Tech it Further
Sustainability was a major focus for the conference, not only in the session entitled ‘Scarce Resources: Numerous Answers,’ but throughout the event. Again, it linked the overall theme of leadership, with the industry urged to work together to drive change.
Finally, no travel industry conference would be complete without addressing the increasingly significant impact of technology on the tourism industry.
Carroll Rheem, senior director, research of PhoCusWright, said in a panel on the topic that 80% of US and European travellers use the internet to shop for travel.
| Advertisement |
Lee McCabe, global head of travel from Facebook, said that 10% of online travel spend in 2014 will come from mobile devices, and that already 25% of mobile usage is on Facebook and Instagram.
“[The Facebook] platform is built on the influence of friends and we’re finding that in travel, that’s always been the most powerful influence.” McCabe showed a video about how the MGM hotels in Las Vegas were using Facebook to turn guests into ‘our ambassadors, our marketers’, with returns of between three and 15 times on their advertising spend through the website.
Other panelists demonstrated impressive new mobile technology for a language ‘phrase book’ platform and virtual tours of hotels.
Charles Armstrong, CEO of TourWrist, showed how he could use his iPad to give a ‘next generation’ virtual hotel tour, moving it up and down as though it were truly a window onto a hotel lobby, and also demonstrating how his software can allow such images to be shot by guests from an iPhone.
He commented: “We’re sharing photos, words, experiences, tweets on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. This is marketing gold, this is the best endorsement a travel brand could have.”
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
