tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:17:19 +0000travel agentcalendarflashfindabilityhoteledenwtmback buttoncompetitioncampaignmeta descriptionuser generated contentdublinapplicationsbackpackerstravel complaintsweb 2.0qr codesisraelnakedreviewbayokegoogle plusblogsfacebooksleeping in airportsserbiathailandcouch surfingtravel guideindiaonline bookingsaustraliapdfmsnbc.comtrip advisorpintereste-tourismeuropeeurovisionmarketingdesignmp3home pagedestination brandingcontentnew zealandupdatingweb designgoogleyahoopodcastmenogoaudacitycheck boxeseticketingrestaurantsix flagsadvertisingyoutubeunited airlinesmuseumairports websitesireportRoyal Caribbeangeo tourismchicagowebsite inspectionaviationusabilityboutique hotelsbudget travelleruser experiencenavigationresearchbudgetphotographycouponsnorwaytourismtranslatorkatherinewebsitezicassoseotwitpiclink labelsfoodipodirelandtwittericonazerbaijantaggingpraguesocial mediamapswashingtonbangkokThe exciting world of eTourism: reviews and articles about social media marketing for the travel industry, web usability and destination branding.http://www.etourismishere.com/noreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)Blogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-6679462443685544659Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:13:00 +00002012-01-18T21:17:19.196-08:00photographytaggingsocial mediamarketingpinterest Pinterest, the visual sharing network, is getting bigger by the day. It's addictive, it's cute and it provides users exactly what they like to consume the most on the web - photos. Businesses have started using Pinterest for marketing purposes, and especially if their products are highly visual (fashion brands, for example). Travel products, from hotels to destinations, rely on visual imagery http://www.etourismishere.com/2012/01/how-to-use-pinterest-for-tourism.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-3319468484285673379Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:02:00 +00002012-01-07T00:05:39.704-08:00australiadestination brandingblogssocial mediamarketingnew zealand Travel blogging is a wonderful platform for destination branding, as long as the writing is responsible and is based on a good preliminary research. A recent blog post on Budget Travel listed the most problematic destinations in the world (or, as the title reads, "11 Places With a Bad Rap"). Surprisingly, destinations such as Perth in Western Australia and Christchurch in New Zealand were http://www.etourismishere.com/2012/01/responsible-travel-writing-and-brand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-7795386068946492955Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:03:00 +00002011-12-12T16:18:01.253-08:00hotelsocial mediamarketinggoogle plusgoogleIt has been a month since Google+ launched its business pages platform, and many hotels worldwide have already created their new presence in Facebook's most interesting (and probably only) competitor. The advantages of Google+ over Facebook are still quite vague as the platform is evolving, and it's too early to examine its marketing effectiveness. However, it is clear that Google will include http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/12/hotel-business-pages-on-google-plus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-2659491338468881076Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:25:00 +00002011-10-30T19:52:04.550-07:00user experienceweb designphotographyusabilitydesignI am a big fan of huge photos when it comes to travel-related websites. As this industry sells dreams and emotions, there's no point in displaying your world-class resort or fine airline using small images. And with the rise of the tablet and iPad hotel bookings, where visuals are stronger than any written material, those big images are even more important than before. Just to demonstrate my http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/10/huge-photos-work-better-on-travel-sites.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-3676581466148654597Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:18:00 +00002011-10-26T22:43:39.187-07:00user experiencetourismweb designblogsAlthough this blog is built on Blogger, I would still like to recommend a recent post by Sonny M. Day about WordPress themes for travel. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, WordPress is actually an open source content management system (meaning you can build and maintain websites and blogs with it). It requires some basic html knowledge and provides beautiful interfaces. What I http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/10/attractive-wordpress-designs-for-travel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-5413066454673161797Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:44:00 +00002011-10-02T19:05:29.405-07:00tourismindiasocial mediayoutubeWe begin a new series of posts showcasing different eTourism businesses from around the globe. The goal is to learn about success stories and recommended business strategies from first hand experience. Enjoy! Going back to the days when Internet subscribers in India were hardly one tenth of today’s numbers, I had started India Hotel Review (IHR) in early 2007 as hotels listing, review and http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/10/my-etourism-business-india-hotel-review.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-6913016418418661294Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:32:00 +00002011-09-07T19:27:39.512-07:00travel guidefacebookpdfcontentDo travelers still enjoy using print material while travelling, despite the power of the mobile web and the rise of the tablets? ReportLab, a small open source software company based in London, believes the answer is yes. They are specializing in PDF generation technology with the simple driving ideal that on-demand dynamic document generation should be as simple, flexible, and customisable as http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/09/pdf-for-travel-planning-case-study.