Travelcast

The Sleepbox in an ingenious idea that leases small hotel boxes by the hour or night. The first use of the Sleepbox was to put it in an airport, but it could prove to be common in many other locations. Sleepbox rooms are 40 square feet or 3.7 square meters in size with single or double bed configurations. They're renting for $30 an hour or $100 a night. The bedroom has access to a shared bathroom and a tub. The Sleepbox can be set up anywhere, and it's not just for the airport. It's just a matter of time before we can see them popping up everywhere. The Sleepbox is just like a hotel where you make an online reservation and check-in as soon as you get there. The new sleepbox is set up at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, Stockholm, and will soon be available at Washington Dulles Airport, downtown Boston, and Atlanta. As this new hotel design attracts attention and popularity, Sleepbox hopes to see their inexpensive, space-efficient hotels in locations like parks and office buildings. The Park Hotel design will feature long glass tubes with sleeping boxes set in the middle of the park. Not a bad morning view, that's for sure. In this #Travelcast episode, I receive Mikhail Krymov Founder and CEO of Sleepbox as we discuss the future of hospitality.

Sustainable travel should be the only way we can fly. International travel and tourism are far from sustainable as a result of excessive air travel, which creates toxic CO2 pollution, to package holiday resorts built on natural areas. Our planet has a finite resource. There are only so many magnificent, natural, untouched places on our planet, and mass tourism threatens their very existence. Nature, culture, and history must be preserved, not commodified. Unfortunately, many travelers and travel industry operators continue to deny how scarce our world's resources are and how adversely tourism impacts the climate, local cultures, and communities. That's where sustainable travel comes in. In this episode, I had the opportunity to interview Alexandra Pastollnigg, Founder at Fair Voyage. We spoke on the subject: Is there a more sustainable way to travel? The World Tourism Organization describes sustainable tourism as' development[which] meets the needs of current visitors and host regions, while at the same time protecting and improving opportunities for the future. It is envisaged that it will contribute to the management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be met while preserving cultural integrity, critical ecological processes, biological diversity, and the life support system. Sustainable travel is about understanding the climate and looking after our natural resources. Travelers need to be more aware of the levels of pollution caused by travel and how this impacts the climate and local wildlife. We also need to be aware of the impact of tourism on local people, industries and native cultures. Website: fairvoyage.com Free Kilimanjaro Uncovered ebook

Over the last four years, travel content has grown steadily. Travelers share their stories on social media, continuously producing high-quality videos, images, and diaries. Engaging with travel influencers has become an important way for companies within the travel industry to create brand awareness and for tourist boards to promote new destinations. 48 percent of users have chosen Instagram to discover new travel destinations, while 52 percent have been motivated by their friends ' Facebook posts to book new travel. Nonetheless, video is the current and future of content marketing, and this is further illustrated in the chart below: by 2020, marketers are expected to spend up to $28 billion on digital marketing strategies. Nowadays, "amateurs" do not necessarily mean blurred pictures or shaky clips. Travel vloggers are talented and professional video makers who use the most sophisticated equipment expertly. The Travel channel has its own style, some YouTubers prefer long-distance and international travel, and some explain the hustle and bustle of living in the largest cities in the world. Some of them are focused on experiencing new cuisines and local cultures, and some share their major and sometimes dangerous adventures in the most evocative destinations. In this #travelcast series, you'll learn from Sabrina Meyers, an accomplished blogger, how to use video for your hotel, destination and/or your personal brand. How do you start with a video, and how do you plan for your first video? How do you add a clip to your strategy? And why is video so important today, particularly for our industry? Sabrina will share her journey with us, including best practices, tools, and tips.

