a word from the

Chairman

The quarterly TTI newsletter Issue 42 May 2011

As I write this article the sun is shining and the

heat is rising. It’s as if we were in the middle

of a hot and steamy August and yet we are

merely at the beginning of April! The weather

men tell us that so far this is the hottest April

that we have had in the UK for over 50 years

and yet haven’t we just come out of the worst

winter for over 100 years?? Is it me, or are

we going through some kind of weird and

extreme weather event … or perhaps, this is

merely a sign that seeks to remind us all that

our world is constantly changing?

The recent crisis throughout the Middle East and Libya is an

example of how modern communication technologies are allowing

people to communicate with each other at lightning speed over

devices such as smart phones and new social media internet

applications like Facebook and Twitter. These brutal regimes may

be able to temporarily block the internet over PC’s, but it is another

thing altogether to shut down mobile telephony networks. Modern

communication technologies such as these are allowing people to

jointly rise up against their tyrannical leaders quickly and efficiently

… once again bringing about dramatic, rapid and unprecedented

change.

Our Spring Conference which took place on the 24th of March this

year covered the subject of change beautifully by focusing on the

new communication phenomena that has become widely known as

“The Social Media Revolution”. The conference, I believe, was a

resounding success and taught us all that traditional marketing

methods are rapidly changing and that new communication

channels are emerging. In many ways I think it is time for us all to

rethink our strategies on how we engage with our customers, how

we provide value and, more importantly, how we should promote

our products and services to our customers and our audiences in

future.

TTI as an organisation is also changing which I believe is for the

better. We are constantly looking at new ways to provide value to

TTI members and to create new and exciting projects and events

that will help us to grow and attract new TTI members in future.

Once again, I would personally like to urge all of you, our fellow

TTI members, to continue to spread the word on the superb value

that TTI membership brings and to encourage as many people as

possible to attend our great value conferences and forums. At the

beginning of our recent Spring Conference, I addressed all new

and non-TTI members, who attended the event, on the benefits

that TTI membership brings and I am glad to say that we have

consequently had some new signings.

As you will read in this copy of “Working Together”, our Project

Management group have also been busy on a number of new

projects, from revamping our website through to creating a new

winter networking event (in conjunction with Open Travel during

this years’ World Travel Market) which I hope you will all find time

to attend. I am also delighted to report that we are now very close

indeed to delivering our new and exciting TTIcodes project.

So change is good for all of us and by continuing to work together

we can bring about new and positive change for all!

Maximising your presence on the search engines used to be so simple. You would pack your website with keywords and watch your site rise up the rankings. Then cross-linking to as many sites as possible became the key practice. The search engines, realising how their results were being manipulated, have developed far more sophisticated algorithms to display search results that now truly reflect what consumers need to see. Search engine marketing came into vogue when the engines realised that businesses would be happy to advertise, bidding on keywords to display their adverts. Now, reaching the consumer has become far more complex. Social media 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. Key to success is developing an effective integrated approach to brand engagement that brings together social media, search engine optimisation and search engine marketing to form 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. Attend TTI’s Summer Forum and hear from the experts how to move your business ‘Beyond Search’.

TTI Summer Forum - Wednesday 11 May, London

Beyond Search

Visit www.tti.org/forum to register

by Peter Dennis

Welcome A warm welcome to the following new members who have joined TTI in the last few months:

- DataArt Technologies - Haven - Join Universe - Mark Warner - Peter Sommers Travel - Travel Technology Connections

Kindly sponsored by:

Speaking at the Forum are: - Steve Endacott, Chief Executive Officer, On Holiday Group - Jon Myers, Director of Account Management, Yahoo! UK & Ireland - Surinder Phuller, eCommerce Manager London, Hilton Worldwide - Paul Hill, Director, Stickyeyes

Follow TTI on

You can now keep up with all the latest news from TTI by following us

on Twitter.

