http://www.travolution.co.ukThe latest information from Travolution6012536515http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/07/03/2063/travolution-index.htmlCCPFri, 03 Jul 2009 08:02:00 +01:00 Latest Index Unit Value: 1353.068 +4.01% on previous trading day Charts: (January-July 2009) Total volume traded: 20,504,527 Daily winners and losers: Best three gains: Travelzest (5.56%) British Airways (5.46%) Park Hotels (4.33%) Worst three falls: Anite (4.07%) Moneysupermarket (2.04%) InterContinental Hotel Group (1.45%) (Accurate to end of trading LSE 16.30 GMT, Friday 3 July 2009) Trends: http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/25/2657/economic-recovery-exagerrated.htmlCCPThu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +01:00The decline in the economy has slowed, but reports of recovery have been exaggerated according to a leading economist. http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/25/2658/caution-on-outlook-sensible.htmlCCPThu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +01:00The trade appears increasingly confident the worst of the recession is behind us - albeit the worst is most definitely not over for the airlines. http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/19/2637/no-speedy-can-do-for-arcandor.htmlCCPFri, 19 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +01:00Do not expect a speedy resolution to uncertainty about Thomas Cook’s ownership after controlling shareholder Arcandor went into voluntary administration last week. This story will take time to unfold. http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/19/2638/i-hope-i-was-unity-candidate.htmlCCPFri, 19 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +01:00New ABTA chairman John McEwan has the key industry concerns of gaining the government’s ear and ending confusion about consumer protection high on his agenda. But how will he approach the job? http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/16/2639/will-abta-election-resolve-tensions.htmlCCPTue, 16 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +01:00ABTA’s first election for chairman produced a closer result than might have been expected and a bigger turnout than usual in ABTA votes. So it would be fair to consider it a triumph for ABTA democracy. http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/08/2614/travolution-awards-2009-the-shortlist.htmlCCPMon, 08 Jun 2009 10:26:00 +01:00 For more information visit our dedicated website travolutionawards.co.uk . Best use of social media WAYN and Joburg Tourism Tripadvisor Facebook apps STA Travel The Adventure Company “Best Job in the World” by Tourism Queensland Twitter Easter Egg campaign by Hostelbookers Isango Best cross-media advertising campaign “Ask for the World” by Virgin Holidays “Stars of South Australia” by STA Travel “Best Job in the World” by Tourism Queensland Best use of search engine optimisation Kuoni by BigMouthMedia Travelsupermarket Virgin Holidays by iCrossing Haven by Latitude Monarch by Greenlight STA Travel by iCrossing Cruise Thomas Cook by Ambergreen Best agency for web design New Mind Reactive Strange Corporation Fortune Cookie http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/05/2606/psa-chairman-interview-lars-olsson.htmlCCPFri, 05 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +01:00PSA chairman interview - Lars Olssonhttp://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/02/2601/get-your-head-in-the-clouds.htmlCCPTue, 02 Jun 2009 01:34:00 +01:00 There is a quiet revolution taking place in the technology world. Driving this revolution is something called Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing involves organisations hosting data on the web and offers significant cost and efficiency saving benefits for travel operators. But, while the Cloud can be more convenient, it also presents new opportunities and challenges. So, before you jump head first into the Cloud, below are the top five considerations for travel companies: 1 – Cost reduction Travel companies will find it costs less to pay for Cloud services and storage than it does to maintain their own servers. Migrating services to the Cloud will be easier for start-ups, but there are good reasons for ‘traditional’ organisations to use the Cloud, especially for ‘non mission critical’ applications. 2 – Availability To avoid the risk of downtime, travel operators should consider using a hosting chttp://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/2597/site-seeing-the-innovators.htmlCCPMon, 01 Jun 2009 08:20:00 +01:00 With bookings down and confidence shattered, optimism may seem preposterous at the moment, but I want you to spend a few moments to consider a positive perspective. Perhaps we have been experiencing a Darwinian event? Capitalism’s big kick up the backside could yet bring out the best in us, with transformational new ideas and innovation providing a path to a better future. An optimistic view, certainly, but when times are challenging it often pays to stand back and look at the world through a different lens. Yes, even if you work in the travel industry. Transformation is most definitely required. In this age of the busted business model, we have discovered that our financial system is flawed, banks go bust, car manufacturers go bankrupt and airlines are in trouble. It won’t be long now before we discover who’s backing the wrong business