When it comes to travel, the timetables are constantly changing, and people are in constant motion. Location-based services, triggered by real-time local users, will play a key role in shaping the next generation of travel technology. There are two types of use cases according to Gartner for location-based services: static and dynamic. In the case of static use, all relevant information is collected beforehand, while in case of dynamic use, data is collected in real-time. Each of them presents interesting opportunities for an evolving mobile travel experience. Dynamic use cases require more robust technical capabilities, such as real-time analysis and spatial processing, so that they do not necessarily make sense in every context. They do, however, create incredibly interesting opportunities, which we are likely to see broadly implemented in the coming year. By means of geofencing and the use of beacons (devices that track activity more specifically than a wide GPS location), travel companies already have the ability to know exactly where their customers are. This is important information because it gives businesses the opportunity to react. Imagine arriving at the airport and immediately being notified that your gate has changed, or offering a quick security line purchase pass if you're running late. Hotels can deliver customized restaurant recommendations depending on the location of the client. Apps that give directions within the airport or train station, make recommendations for connecting transportation or warn users if they are heading in the wrong direction. They could also help businesses to know whether there is a persistent area of customer confusion or a potential issue (such as an overbooked flight). In this #Travelcast, I had the opportunity to interview Gordon Ryan (Managing Director of Expology). We spoke on the subject: Creating Digital Experiences & Location Based Content. He is an exhibition Designer with over 12 years of experience in Design and Production Management of events and exhibitions and Museums. Gordon's earlier years were spent teaching furniture making, and working as a design consultant for contemporary artists in Ireland. He was Designer/Production Manager for Dublin Contemporary 2011 (Irelands' largest ever contemporary art exhibition) as well as Exhibition Designer for TurnerPrize in 2013. At Expology, he works on a strategic level with clients to establish a good connection between projected objectives, and exhibition or experience deliverables - establishing robust design briefs, and effective conceptual response by safeguarding good team and client creative cooperation.

Chatbots, chatbots all over the place... every travel web site wants to have a chatbot these days, so it seems; similarly, there is a difference between simply having a chatbot and deploying a chatbot in such a way as to achieve higher levels of customer engagement and, indeed, better business outcomes. In this #Travelcast, I had the opportunity to interview David Curran. He is a Machine Learning Engineer responsible for making natural language processing applications for OpenJaw technologies. He has made chatbot systems for the Mercedes, Orange Bank France, Travelsky, the Dubai Government, la Caixa, Crédit Mutuel, and others. He is currently leading a team creating a classification system for Chinese.

Customer experience is everything in the hospitality field. Ensuring that guests are pleased is crucial to the success of a market that is increasingly competitive and where poor customer reviews can be disastrous for a brand. Technology is a key component of helping hotels provide the best guest experience, from the moment the reservation is made to the moment the guest checks. Everything in between — from the ease of connecting to the hotel's guest network to the temperature of the guest room when entering for the first time, or even the speed of delivery of a room service order— has the potential to be enhanced by the right technology. In this #Travelcast, I had the opportunity to interview Barry Clemens. He is a through and through business professional with extensive experience in the Hospitality & Tourism trade. Recently made major inroads in the tech startup industry in the hospitality industry and consistently met aggressive targets set and has been a speaker at various conferences relating to digitalization and sustainable tourism. We spoke on the subject: The fear of implementing technology in the hospitality sector. Moreover, both large and small hotel brands recognize the impact that digital transformation can have on helping to increase guest satisfaction and guest loyalty. In fact, many companies reported that their top tactical tech objective in 2018 was to improve digital customer engagement and guest loyalty.2 Now that hotels are moving into the second phase of their digital transformation efforts, many are expanding their initiatives to further improve the guest experience and create even more opportunities.

According to Julián Guerrero Orozco, Vice-President of Tourism, PROCOLOMBIA : “Music is one of the greatest motivations for tourism. Whether live or recorded, experiencing the music of the world is celebrating its rich diversity and talent, promoting intercultural dialogue and encouraging exchange.” Music is one of the biggest motivations for tourism. Whether live or recorded, experiencing the music of the world’s cultures is celebrating their rich diversity and talent, as well as promoting intercultural dialogue and exchange. Music has the power to connect the physical journey with the intellectual and emotional experience of travelers to make their trips meaningful, memorable and transformative. A music and tourism partnership also holds investment and innovation opportunities, and potential for decent employment. In this #Travelcast, I had the opportunity to interview Dr Julia Jones, CEO of Found in Music. We spoke on the subject: Is music the new gastronomy? UNWTO is co-author together with Colombia and Sound Diplomacy of a forthcoming white paper that explores and celebrates the links between music and tourism. Its purpose is to identify areas for discussion, raise questions and suggest possible ways for developing musical tourism products and using music to its full potential to promote destinations, brands and companies.

