Blog Archives

Travelport Breaks Ranks and Agrees to Integrate AA Direct Connect

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Norm Rose — 2 Comments ↓

Today’s Travelport /American Airlines announcement marks a watershed moment in airline travel distribution. Over the last six months the two camps seemed to be solidifying their positions. On the airline side the purchase of the Open Axis Group schema by ATPCO followed by the IATA’s announcement that their New Distribution Capability (NDC) would embrace the same Open Axis Group standard, aligned [...]

The Future of Travel Distribution – Presentation at Farelogix Media Day

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

I was in Miami last week attending the Farelogix Media Day. My presentation entitled The Future of Travel Distribution can viewed via SlideShare. Part of my presentation discussed how competing consumer ecosystems (Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook) provide unique content and purchasing paths via mobile devices. Over the next five years mobile devices (including tablets) will become the foundation for most [...]

The Impact of Mobile OS on Travel Distribution

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

Update: July 10th 2012 – Apple awarded iTravel Patent! The approaching wave of mobile OS travel buttons (Apple iTravel, Google Travel, Bing!Travel Mobile) need to be viewed within a historical context of travel distribution. At the heart of these efforts is a new customer interface for travel. During the pre-Web days, traditional travel agents controlled distribution through [...]

How Can Regional TMCs Adapt to New Financial Models?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

The corporate travel market has always been a bit of a paradox. Non-travel industry observers might assume that the big four Travel Management Firms (TMCs) – American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, BCD Travel and HRG – own 80% of the corporate market (the Pareto principle). Though these four TMCs do dominate the Fortune 500, overall they represent [...]

How OS Travel Buttons (iTravel, Google Travel) Will Change the Mobile Travel Landscape

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

It has been nearly 2 years since Apple filed the patent for iTravel, a comprehensive effort to capture the full cycle of travel booking, itinerary management and airport check-in. Last spring, Google completed its acquisition of ITA software and last September Google launched Flight Search while continuing to add features to its Hotel Finder. Also [...]

Why Voice Interaction Will Change Mobile Travel

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

Last year I completed a number of intense research projects on mobile travel trends. This includes two reports for Amadeus -Navigating the Airport of Tomorrow and The Always Connected Traveler: How Mobile will Transform the Future of Air Travel. I also was the lead analyst for the PhoCusWright Special Report Mobile Hits the Mainstream. These projects involved in-depth [...]

Privacy versus Personalization

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

Most agree that an important trend in e-commerce is personalization. This is even more essential in the mobile environment where location, context and personalization form the cornerstone for mobile search and marketing. Disturbing news of late around how mobile devices collect our information has created shockwaves across the Web. This includes the most recent reports on Carrier IQ [...]

Where in the World is Norm Rose?

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Norm Rose — No Comments ↓

With all due respect to the classic children’s TV show and game Carmen Sandiego, I have borrowed the show’s tag line having just completed a grueling travel schedule that took me to London, Washington DC, Miami, Rome and Amsterdam all within a five week period. These trips involved client technology engagements and speeches to various audiences. My Miami stop was to participate [...]

LATAM Airlines: It Will Happen!

Posted on November 11, 2011 by PCarey — No Comments ↓

It will be finished by April 2012, and the regional aviation board will change radically. Yes, the merger of the two aviation giants, LAN (Chile) and TAM (Brazil) – announced in August 2010 – is finally moving forward. Both companies…

Posted in Blog, PhoCusWrightPosts, Uncategorized

OTAs in China: Consumers Look, But Will They Book?

Posted on September 29, 2011 by PhoCusWright — No Comments ↓

OTAs in China: Consumers Look, But Will They Book?

September 29, 2011

New PhoCusWright report explores traffic volume and visitor behavior across key online travel categories in China

In the battle to attract Chinese travelers, online travel agencies have the upper hand, at least in terms of bringing consumers to their websites. According to a new report from PhoCusWright, the OTA category attracts more visitors than any other travel category in China, including supplier websites. PhoCusWright’s China Online Travel Traffic Report, created in partnership with global digital intelligence provider comScore, finds that nearly 30% of visitors to a travel category website in China visit an OTA site, compared to just 5% that visit an airline site, for instance. However, offline booking channels remain critical, even for China’s online travel leaders.

“China is home to one of Asia’s larger online travel markets, and yet only 14% of the country’s Internet population has visited a travel category website,” says Douglas Quinby, senior director, research at PhoCusWright. “China is also home to some of Asia’s great online travel successes, and these local market leaders have recognized that online travel success means robust and sometimes innovative offline support.”

PhoCusWright’s China Online Travel Traffic Report analyzes traffic volume, unique visitors, cross-visitation and source/loss patterns across key travel subcategories, including online travel agencies (OTAs), airlines, metasearch, traveler review websites and more. Key coverage includes:

Traffic to travel website categories with in-depth analysis of 1Q11, including:
- Online travel agencies
- Airlines
- Ground transportation
- Metasearch
- Travel guides and traveler review sites
Travel website rankings within each travel category, including average monthly unique visitors
Comparison of traffic to supplier websites versus OTAs and non-transactional sites
In-depth analysis of key online players, including cross-visitation, source and loss traffic

With online travel bookings in China projected to spike over the next several years, the competition to attract consumers will intensify – both within and across travel categories. PhoCusWright’s China Online Travel Traffic Report (US$695), a Global and Asia Pacific Edition publication, provides travel companies with the strategic intelligence necessary to understand and compete in this dynamic marketplace.

Posted in Blog, FYI, PhoCusWrightPosts, Syndicated