"Agoda also reported improved growth in excess of 100%, which contributed to the sequential improvement in worldwide merchant gross bookings growth from 22% to 33%. Agoda's growth rates reflect weakness in the prior period due to economic conditions and civil unrest in Thailand, and there are also signs of economic improvement in Asian markets."

"...we don't look at the absolute hotel count as defining the market. Our counts on a year-over-year basis are still up significantly. And it is still an important part of what we're doing not just internationally but here in the United States to add hotels to all of our programs, and potentially more important to make sure that we've got the right rates and availability from the hotels that do participate with Priceline and Booking.com and Agoda. That can be as meaningful to the output of the business as adding new hotels."

"From a competitive perspective, I think that you have heard in the conference calls of the two competitors that are publicly traded that they're very focused on the international hotel opportunity, that Expedia is making an agency product available to hotels, and Orbitz is really trying to reorient its organization to focus primarily on hotel bookings. So it continues to be very competitive out there. And we work very hard to keep track of what's going on with the competition, but we also try very hard to make sure that we're doing what we think is right for our business and not necessarily trying to map what they're doing."

"And if you look at the great results that we're seeing in Asia from Agoda and from Booking.com in its new markets, what you're seeing is that every time we enter into a new market we are doing it from a stronger position than we did in the last new market. And so it just gets us very excited about Asia and the Pacific and what we're doing in the Middle East and South America and in North America for Booking.com and the international traveler. "

Hilton Worldwide yesterday unveiled a new iPhone app. They designed it by listening to what their customers were asking for.

I spoke with Chuck Sullivan, Hilton’s senior vice president, global online services about the new iPhone app on this version of the Tourism Keys Podcast. Sullivan reports that 57% of travelers want to check in, 56% want to check out and over 50% want to change or cancel reservations on their handheld. In recent months an exponential increase in mobile revenue helped spur Hilton’s adventure into the iTunes store. Hilton Hotels have seen more than 400% month to month increase in mobile revenue since May, 2009 on their industry leading mobile Website. Revenue has been $44 for every dollar spent on mobile.

Despite the shocking numbers, Sullivan says the main reason they developed the app was to maintain customer loyalty among their ideal guests.

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The new application features handheld booking, check-in and check out, as well as a “Request Upon Arrival” service that enables a traveler to place an order for room service and have a meal in the guestroom upon arrival at the hotel.

The Hilton iPhone app is specially designed for Hilton Rewards members and features:

• Search for hotels nearby via address, city, airport or even GPS mapping
• Make a new hotel reservation
• View, modify and cancel existing reservations
• Check-in online up to 48 hours in advance for gold and diamond frequent guest members
• Order food and/or services to be available “upon arrival”

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• CUSTOMER SERVICE IS MARKETING.
• YOU DON’T NEED A BIG AD BUDGET TO BUILD A BRAND.
• BE A SOCIAL COMPANY, NOT A SOCIAL-MEDIA MARKETER.
• DON’T FEAR THE ALGORITHM.
• DO DEALS THAT MAKE SENSE CULTURALLY.

Critics might claim that there are key differences between the business Amazon is in and selling travel services online but that argument is not valid in the context of these lessons. They are universal and apply to any industry. Culture, customer service, being social, being relevant to your customers, are not factors tied to industries but cover all and represent fundamental elements for success, especially in the tough market environment of today.

Looking closely at and learning from Amazon by analyzing the factors that have made it a success story and one of the few survivors of the original dotcom bubble is a useful effort for anyone engaged in E-Commerce today. It is definitely more worthwhile than focusing on the hottest must have cool tools and jumping on the latest bandwagon of hype. Sound strategy still precedes the deployment of even the smartest tactics if the objective is long term success.