As their numbers continue to grow, Chinese outbound tourists areundergoing significant changes in travel preferences, behaviors, and spending patterns. However, numerous myths and outdated impressions of Chinese tourists persist in the tourism industry. The Chinese digital market has the highest amount of internet users in the world, making it an attractive market for any brand to enter. We help brands who are seeking to grow within the Chinese market harvest its full potential through a holistic approach and thorough planning, as Chinese audiences are different not only demographically, but also the way they think compared to western customers. In this last #travelcast episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rossella Pfundt, a consultant and expert for the Chinese market. China is the world’s largest outbound travel market when measured by trips and expenditures. As of 2015, Chinese tourists took 4 billion domestic tourism journeys and 117 million outbound trips; outbound trips are expected to reach 160 million by 2020. In 2017, Chinese outbound tourists took approximately 131 million trips.3 More than 70 percent of Chinese tourists travel with family and friends, and they exhibit the highest international spending per trip among global travelers. In addition, Chinese outbound tourism market expenditures are expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4 percent, reaching more than $315 billion a year in 2020 The number of outbound trips from China more than doubled from 2010 to 2015, growing at a CAGR of 15 percent.

The tourism industry still hasn’t discovered that #Itunes, #Spotify, #Soundcloud, TuneIn, Blubrry and Castrex can communicate content. But which content is suitable for audio influencing, and who can produce it? With all of the attention given to grabbing eyeballs with visuals, however, it’s easy to overlook the different ways of reaching your visitors, guests, or customers through their ears…. with audio. In my last #travelcast episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Henry Barchet. In this episode, we spoke: Audio in destination marketing: how to reach people through their ears?

With over 1 BILLION monthly users and growing, Instagram is the place to be in 2019. Thousands of brands are searching for influencers of all sizes to help spread the word about new products and experiences. Learn how you can monetize your passions while helping brands gain awareness. In this episode, I interviewed Kamelia Britton, who is is a full-time travel influencer who has created content for major brands such as Expedia Group, The Fairmont, Intercontinental, Kandima Maldives, Google, Facebook, Coca-Cola, and many more. We answered those questions: How to create a personal brand and define your niche How to make your bio work for you to attract more followers & potential partnerships How to focus on the right content How to grow a loyal and engaged audience How to set yourself up for success with brands and what NOT to do How to monetize your influence and what to charge Links Website: hackerette.com/ On Instagram: www.instagram.com/thehackerette/ Courses: travelhacksacademy.thinkific.com/courses/…or-fares Instagram consulting packages: hackerette.com/instagram-coaching/

Un grand remerciement à Laurène Philippot pour sa dernière interview pour la rubrique #mynomadlife dans le podcast #Travelcast. Si vous ne la connaissez pas encore, Laurène, c’est la voyageuse aux deux blogs qu’on ne présente plus : Mon week-end en Alsace et Carnet d’escapades. Ce dernier a remporté un Golden Blog Award en 2012 et a été cité par le Figaro comme l’un des 5 blogs voyages à suivre. Site web pro: www.web-escapades.fr Blogs: - www.carnetdescapades.com - www.mon-week-end-en-alsace.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/carnetdescapades www.facebook.com/monweekendenalsace Twitter @carnetdescapade Instagram @carnetdescapade #digitalnomade #podcastportrait #nomadenumérique #parcoursdevie #travelblogger #bloggeusedevoyage #voyage #blogging #tourisme #podcasting

Over the past few years, the appearance of blockchain has caused fervor across a plethora of interest due to its potential to drastically transform the way we store and use data and other information sources. This technology promises to improve transparency and security in transactions, leading the tourism industry to start to experiment with it. In this #travelcast episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Noel, Co-Founder and CEO Blockchain Consultants and we spoke on: Remodeling the world with #blockchain In a not-so-distant future, people might be able to bypass the process of booking through third-party websites or just go to an airport without the need to stand in endless queues. The introduction of blockchain in tourism has the potential to help both travelers and companies within the ecosystem. Hotels, airlines, car rental, tours, pricing, and many other operations have an opportunity to evolve. Through a more intelligent and secure orchestration of data across companies, as well as the ability for customers to set their own preferences and manage their choices in a transparent ecosystem, the industry can improve tremendously. While the opportunities are endless, they can be grouped into three main areas: simpler transaction management, better security processes, and improved loyalty schemes. Links Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelnoel/ Company website: https://blockchainconsultants.io/ Blog: http://blockchainweekly.io/ Personal Website: http://www.bizbuildermike.com/ #podcast #traveltech #branding #digitaltransformation #business #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #fintech #digitalassets #cryptocurrencies #blockchain #emergingtechnologies #blockchainweekly #traveltech