Follow @TTI_org

Social media is beginning to reap dividends for some companies in terms of getting their brand talked about and in many cases increased custom. At the Travel Technology Initiative’s ‘Social Revolution’ conference retailers from both travel and outside the sector presented their experiences of social networking with sound advice on getting started and some of the pitfalls. Vikki O’Neill, marketing and branding manager for restaurant chain, Giraffe, presented a fairly convincing case for businesses to use Twitter. O’Neill admitted to being a Twitter convert after using the medium for only 10 days. “We started tweeting two-and-a-half years ago and I thought it was the biggest load of rubbish. There are no pictures and it’s not exciting. It took me about 10 days to fall in love with it.” She went on to give advice on establishing a presence on Twitter, giving it a personality and how to keep followers engaged. “People won’t listen if they’re not interested so you have to engage them in what they want to talk about, even if it isn’t to do with your brand. We also use it to tell them what’s going on in the business and to introduce new dishes,” she said. On the question of tracking real revenue from Twitter, O’Neill admitted how difficult it is to quantify but said that it is more about the loyalty you build up and the revenue will come later. “You can’t quantify what business it brings in unless you’re doing a specific promotion but without a doubt it drives business. We know people are coming to the restaurants more often. We can see that people come into the restaurants more than three times a fortnight instead of once.” O’Neill also advised delegates not to confuse social media with traditional marketing and not to be scared by it. Delegates were keen to know whether Giraffe has a strategy for its brand advocates or ‘super-users’ and whether it uses the same strategy for Facebook and Twitter. “We keep in contact with them and they are our first port of call for new promotions etc. They become mystery diners for us. There’s no official strategy, it’s more about keeping in touch with them and keeping them engaged.” O’Neill added that the company has more followers on Twitter, almost 10,000, so that has taken priority but there are plans to do more campaigns using Facebook. “A lot of twitter is response to people and we tend to use Facebook

to update our status about twice a day whereas with Twitter it is 11 to 12 tweets a day. The strategy is essentially the same in that it’s about engagement,” she said. The idea of engagement also came through strongly over the course of the conference. With VisitBritain’s head of digital and social media Justin Reid describing it as ‘key’ but that companies often forget it’s about being social. It also emerged in Hostelworld’s presentation on why businesses should use Facebook. Editor Colm Hanratty said Facebook was

much bigger for it than Twitter with 67,000 ‘Likes’ compared to its almost 9,000 followers on Twitter. Hostelworld uses the medium for customer service, putting a personality to its brand, creating awareness, for improving search engine optimisation and driving traffic back to its site. Hanratty advised travel companies to think about the best time to talk to their target market using social media and not to go for the hard sell.

“Facebook is like people’s

homes online. Showcase your product and become an authority in your space. This is social networking, so interact. Post questions on your page, it’s getting information about your customers but it’s doing it to be social.” He also advocated companies should face criticism and deal with it because it shows the brand is human. While Giraffe and Hostelworld have so far weighted their social media strategies towards one network, VisitBritain has taken a multi-channel approach encompassing Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and video. The organisation talked about the challenges of trying to build a fan base around being a national tourist board and having to think outside the box with its ‘Love UK’ Facebook page. Both Reid and VisitBritain colleague Adriana Conte, social media programme manager, encouraged travel companies to have a go with social media to find what works. The organisation is already using Facebook Places and has plans to bring in Facebook Deals in the future. While Giraffe, Hostelworld and VisitBritain shared their experiences of building up communities using external social networks, Digital Visitor presented its view on building your own community. Anthony Rawlins, managing director of the online content specialist, said equal weight should be given to both onsite and offsite social media to build a long-term loyal customer following and develop organic traffic. Rawlins advised that although offsite networks were good for finding

(Continued on page 3)

TTI Spring Conference: The Social Revolution Report by Linda Fox

Sponsored by:

from left: Justin Reid and Adriana Conte of VisitBritain, Alan Jaramillo of NH Hoteles

Project Management Meetings ALL Executive members are warmly invited to join the project manage-ment meetings: 11 May 2011, following Summer Forum 13 Sept 2011 (conference call)

Conferences & Forums 2011 Summer Forum - 11 May 2011 Autumn Conference - 20 Sept Joint conference with OpenTravel 7 November

TTI Events 2011 TTI and OpenTravel will be jointly hosting a conference at WTM on the afternoon of Monday 7 November.