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-8808533313875442987Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:58:00 +00002011-08-24T22:00:11.121-07:00australiatourismbackpackerscampaignyoutubeWith millions of videos around it's getting harder to create a viral campaign on YouTube that will deliver. Tourism Australia's new campaign, 30 days in Oz, presents 30 online videos, each following a different backpacker in beautiful locations around Australia, with each demonstrating in 60 seconds why "there's nothing like Australia for young travellers." The result is dynamic, exciting, http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/08/youtube-tourism-campaign-that-is.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-3476757214493689180Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:59:00 +00002011-07-19T19:31:40.365-07:00user experiencehotele-tourismusabilitytrip advisorcouponsSince the launch of Groupon in 2008 the online world has seen many 'deal-of-the-day' websites, and this eCommerce trend is now evident in the tourism industry as well. Only last month Expedia announced a new collaboration with Groupon, and you can find hotel deals and group buying offers for holidays and tours literally everywhere these days. What can we say about the travelers who use these http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/07/travel-coupon-sites-are-they-user.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-7250604512916022576Mon, 16 May 2011 01:10:00 +00002011-05-16T05:16:40.268-07:00destination brandingusabilitysocial mediamarketingeurovisionazerbaijanThe Eurovision Song Contest is so much more than just a glamorous TV show. It's a powerful tool for destination marketing, and can assist countries and cities with their branding efforts. Take Estonia, for example. Not many people knew the tiny Baltic state before it hosted the Eurovision in 2002. The event was one in a series of actions, helping the country building a meaningful place brand and http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/05/azerbaijans-online-presence-getting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-4028043126774831385Sun, 08 May 2011 03:36:00 +00002011-05-07T21:32:09.893-07:00competitiondestination brandingblogssocial mediaIt seems like 2011 is going to be the year of the travel bloggers - at least when it comes to destination branding. Three new campaigns were launched in the past month, all feature a blogger who will document his trip in order to generate word-of-mouth marketing around a specific place. We have Kai Muller, a German blogger, who will visit Ireland and do whatever his followers tell him to (a http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/05/using-bloggers-for-destination-branding.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-6377222401906273891Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:05:00 +00002011-04-06T21:46:57.605-07:00user experienceusabilitydesignwebsite inspectioncontentnavigationHave you ever gone on a holiday that someone else has tailored for you? No travel guides, no web searches for the cheapest airfare, simply pack a bag and go. This is exactly what American Express offers in its new and interesting booking product called Nextpedition (thanks Joshua Pramis for the original post). All you need to is to find your own 'travel sign' by answering a series of 15 questionshttp://www.etourismishere.com/2011/04/mystery-trip-web-inspection-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-2040253137562390303Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:26:00 +00002011-03-09T19:57:17.430-08:00hotelsocial mediamarketingfacebookairports websitesqr codesImagine you receive a business card with a name and a code. You scan the code with your smartphone's camera and get the full LinkedIn profile of that person. This is exactly what QR codes do: they link you to online data without the need to search or type URL's. Yep, it's content for lazy users and we're all getting more and more lazy as technology gets simpler. Now, what does it have to do with http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/03/qr-codes-and-tourism-marketing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-5801597076720367394Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:43:00 +00002011-02-24T04:10:05.161-08:00This time, a guest post by Sara Borghi, SEO Specialist and a passionate advocate of online tourism. Enjoy!***A few days ago, Google announced that the activity of your friends/contacts on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other social sites (unfortunately not Facebook at the moment) will soon be much more visible in search results, and may also have an impact on the ranking of the results themselves. http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/02/google-social-search-update-what-does_3194.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-2683604629653869215Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:43:00 +00002011-02-24T04:04:27.321-08:00This time, a guest post by Sara Borghi, SEO Specialist and a passionate advocate of online tourism. Enjoy!***A few days ago, Google announced that the activity of your friends/contacts on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other social sites (unfortunately not Facebook at the moment) will soon be much more visible in search results, and may also have an impact on the ranking of the results themselves. http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/02/google-social-search-update-what-does_24.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-5833426117400080068Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:43:00 +00002011-02-24T04:04:02.494-08:00tourismseosocial mediamarketinggoogleThis time, a guest post by Sara Borghi, SEO Specialist and a passionate advocate of online tourism. Enjoy!***A few days ago, Google announced that the activity of your friends/contacts on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other social sites (unfortunately not Facebook at the moment) will soon be much more visible in search results, and may also have an impact on the ranking of the results themselves. http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/02/google-social-search-update-what-does.