Il est connu comme un de plus connu évangélisateur des dans le domaine du digitale en Suisse romande. D'ailleurs, La RTS et le CICR lui doivent la réussite de leur virage digitale. On a discuté sur plusieurs sujets en particulier qu'est-ce qu'il l'a poussé vers un mode de vie de semi-nomade entre la Suisse et le Vietnam. Ou encore comment son choix de carrière at-il affecté sa vision du monde. Liens web Twitter Linkedin thinktankhubgeneva foraus.ch lacantinedu56.com

Not a good brand. Not a successful brand… a great human brand? The number of digital travel touchpoints grows rapidly, as travelers look for better offers via search engines, booking apps, online travel agencies, and deal sites. Yet the travel industry must adapt to newer digital marketing strategies to win over potential customers. The key to success is delivering ultra-precisely targeted content, leveraging personalized retargeting combined with AI and deep learning. A single customer looking to book a trip can visits hundreds of travel pages each day. The search often takes weeks before the final purchase is made. In this episode, I had the great opportunity to receive Mark Schaefer, who is a prolific marketing author.Not only we talked about his new book “Marketing Rebellion” but also on What Makes A Great Human Brand Online? Mark Schaefer is an internationally-acclaimed keynote speaker, strategy consultant, author, and college educator. Always thinking one step ahead of marketing trends, he works with some of the biggest brands on the planet to present memorable and entertaining keynote programs and workshops. A brand is more than a marketing tool; it’s the way the world perceives your company. More than just using it to sell things, the most successful brands create a powerful and defined identity for their companies. The goal is not just to be recognizable, but to be so closely identified with your company’s defining characteristic that you become known for it. More importantly, your objective in crafting an identity is to define what sets you apart from competitors.

What is a brand identity? Is it your logo? Your color palette? It’s all that—and more. Your brand identity is the “face” that interacts with the entire world. Whatever you create should accurately communicate who you are. However, one common misconception is that a brand identity is exclusively informed by what your brand wants to present. This isn’t entirely true. It’s also informed by what your brand’s customers want to engage with, or are accustomed to interacting with. If your identity doesn’t resonate with them, it won’t be effective. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Hugh Allspaugh Associate Partner, Strategy at VSA Partners. With 30 years of branding and integrated marketing experience, Hugh Allspaugh’s client list covers a range of global B2B and B2C brands including American Express, BP Fuels, Cargill, Citi Cards, CME Group, Sappi North America, and SC Johnson. His approach to strategy is guided by two core beliefs: Simplify complexity, but not overly so; and, without data, it’s just an opinion. If you want your brand to succeed and thrive in the future, you need to build a brand identity that accurately conveys your essence and is flexible enough to evolve with you. But that doesn’t happen overnight. It requires deep thinking, a team with strong communication and design skills, and an intimate understanding of your brand. But it can be done well, with excellent results—as long as you have the right guidance. Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone.

Dans le cadre de la thématique #Mynomadlife, je reçois comme invité: Frederick Kermisch, coach de vie & business. Non seulement, nous allons discuté de son expérience personnel sur le nomadisme digital mais aussi de répondre à ces questions: - Pourquoi tant de frustation dans nos "carrières" professionnelles ? - Est-ce que le fait de devenir un nomad digital est vraiment la panacée? - Quelles sont les trois importantes questions à se poser pour vivre en accord avec soi-même? Liens: Site web: https://www.frederickkermisch.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederickkermisch/ Livre référencés dans l'interview: - Marie Kondo, La magie du rangement. - Pauk Ekman, Je sais que vous mentez. - Geoffrey James: Business Without the Bullsh*t Crédit photo:Lucas Vigano