This will be followed by a drinks reception within the technology and online travel section of the exhibition. In addition, WTM will be providing a lounge for members of TTI and other associations. You will be able to host meetings and make use of free wifi for the whole four days of the show.

new audiences, it is ultimately about driving them back to your site. “Onsite social media is a better longer term strategy. You’re building your own group, you control the interaction and you can manage response and moderate content. It helps enhance your brand presence.” He also claimed that on average one review added to a website brings in 15 new organic visitors per annum. Building a community can also improve browsing time and communities developed by Digital Visitor such as VJV Lounge (Voyages Jules Verne) have seen time spent on the overall website increased by one to two minutes on top of the time spent browsing the community. Rawlins also advised companies to spread their social media strategy over a number of sites and to keep things simple and not clutter their own sites with unnecessary functionality. “Consider what functionality you want but avoid tools of no benefit. If there is not an easy user journey you have probably lost them already.” The final sessions of the conference were given over to video and mobile. Matt Rhodes, client services director of Fresh Networks urged delegates to take more advantage of video because the barrier to entry has significantly decreased because of smartphones. “Video is the least well-used form of social media but it is the most interesting. The cost of production of video is tiny thanks to all these gadgets. There is an over-reliance on review sites and text but I expect Tripadvisor’s role will not grow in importance. Video is very different because it tells a different story, you see people, you can empathise and you can do a bit more cool stuff.” Rhodes added that although many companies are concerned video may deface their brand, it does not and is unlikely to happen.

“Travel is an emotional sell, use video to show the beauty of a place. Video is just a really nice way of sharing good stuff. Video can show real emotion and it self-moderates because there is usually someone’s face in it.” Jeroen Van Velzen, chief executive of Sound of Data, shared figures on the growth of smartphones as well as research from eMarketer on consumer willingness to use these devices to research travel. Van Velzen stressed the personal nature of mobile devices and told delegates to ensure any messages delivered to them were also personal. He also advised companies to provide mobile applications to remove the stress from travelling not add to it. Although the debate around whether to develop a mobile application or invest in optimising a website for mobile devices was raised by delegates, Rhodes said that consumers don’t really care where they access information. “If I’m a consumer I’m just looking to get stuff done. Some of the best social media applications are in mobile but the user is not thinking they must get the information from a mobile, they care about what they use it for not the medium through which it came.” Van Velzen said that ultimately companies should have strategies for both but that most businesses are currently far too wrapped up in having an iPhone application and don’t actually know what they need it for. The overriding message of the day was that social media, whether you consider it a fad or here to stay, is something to be taken advantage of and used to communicate with existing and potential customers. “It has given every single one of us a voice. It has changed the way companies talk to their customers, it affects brands and it affects sales,” said EyeforTravel managing director Tim Gunstone. The change in behaviour was even demonstrated on a small level at the conference with some delegates posting comments on Twitter

(Continued from page 2)

TTIcodes Update

By the time you read this, the TTIcodes project should have reached its first major milestone. Discussions with GIATA (the company chosen by TTI to operate the TTIcodes service) will have concluded, the Letter of Agreement between TTI and GIATA will have been signed and GIATA’s Licence Agreement that it will use when TTI and European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) members sign-up to the TTIcodes service will have been finalised.

TTIcodes are unique hotel identifiers that will be in the public domain for all to use. The major benefit of their use is that they will simplify property identification de-duplication of hotel descriptive data and avoid confusion for travel companies that are taking multiple feeds of hotel accommodation from bedbanks and

other hotel databases. GIATA will be offering this service to both TTI and ETOA members who will be able to submit their accommodation databases for coding. The cost of coding will be heavily discounted to both TTI and ETOA members with the discount on offer being greater than the cost of TTI annual membership. GIATA will also offer an Additional Information Bundle that will add geo-coding, hotel addresses and group/chain affiliations to members’ hotels data. It is hoped that TTIcodes will become widely used across the global travel industry. More news soon.

by Paul Richer

The quarterly TTI newsletter Issue 21, February 2006

Here are the key points from the discussions at the project management meeting held on 16 March. Don’t forget, all Executive Members are automatically entitled to participate in management

meetings. The next will be on 11 May after the Forum. Standard Directory & Members Showcase There has been some new editions to the members showcase. Also there is a general database updating process ongoing. TTI Website It was agreed to invest money to update the website as soon as possible to improve the way it looks and its usability. TTI Promotion TTI Chairman, Peter Dennis, was at the Travel Technology Europe Exhibition promoting TTI. A press release about Peter as our new Chairman was released and received some good coverage. The Spring Conference has also received media coverage. TTI is now on Twitter (@TTI_org) and is quickly building a good body of followers. OpenTravel Projects A new semantic search product has been proposed. The 2011 forum will be in Las Vegas 25-27 April. The theme is electronic distribution. TTI has 2 complimentary registrations available if any members are interested.

