Tue 11 Aug 2009
Further thoughts in RE: @openplaces Top Travel 2.0 sites
Posted by Michael Hraba under Hospitality Marketing
209 views | [2] Comments
Mr. Jeffrey Talajic from OpenPlaces.org just published a fantastic post that crowdsources opinions about top 2.0 travel related sites. In my response, as is known to happen, I rambled on about some things outside of his needs… like more insider hospitality related sites and opinions on the state of some search and 2.0 offerings. I figure that I can share that here to keep the conversation going… cheers all! Jeffrey’s “best travel 2.0 sites” blog post is *HERE*
Some of my favorite’s of travel 2.0 =
You seriously can’t ignore Trip Advisor. I thought they would take a hit about admitting fake reviews, but it basically made them look proactive in buttressing the validity of the site. They are in a precarious position right now, and need to make an effort to convince their content generators, and readers, that it is still worthwhile to write, and read, the reviews.
I LOVE the look and feel of UpTake. A lot. It aggregates from multiple review sources, and relays a very accurate, simple profile about the properties.
Seatguru is a life saver… knowing what you are in for on the plane ride is massively helpful, and at 6’6″ it is important to be able to guage whether the upgrade is worth it, or vital.
The single greatest shopping place is Kayak. Nothing compares, nothing can touch it. Even if Bing tries to cheat off Kayak’s answer sheet.
I need to go on record as saying Bing has performed miserably to date. Some of the stories are hilarious… people searching and clicking on the first “suggestion” and immediately downloading a virus, etc. I am not impressed with the times I have tried to use it. The TechCrunch readers had some stories about advertised fares not actually existing, and so on….
The time wasting side of me adores Flickr’s search, and zoning out on Flickr’s travel photos.
For industry stuff, Hotel Chatter, and Hotels Magazine online seems to populate most of my news. Of course my Blog too. =)
Finally….. I fought myself… but Yelp. If you check out my blog you will see me rail on that quite often - I loathe it at times. Much of it is sophomoric, pendantic, and narcissistic, and that might be both the users and HQ. That being said, within 5 minutes of setting down in almost any town I can find out the best place to get fast dry cleaning for the spilled coffee during my flight, the hippest, non tourist trap dinner spot to take a client, find where to get the best sushi for my lunch the following day….. and a cool shop near a post office to get some errands done. It constantly amazes me how functional a travel tool it is. It might not be what you are looking for…. but I think it is incredibly useful.
Good stuff Michael, I’m happy to see your original post in all it’s glory
Thanks for the kind mention, we could got some great recommendations. I haven’t even had a chance to check them all out yet, but I definitely will.
Did you discover cool new sites?
I am shocked at all those sites on your blog… they are all incredibly cool. As for functionality, some seem to abstract or non specific to really appeal to masses. Most people have somewhere to go (and even when they don’t, they have a vague idea of where they might go) that is quite specific…. I can’t imagine some of those “enter the date and see where you can go” sites working out in the long run. I also want to get excited about the innovation and new world of travel… but there is a difference between “cool” and “useful”. For example…. twihotels might be useful, it doesn’t look that cool… and they do have a stumbling block of critical mass to cover. But then something like joobili which is endlessly cool but not really at all useful. At least to me.
In the end the more boring ones are likely the ones to work the longest… like the seatguru I mentioned, or something like TV Trip, which has bad music over hotel videos but it is INCREDIBLY effective in doing what it is meant to do.
There are so many sites out there… I am excited to explore these and more. It is really interesting to see exactly what each of the guys think too… I am with Josiah that video is going to play a huge role.. in communicating, welcoming, brand building, and exploring relationships… not just providing a look at the hotel.
But in the end… function will dominate form… and I think this excercise has convinced me that a site like Kayak is going to be hard to beat. Of course, I could wait 2 months and be proven wrong. I *am* interested in the obvious:
When will big UGR sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp start allowing mobile uploads and video?