In this #travelcast episode, I had the pleasure to receive Caroline Sande who is not only vivid traveler but also founder of TravelEatSlay. Her aim is to share travel experiences, explore global food cultures while expressing a fashion statement within a growing community of travelers. We discuss his experience with digital nomadism, but also to answer these questions: - What was her big break - How do she finds work? Does it come to her - What’s her favourite place she visited Links: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinesande/ Website: http://traveleatslay.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/traveleatslay Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/TravelEatSlay?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Today’s travelers are looking for more personalization and convenience during their hotel stays, and hoteliers are seeking out new solutions to help meet those needs. Akia is an artificial intelligence messaging platform that allows communication between a hotel and guests and learns to anticipate guests’ needs. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joshua Galun, Hospitality & Travel Lead at Excella Consulting. We spoke on: How Hospitality Can Gain Competitive Advantages in Age of #AI? In the publication "The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization?", authors Michael Osborne and Carl Benedikt Frey estimate 47% of U.S. jobs are at "high risk" of potential automation. The fact is, any repetitive job is at risk of being replaced by machines. Even though this trend is unlikely to impact the hospitality industry in the same way, it is undeniable that replacing human interaction where it does not add any value, and increasing it where it does, is the optimum use of AI. Hoteliers should let computers analyze trends and patterns in guest behavior, so their staff can focus on the personal interactions, without the need to browse through tons of emails just to remember if Mr. Smith prefers a poolside or a streetside room. Humans should focus on what they do best and let computers do what they do best. What about having hotel staff help guests to their rooms and checking up on a personal level how the guest is doing and using that to optimize the stay, rather than entering addresses and checking credit cards and scanning passports.

Over the last few decades, innovations in aviation — wider, more efficient jets and the rise of low-cost airlines — significantly reduced the cost of flying. Bigger cruise ships capable of holding many thousands of passengers now take entire floating cities to coastal ports (which is why Venice recently banned these). Then there are the many splendors enabled by the internet, among them online booking, local reviews, smartphone mapping, and ride-hailing and home-sharing, which have collectively democratized pretty much every step involved in travel. In this episode of #travelcast, I had the pleasure to receive fuchsia claire sims who is Co-Founder Adventure Junky (Certified B Corp) App. We spoke on: #Gamification and #Millenial mindset: Can they save us from #overtourism? With over 3 million travelers crossing international borders every day – a number set to double by 2030 – we have to ask whether our environments and cultures are resilient enough to withstand the flood. On my blog: https://lnkd.in/eKedXEK Soundcloud: https://lnkd.in/e_TRv9P Available in more places here: https://lnkd.in/dMSdNe8

C’est désormais une évidence pour tous que l’ intelligence artificielle va transformer le marché. Tout a commencé, avec l’impulsion donnée par Amazon Go, où l’intelligence artificielle a complètement réinventé l’expérience shopping des clients en retirant les files d’attentes en caisse. D’autres industries ont rapidement suivi le mouvement. Tesla utilise désormais l’intelligence artificielle pour prédire les comportements des conducteurs sur certaines coordonnées GPS. Plus récemment encore, les industries du voyage et de l’hôtellerie ont commencé à apprivoiser l’ IA comme par exemple les hôtels Hilton où sont testés de nouveaux concierges – des robots dénommés « Connie » qui sont en mesure de répondre aux différentes questions des clients concernant les commodités, les services ou encore les attractions touristiques. En compagnie de Martin Canter qui est Doctorant et Ingénieur en Machine Learning chez #ominatechnologies. On a discuté sur le sujet: À quoi ça sert, l'intelligence artificielle ? Un design fait sur mesure propre à chacun est désormais possible grâce aux capacités d’apprentissage et d’analyse de l’intelligence artificielle. Pouvoir bénéficier d’un logiciel qui comprend les circonstances des achats précédents permet d’ajuster les messages et même les couleurs de l’interface pour s’adapter au mieux aux attentes de chaque utilisateur. L’IA, à chaque étape de l’expérience utilisateur, peut permettre à l’application de se transformer pour afficher des informations personnalisées en fonction des utilisateurs. Il existe plusieurs moyens d’arriver à ce résultat.

In recent years, the topic of "Independent Hotels vs Brand Hotels" has become more and more popular. It's now being discussed in every industry conference. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carlos Aquino, Co-Founder of Magnum Leap Business Intelligence and VP Sales & Business Development at Tafer Hotels & Resorts. We spoke on: How can an independent hotel compete against large chains? Millennials, the golden market segment everyone has been raving about, also seems to appreciate more authentic and original personalized experiences over a cookie cutter, of the shelve type of product. So for the years to come I would say this is quite a good outlook for independent hotels. And this does not only count for the high-end or luxury market. In the mid-ed and budget or economy segments independent hotels are making in-ways as well. Refreshing concepts with original design, personal guest service are popping up and moving up the charts everywhere. Even in the youth hostel market we have seen a product upgrade happening over the last few years with some cool new places to stay. Links: On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosaquinohotelmanagement/ Website: www.taferresorts.com

