about the different aspects of taking the money by attending this seminar. You will hear from those who really know the ins and outs of online payments.
Thursday 12 November
11:00 - 12:00 Into the Future
Hugo Burge, Executive Chairman, Cheapflights and FounderHOWZAT media
Graham Cook, Vice President of Product Strategy, ExpediaEurope
It is 30 years since the very first World Travel Market.In that time, the world has changed. Travel is moreprevalent than ever. Technology has become a key successfactor. The internet is uniting the world. What of thefuture? Is further great change on the way and, if so,what form will it take? In this seminar, three topexecutives will give their views on where the future istaking us.
12:30 - 13:30 Ask the Engines
Stephany van Willigenburg, Industry Manager, Travel, Google
Tracey Cheffey, Category Director (Travel), Yahoo!
Neil McCarthy, Chief Operating Officer, LatitudeGroup
The search engines dominate the online world. They have become the de facto method by which prospective customers reach your web site. Understanding how they work and how to get the most from them can lead to profitable ongoing business. Getting it wrong can be very expensive. In this seminar, you will hear presentations from two major search engines and an independent search engine specialist. You will then have the opportunity to ask those burning questions that are so important to you. This is a must-attend seminar for anyone concerned with having the best presence possible on the search engines.
14:00 - 15:00 Online and Onsale
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The TravelTechnology Consultancy
Being online and onsale is every travel company's goal. In order to compete you need to have a web site that is driving business and earning good revenues. However, many web sites simply do not realise their full potential. For some, what ought to be an effective sales channel falls short of what is achievable. It is vital to get the basics right. The good news is that this can be achieved without great expense by just applying some thought and consideration. In this seminar, hear how to take a critical look at your online presence and see what makes the difference between an also-ran web site and a top performer.
Genesys organised TTI's Autumn conference. Never has the travel industry been more inter-connected than it is today. No longer do travel companies just rely on selling their own content. The technology is in now in place to allow the industry to widely, electronically distribute products to everyone's commercial benefit.
The opportunities to connect to content are numerous but there are issues to be tackled. Which content is right for your business? How do you cope with duplication from multiple connections? What are the technological implications of implementing these real-time connections? What are the commercial concerns?
Speaking at the conference were:
Click here to download the conference leaflet with full agenda
Click here to visit TTI's web site to download the presentations
Some analysts are predicting that this will turn out to be the worst recession since World War II. The trading environment is extraordinarily tough.
Research has shown that consumers are not prepared tocompletely sacrifice their holidays but they areundoubtedly cutting back on the amount they are preparedto spend. This can only put travel company profits underpressure.
However, there is one big difference now compared toprevious recessionary periods. The difference is thatmost travel companies are now selling online. Thisprovides businesses the opportunity to extend their reachbeyond their traditional markets. Online businesses alsohave the potential to operate far more efficiently thantheir offline competitors, so reducing costs.
TTI's Spring conference, Search and Rescue, looked atwhat more can be done to raise your visibility on thesearch engines, boost your web site's effectivenessas a profitable sales channel and launch new onlinebusinesses. Speaking at the event were:
Click here to download the conference leaflet
Click here to go to TTI's Web site to view the presentations.
Following its great success last year, once again, Genesys organised the Technology Seminar Programme for World Travel Market. There were five seminars on the Tuesday and the Thursday. Here are the details:
Make the Most of the Web
Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys - The TravelTechnology Consultancy
Many travel and tourism organisations are finding that their web sites are not living up to their expectations. Their sites are not driving as much business as expected. There is a set of basic criteria that you need to get right for your web site to thrive. From there, you use free tools such as Google Analytics to build and improve.
From Brochures to Multilingual SEO - Global Content is Key
Greig Holbrook, Director, Oban Multilingual
Tom Hall, Travel Editor, Lonely Planet Publications
Richard Lewis, CEO, Dutco Hospitality
From brochures to web sites, the need for effective global content has never been greater for the travel industry. Over 900 million internet users do not speak English and this number is growing daily. Effective global content ranges from having the right multilingual key phrases and content on your web sites for maximum search engine optimisation through to culturally effective content in brochures. To translate or not translate? How do you localise content effectively? What is the opportunity cost for not producing global content? These are some of the key issues that were addressed in this seminar.
Travel Comparison Sites - Friend or Foe?
Doug Scott, Online Strategy Director, ASAP Ventures
Frosti Sigurjonsson, CEO, dohop Ltd,
Noel Josephides, Managing Director, Sunvil Holidays
There has been a lot of talk about comparison sites. Hailed by some as the hero of the consumer, they aren't always what they seem. There are different approaches to comparing - the main one is pay-per-click (PPC), used by sites such as travelsupermarket.com; the alternative is cost-per-acquisition (CPA), used by sites such as Carrentals.co.uk and asap.co.uk. This seminar looked at the different approaches of comparison sites, the pros and cons of each, how travel companies view comparators, and the consumer's perception.
Get the Latest from Google Travel
James van Thiel, Head of Travel UK, Google
Alex Bainbridge, Director, TravelUCD
Len Wright, Managing Director, Open Roads
Google is affecting every travel company's livelihood. Clearly, it can pay dividends to have a good understanding of how Google operates and how to make the most of the facilities it offers. A team of three representatives from Google Travel will talk about the work that they do and answer questions from the two expert panellists and the audience. This was a unique opportunity to learn from the inside what makes Google tick.
Latest Developments in Search Engine Marketing
David St. John-Tradewell, Head of Business Development,iCrossing UK
Neil McCarthy, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer,Latitude Group
The travel and tourism industry spends many millions of pounds on search engine marketing but is that money always well spent? Certainly, there is real skill needed to gain good returns to search engine marketing and, indeed, some online marketing agencies are looking beyond the search engines to generate better returns for their clients. What is the state of play for search engine marketing? What other online marketing channels can be utilised to promote your company? How can one tap into social media?