models in other parts of the travel industry. Those with the wrong models, or ineffective websites, are going to fail. http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/2596/travel-pioneers-tourdust.htmlCCPMon, 01 Jun 2009 08:08:00 +01:00 Launched in January 2009 by the Colclough husband and wife team, Tourdust is a place for travellers to find offbeat destinations and activities. The company’s appeal is in its relative simplicity but obvious potential for growth. It is the latest recipient of a Travolution Travel Pioneers award. Founders Tourdust is the result of the combined experience and creative expertise of Ben and Anna Colclough. Anna held marketing and sales positions at fast moving consumer goods giant Unilever before moving to Market Sentinel as a senior consultant. She advised a number of blue chip clients, including Cadbury, on social media strategy. Husband Ben left a senior position at credit-card firm American Express to co-found Tourdust. Prior to this role as international marketing director of premium cards at AMEX, Colclough had a wide-ranging run in the corporate world, inhttp://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/2595/finding-the-new-model-army.htmlCCPMon, 01 Jun 2009 07:43:00 +01:00 Some say the best innovation begins with the business structure itself. Martin Cowen examines how companies can look at new models to gain competitive advantage. Writers of a certain age still reserve a soft spot for the offline world – that doesn’t mean we go into high-street travel agents to pick up a brochure, but there’s still a place for making notes in a book. With a pen. IBM emerged as an abbreviation for ‘innovative business models’ during the preparatory scrawls for this piece. The acronym also emerged top of natural search when I gave Google a go, as the accepted name for International Business Machines Corporation. No surprise that the $100 billion-plus IT-based business has its site so well optimised. This April, IBM’s Global Business Services unit released a white paper – Paths to Success – which identified three types of business model innovation across sectors: industry models, revenue models and enterprise models (see box http://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/2594/standing-out-from-the-crowd.htmlCCPMon, 01 Jun 2009 07:30:00 +01:00 Consumers’ online behaviour is changing and travel companies should be using the recession as a period to raise their game, get wise to the competition and innovate, as Yahoo! head of travel Hazel Checkley explains. The travel industry, like every other, is currently facing major challenges: the credit crunch, rising fuel costs and lower disposable incomes. This, combined with the threat of a consumer panic over swine flu, means people are more discerning than ever to spend money on holidays. There’s no need to panic – it’s simply a natural slowdown for the sector. However, to get ahead of the competition, companies need to smarten up, look closely at what consumers now want when buying a holiday, and use this to differentiate themselves. Yahoo! recently undertook a survey across its European network, looking at how consumer behaviour is changing and the key drivers in creating a loyal website usehttp://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/2593/the-next-stage-of-the-journey.htmlCCPMon, 01 Jun 2009 07:22:00 +01:00 Travel has long been criticised for its ‘me too’ culture on website functionality, but with new techniques the industry now has a chance to dramatically improve the customer experience. Linda Fox finds out more. A trawl of web definitions for ‘innovation’, describe it as a new device or process brought into play after research and testing. It doesn’t have to be a revolutionary new tool or redesign to be innovative. In fact, another definition describes it as something that ‘lowers the cost and, or increases the benefits of a task’. It’s not about integrating new functionality such as maps, videos and reviews and expecting conversion to go through the roof, and this is where the travel industry has come up against some major criticism for poor usability, design and conversion but most crucially, lack of customer focus. At the Travolution Summit in April, the travel industry came under scrutiny from start-ups and other observers with one deleghttp://www.travolution.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/2592/now-is-the-time-to-look-ahead.htmlCCPMon, 01 Jun 2009 07:16:00 +01:00 Organisations must innovate or risk becoming middle of the road followers, says David Bicknell as he examines the role of technology as a driver for innovation. The easy way out in today’s challenging economic marketplace – a market that has already seen PricewaterhouseCoopers dismiss the idea of a short-term recession in the travel industry and warn agents and operators to prepare for three to five years of reduced activity – would be to adopt a ‘steady as you go’ strategy, milk your current revenue streams, minimise business expenditure and sit tight waiting for better times. And middle of the pack mediocrity! For those wanting to get ahead the message is much simpler: innovate. Some of the biggest names in technology – for example, Google, Cisco, and Sun Microsystems – were all were born in recessionary times. Indeed, as Sami Mahroum, research director of Britain’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts and a Visiting Reader