The blockchain technology is slowly and steadily carving out a prominent space for itself across different industries. Ideally, blockchain can be recognized as a decentralized, invulnerable ledger system that keeps track of economic transactions that can be implemented to record anything that holds value, other than just financial transactions. What was initiated as the foundation of the cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin, the advantages that blockchain brings to the table has been successfully integrated with the hotel and hospitality industry. I was pleased to receive Hendrik Tanjaya Tan, Co-Founder & CTO at REIDAO. In this episode, we spoke on: Future of Shared Holiday and the impact of #blockchain in Shared holiday homes. Using blockchain technology in the hospitality industry presents several advantages, with the most evident one being the aspect of security and stability. For example, all the information becomes decentralised and easily regulated, and the database would be online at all times and reduces the risks in case of cyber threats, all of which are significant when it comes to maintaining financial transactions through digital platforms. Additionally, the blockchain can be beneficial for accessing and storing information, and prompting better collaboration within the operations and ultimately enhancing the overall travel experience for tourists and consumers. Presented below are some of the ways blockchain proves advantageous for the hotel industry. Links: On Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/htant/ - https://www.linkedin.com/company/reidao/ Website http://www.reidao.io

In less than two decades China has grown from travel minnows to the world’s most powerful outbound market, leapfrogging the US – and leaving it in its wake. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (#UNWTO) Chinese tourists overseas spent $261.1bn in 2016, up from around $10bn in the year 2000 (the figure for 2017 is likely to top $300bn). Collectively, America’s globetrotters parted with a relatively paltry $123.6bn. In this last #travelcast episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anjelica Price-Rocha and Humphrey Ho, Managing Director of Hylink Digital Solutions Solutions USA, China’s largest digital advertising agency — now with international headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif. In this episode, we spoke on: How to leverage the right digital channels to reach Chinese travelers?

Already heralded as a game changer for multiple industries, blockchain is emerging as a powerful technological force that promises to change the travel industry’s status quo. Like eating, drinking and sleeping, taking the time to get away, go on holiday or to travel is instinctive and an important part of life for many of us, key to our well-being and ongoing success. It can motivate, inspire, rejuvenate; and whether it’s a luxury trip abroad, or weekend staycation, in some form or another we all need to take a break. The travel and tourism industry continues to thrive in agreement, directly contributing approximately 2.57 trillion US dollars to the global economy in 2017 alone*. In this #Travelcast episode, I receive Alice Taylor from the blockchain travel startup: Vado App on the topic: How blockchain is transforming travel into a friction-less experience?

Big data brings endless opportunities for the travel industry, but this ever-changing field also brings with it many challenges. With customers creating valuable data at every stage of their journey, how can travel companies do more to collect and connect these data points to improve the customer experience? I was pleased to receive Gilad Berenstein who is Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Utrip. It's is a data-driven personalization platform and A.I. recommendation engine built specifically for the travel industry.

In less than two decades China has grown from travel minnows to the world’s most powerful outbound market, leapfrogging the US – and leaving it in its wake. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Chinese tourists overseas spent $261.1bn in 2016, up from around $10bn in the year 2000 (the figure for 2017 is likely to top $300bn). Collectively, America’s globetrotters parted with a relatively paltry $123.6bn. In this #Travelcast episode, I receive Chinese Outbound Tourism Specialist, Berenice Pendzialek, to speaks about China’s technological trends and shares her expert ideas and strategies on how to connect with Chinese tourists along different touchpoints of the customer journey.

Airlines are being fostered to transform their businesses, to catch up with or be ahead of technological trends, such as social media, cloud computing, mobile connectivity or big data. Considering the current pace of market penetration, we can observe a huge difference in today’s market from a decade ago. For instance, the complete travel experience of the passenger is completely digitized and matured on the digital space, to provide greater travel experience. In this #travelcast episode. I have the pleasure to speak with Ahmed Elemam who is a Senior Digital Marketer at WestJet where he overlooks channel management, analytics, customer segmentation and the Adobe “premium” Marketing Cloud.