New Subscriptions Scheme As mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, the project management committee ratified the adoption of revised rates that will see travel company subscription rates being set substantially lower than for others. The objective is to encourage more travel company members. Member benefits will be revised as there will no longer be Associate or Executive membership categories. Management Meeting Participants Under the previous membership regime, all Executive members were entitled to take part in the Project Management Committee meetings that guide TTI. With the abolition of Executive and Associate membership categories, all members will be eligible to take part in Management Meetings. If you are interested, please get in touch with Liz, admin@tti.org . Looking forward Summer Forum - 11th May This will be hosted by Eyefortravel at their Travel Distribution Summit. It is kindly being sponsored by search engine specialists, Stickyeyes. Full details are elsewhere in this newsletter Autumn Conference – 20th Sept This event is yet to be planned. The date of 20 September has been provisionally set. If your company is interested in sponsoring the event, contact Liz, admin@tti.org . Winter Forum - 7th November World Travel Market will be hosting an event that TTI will hold jointly with OpenTravel. It will be held in the afternoon followed by a networking drinks reception for which sponsors are sought.

Project Management Committee Discussions

Published on behalf of TTI by Genesys - The Travel Technology Consultancy Email: admin@tti.org www.genesys.net

The following projects are in progress now for publication in June: - OpenTravel 2.0 Prototype will

create a prototype of the proposed new OpenTravel 2.0 type library and business objects.

- Rail Common Services Definition will define and

document a reference set of common core reservation services using OpenTravel best practices that could be implemented by any implementer of the OpenTravel Specification Rail messages.

- Hostel Schema and Usage Profile focuses on

identifying existing OpenTravel Hotel messages and associated elements and attributes required to support electronic XML distribution for independently operated properties that offer short-term stay accommodation to travellers or backpackers.

- Change Discovery Service for Push/Pull Model

Caches for hotels include new billing profile types, folio charge routing, reservation add on services, multiple payment/ guarantee segments for one individual/single reservation, group folios, share with payments and itinerized folios for multiple payments.

- Enhanced Rail Schema focuses on rail trading

partner system interoperability and is closely aligned with common business functionality in rail reservation systems—hence covering the scope of web services required to implement a modern rail reservation system.

- Ground Transportation Services Schema and Usage Profile covers the scope of web services required to implement a modern personal ground transportation reservation system.

- Enhanced Tours Schema focuses on identifying a common set of tour business objects that will comprise a 2011 specification that contains tour-specific search, availability, booking, ticketing and information exchange messages.

- Enhanced Golf Schema and Usage Profile focuses on enhancing existing OpenTravel golf and other messages and creating new OpenTravel golf messages to support IT business functionality for golf course suppliers and online golf distributors.

- Travel Insurance Schema and Usage Profile proposes enhancements to existing OpenTravel Travel Insurance schema and the creation of a common travel insurance element that can be included in other OpenTravel schema, including Air, Hotel, Cruise, Tour, Package Tours & Holiday Bookings and Dynamic Packages.

If you would like to be updated on any of these projects please contact me at tony.williams@tti.org.

Ask Liz

OpenTravel Update

by Tony Williams

Are you interested in being involved in TTI projects? Or, as a non member, how to join? Or want more information on existing projects and new developments? If so, contact Liz either on liz.rylance@tti.org or ring her on 0871 244 0747 Do you know as a TTI member you can promote your company and its products on the TTI MEMBER SHOWCASE? This is a free service for Members. Ask Liz for

details to take advantage of this marketing opportunity

by Tim Wright

Travel Technology Initiative Ltd, Registered office: Victoria House, 51 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6AD Company Registration Number: England 2398368

Volunteers Needed All TTI members are eligible to take part in the quarterly project management meetings that guide TTI’s activities. Can you spare a small amount of time to take part in three conference calls and one face to face meeting per year? If so, TTI would really appreciate your involvement . Please email Liz to indicate your interest.