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-7637884297681048519Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:56:00 +00002011-02-11T16:02:21.613-08:00tourismsocial mediamarketingfacebooktwitterThis time, a guest post by Are Morch, hotel advisor and social media strategist. Enjoy!***How can we bring back the consumers to the Hospitality Industry?Collaboration is the art of getting a team working together towards a common goal.With Social Media we are adding another dimension to this principle.It provides us with a new response channel, and abilities to find new and creative ways to http://www.etourismishere.com/2011/02/social-media-collaboration-bringing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-8799165248475753319Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:09:00 +00002011-01-04T22:08:50.885-08:00e-tourismuser generated contentsocial mediafacebookwebsite inspectionreviewtrip advisorSocial travel planning is an anticipated step in the evolution of eTourism. The latest integration of Facebook with TripAdvisor demonstrates the trend, which I believe will only get bigger. With the prominence of social media in our life, it is just a matter of time till we choose an airline or a hotel based on comments or 'Likes' from friends. Traditional travel marketing is getting weaker, likehttp://www.etourismishere.com/2011/01/social-travel-planning-gets-boost.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-2723259683872458679Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:30:00 +00002010-12-06T18:00:57.476-08:00user experiencedestination brandingusabilitysocial mediadesignnavigationCongratulations to Qatar for winning the 2022 World Cup hosting rights. Now, the tiny country (about 4400 sq mile) has to develop an appropriate eTourism strategy to attract investors, visitors and media attention. What is the current situation of Qatar as a tourist destination? A quick inspection into two of its tourism websites reveals some good and bad things to think about.The websites that Ihttp://www.etourismishere.com/2010/12/qatars-etourism-challenge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-6131731618597154803Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:12:00 +00002010-11-23T00:42:17.945-08:00aviationsocial mediamarketingfacebooktwittercampaignAirlines have a great audience for social media participation. They have excited users who are about to become tourists and would be happy to recieve some practical information about the flight and/or destination; then, they have bored passengers at the airport, who are dying for some entertainment; and finally, they have travellers who came back home and are looking for platforms to share their http://www.etourismishere.com/2010/11/airlines-and-social-media-usage.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-1063182570623553013Sun, 24 Oct 2010 00:34:00 +00002010-10-24T02:20:09.915-07:00user experienceusabilitysocial mediamarketingfacebooktwittermuseumyoutubeMuseums have always been a major tourist attraction, but for some reason many of them chose not to open up for eTourism opportunities, and were satisfied with a mediocre website with basic information and some pictures. This is not the case anymore. Today, marketing managers of museums around the world understand the power of user experience in attracting more visitors and media attention. Terms http://www.etourismishere.com/2010/10/museums-and-online-marketing-enhancing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-9192386437252159538Thu, 23 Sep 2010 06:51:00 +00002010-09-23T00:40:08.197-07:00user experienceweb 2.0facebookapplicationstrip advisorWith so many Facebook applications around, it sometimes feel that nothing can excite us anymore. However, a few days ago I finally found (thanks to a smart campaign on Facebook Ads) a beautiful travel app that really made me smile. It's called TripWow, another creative product from the travel giant TripAdvisor.Here are the reasons that turned this application from just anothr annoying Facebook http://www.etourismishere.com/2010/09/art-of-creating-good-travel-application.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-5645073148289573975Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:18:00 +00002010-08-20T01:37:36.846-07:00web 2.0e-tourismuser generated contentsocial mediamarketingfacebookcampaignFacebook pages for destinations are becoming more and more popular as a marketing tool, and while many may think they are easy to produce and maintain - I can assure you that it's not the case. Mastering social media requires full participation, creativity and time. A lot of time.I read that the Pure Michigan Facebook page has doubled its followers in less than 2 months, and has now almost http://www.etourismishere.com/2010/08/facebook-pages-for-destination.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-3989024426267078916Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:45:00 +00002010-08-30T03:43:25.894-07:00web 2.0researchsocial mediafacebooktwittergoogleIt feels like most people in the tourism business stopped looking for reasons why to use social media as part of their marketing strategy, but for those who still need a proof - here's one from the academic world.A 2009 research tried to better understand the role of social media in travel information search by examining popular travel-related keywords in Google. These words were combined with 9 http://www.etourismishere.com/2010/07/role-of-social-media-in-travel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5178970439205434087.post-6689943333328033850Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:51:00 +00002010-06-14T11:30:24.685-07:00user experienceusabilitywebsite inspectiononline bookingsKeep Me Booked is a web based software for managers of B&B's and guesthouses. While it offers a comprehensive interface with many options for managing the bookings, this post will focus on the user who visits the B&B website in order to book a room.In this case, the booking engine was examined on the Le Couvent website. Let's begin with our quick (and basic) usability inspection:1. Simplicity is http://www.etourismishere.com/2010/06/usability-of-hotel-reservation-systems.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Isaac Mizrachi)1