Pour de nombreux secteurs, la transformation digitale n’a pas grand-chose à voir avec des vacances au soleil. Mais qu’en est-il du tourisme et des voyages ? Quelles sont les tendances digitales dans ce secteur qui a priorisé dès le départ l’expérience client ? Selligent Marketing Cloud dévoile les leçons à suivre pour les marketeurs souhaitant améliorer leur expérience client. Les voyagistes ont bel et bien le vent en poupe, avec des ventes atteignant la somme record d’1,33 mille milliards de dollars en 2017 (selon J.P.Morgan). Malgré l’instabilité de l’économie mondiale actuelle, le secteur devrait même continuer son ascension et passer la barre des 5 %, soit 1,5 mille milliards de dollars de ventes d’ici à 2020. Le moteur de ce phénomène ? L’évolution des besoins des consommateurs, plus enclins à dépenser dans des expériences que des biens de consommation. En compagnie de Frederic Chanut, on a discuté sur ce que nous réserve 2018 en termes de tendances marketing digital ?

The SMEQ (Social Media Emotional Quotient) is the art and influence of creating, attracting and building better business relationships through digital media. We need to understand the importance of keeping our online activities interactive and with a human feel. In this #travelcast episode, I was pleased to receive Elise Quevedo, Author, Global Key Opinion Leader, Keynote Speaker. We live in a world where peer to peer recommendation is more important than brand promotion and Elise Quevedo will talk how although we are moving into a world of automation, bots and AI, there are some aspects we still need to keep more personal. Remember that there is still a human being behind pretty much everything we create in the cyber world and by keeping some of those areas more emotional and real, we can make our business grow.

Guests now rely on peers and online recommendations rather than traditional star ratings to make their booking decisions. Today, 95% of leisure travelers report spending an average of 30 minutes reading reviews prior to booking a hotel and they are quick to say what they think on social media platforms. They expect their hosts to provide them with a holistic experience, not just a great hotel room, and they expect a level of personalization within their interactions with the hotel pre, during and post stay. In this #travelcast episode, I was pleased to receive Eric Shepard CEO / Co-Founder at TRILL. Links On Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eric-shepard-7270b52/ Trill website: www.trilltravel.co/ Trill on Facebook: www.facebook.com/trilltravel/

COMMENT COMMUNIQUER SUR LES RÉSEAUX SOCIAUX ? / Panorama des réseaux sociaux: connaître les usages et les comportements à adopter en fonction des différents réseaux sociaux / Fondamentaux du Community Management : les bonnes pratiques, les conseils organisationnels, la stratégie de contenu et comment mesurer les résultats pour être efficaces ?

GOING BEYOND THE ESSENTIALS: UNDERSTANDING CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES - WHY DO DIGITAL MARKETING? - ESSENTIAL DIGITAL ACTIVITIES EVERY BUSINESS MUST DO - BEYOND THE ESSENTIALS –DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS - TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL TOURISM MARKETING

Entre les évolutions technologiques et les nouveaux comportements des consommateurs, le secteur de l’Hôtellerie fait face à une véritable révolution. Les voyageurs exigent aujourd’hui des services personnalisés et une expérience unique durant leur séjour. Face à la standardisation des grandes chaînes hôtelières, certains établissements se sont différenciés en misant sur la proximité et sur des services originaux tout en se créant une identité propre. Parmi les révolutions actuelles du secteur, le digital reste la plus importante et a totalement chamboulé la manière de vendre les nuitées… ne laissant d’autre choix aux professionnels de l’hôtellerie que de basculer sur ce canal. Dans cet épisode de #travelcast, nous avons discuté sur: La digitalisation de l'expérience client dans l'hotellerie. Savoir s’adapter dans un secteur en mouvement constant est primordial et se différencier sur un marché concurrentiel est un facteur clé pour continuer à être compétitif.

Leo Tolstoy once said, “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.” Anytime a traveler embarks on an adventure, they return home not only with memories of where they went, but with stories of being changed by their experiences. In no other vertical is the possibility for rich and engaging storytelling more prevalent than in travel. In this #travelcast episode, I was pleased to receive Zoe Dowling, Lead Research Strategist at FocusVision and we spoke on: When Virtual and Physical Worlds Collide. Stunning locations, thrilling encounters, and provocative anecdotes provide more than enough content fodder for travel brands to appeal to those thirsty for adventure. And if Google’s report on travel video content is any indicator, brands who are including elements of storytelling in their marketing strategies are leaving their competitors in the dust.

Tomorrow’s travelers will want to travel the world in just one way – their own way. They'll want to put together their own unique travel experiences, tap into inspiration from other travelers and then share their own personal plans with friends. That’s how they see the future of travel. In this #travelcast episode, I was pleased to receive Juanjo Rodriguez, CEO & Founder at The Hotels Network (https://www.thehotelsnetwork.com/en) and we spoke on: Personalization In Travel. Personalization has become something of a buzzword in business this year. But far from being a passing fad, those hotels that get it right stand to gain a lot. A boutique hotel that understands the importance of customer satisfaction and what drives it, will no doubt recognize why a personalized offering is becoming more important than ever before. Links: On Linkedin Personal profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanjorodriguez/ Hotel Network; https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hotels-network/

I was pleased to received Gwen Miller who is Vice President, Content Strategy at Kin Community In this #travelcast episode, we spoke on: How to build a corporate culture of data-driven strategy? Data is a fundamental element of digital media. It’s intertwined with everything we do and when you harness it right you can uncover incredible insights that make your content better, build your audiences and increase sales. There’s so much data available that even if you build a specialized and dedicated data team they still won’t be able to manage and interpret all of it. The only way to manage this flood of data in today’s modern digital media companies is to empower every employee to be a data expert. But how do you do that? Links Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwen-miller-40965b24/ How to Build a Corporate Culture of Data (SlideShare): https://www.slideshare.net/gwenim/how-to-build-a-corporate-culture-of-data-gwen-miller-kin-community

In this #travelcast episode, I was pleased to receive Amir Segall who is VP of Global Supply at HotelTonight (https://www.hoteltonight.com/). We discussed on: What is the Future in the Hospitality Industry? For the longest time, the hospitality industry has been this stable, undisturbed market where progress is steady and revenue is pouring in consistently, year in and year out. Big names keep on getting bigger, widening their breadth, tightening their hold on the market.

If you are new to the China market, or in the process of creating a digital strategy to reach your Chinese consumers, there is one tactic you just can’t ignore: KOL (key opinion leader) endorsement. I was pleased to received Lauren Hallanan who is an influencer, Chinese social media marketer In this #travelcast episode, we spoke on: Why Influencers are the Key to Attracting Chinese Travelers. Have you ever heard of a social media influencer with 4.5 million followers selling 100 cars (no, not virtual cars) in five minutes in the West? Probably not, but in China this is not an uncommon event in China’s KOL-driven economy. Qumin has created a brief overview of what makes the Chinese influencers' market far more powerful than in the West. China’s internet is mobile first According to the 2018 Abacus report, while China’s internet penetration is just over 50%, it still has 11x times more mobile payment users (527 million) than in the US. Chinese consumers order food through Eleme (饿了么), look up venues through Dianping (大众点评), pay their fees through Alipay (支付宝) , get their news from Toutiao (今日头条), shop in Taobao (淘宝) and find entertainment in Tik Tok (抖音). And of course socialize through the almighty WeChat apps, which also happens to have all the functions listed above. From a practicality perspective, there is literally no reason to browse from a desktop anymore. In 2017 only, Chinese app users spent around 225 billion hours in apps, which is 4.5 times longer than the second highest market - India. Links Website: http://laurenhallanan.com/ Podcast: http://www.chinainfluencermarketing.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-hallanan/

In this #travelcast episode, we spoke on: How Facial Recognition Makes Your Travel Experience A Smooth One After mobile technologies became an integral part of daily life, the offering of services that utilize mobile platforms turned into a necessity for service providers. Companies were forced to either enhance their service offering with the mobile services or digitalize their current offering. Airport operators could not remain indifferent to that rapid advancement in the technology and added kiosk check-in, online check –in and mobile check- in starting from the early 2000s to any of their passenger. Nowadays, these services are provided in the same form, although technology kept evolving and the service needs of passenger started to vary with the introduction of loyalty programs. Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tu%C4%9Fberk-duman-b0947148/

I was pleased to receive Paul Bulencea who has published the book Gamification in Tourism. In this episode, we spoke on: How to Design Extraordinary Travel Experiences thru Gamification. The travel industry is at a point where market differentiation has become more crucial than ever. Tourism is extremely accessible. More and more tourists have become very skilled at using search and metasearch engines to find the best price-quality ratio for tourism services. Businesses started to do cost-cutting and automation of their services in order to remain competitive. Cheap and fast access to destinations has triggered destinations and tourism businesses to compete in a global market that now has also competitors from the rapid growing sharing economy (Airbnb, Uber, Eatwith). Source: The Experience Economy; www.amazon.fr/Experience-Economy…Pine/dp/1422161978