Online Advertising and its effects on tourists

During my last semester as a European Tourism Management student in Faro, Portugal, I was able to investigate tourists perceptions towards advertising on the Internet in form of a survey. Two-hundred forty-eight travelers at the Faro airport participated and were questioned at the check-in queue. Subjects of the investigation were the level of Internet usage, perception towards ads on Search Engines, perception towards pop-ups and banners, usage of promotional e-mails and e-newsletters for tourism purposes as well as social networks.

Among the outcome was an increase of elderly people using the Internet for travel or tourism related purposes. Younger generations seem to depend on online bookings due to low cost carriers building up in the area of the Algarve and due to airlines as Ryanair and easyJet being a cheap alternative and offering a weekend getaway. It can be generalised that about 88% of the tourists in this region prefer the Internet as a medium to retrieve holiday or travel information and that 87% do or did book online.

To be continued...

Social Commerce - The new way to shop

What makes online shopping so dangerous and sometimes unattractive for customers?

Well, if you don't have someone to talk to you personally, give you advice and makes sure that you get what you want for the price that you want to pay, online shopping can be a risk. Today, problems like these are overcome by reviews, ratings and specialized online presentation. Without these extras consumers tend to not trust a website and probably search for one that gives them the security they need. As Shopper Approved summed it up in February this year Social Commerce is an advantage as well as necessity for websites that sell online.

Consumer Ratings help to sell, increase the conversion rate, improve the organic ranking through unique content and give the consumers the security they need. Social Commerce is definitely here to stay and will become a fundamental tool to increase sales.

Twitter as Knowledge Tool...

Over the past couple of months I have been using Twitter a lot. I did send the occasional Tweet but used the platform more as a tool to up-date as well as intensify knowledge on marketing,online trends and tourism. Further, Twitter represents a great tool for job-searching. Through keyword search I found relevant members or organisations worth following. Through that I found job advertising Twitter sites for almost every sector. 

Due to the real-time web up-dates knowledge can be refreshed and gained throughout the day. For me, better than reading a book or searching for information through Search Engines. So go on and try it...
www.twitter.com

Google TV

Finally...

the era of combined TV and Internet arrived yesterday, 20.05.2010 with the launch of Google TV at the Google I/O Developers Conference in San Francisco, USA. (Source: YouTube.com)

About 5000 people witnessed the event live and even more were connected via YouTube that night. Made possible by Sony, Logitech and Intel, Google TV will be available through set-top boxes and Blu-ray players, which enables interactive video from the Internet to be seen on home TVs. Also implemented are Google Ads and displays as we know it from the Search Engine. Advertising will be brought to a new level with interactive Internet TV powered by Google. Marketers see great potential and increasing marketing activities in  interactive video for the coming years. The only question remaining is, when will Google TV arrive in Europe and the rest of the world...??!

Germanwings Viral Marketing Campaign

Something happened on an easyJet plane the other day...

Six hired people from Germanwings went on board of an easyJet flight in Hamburg, Germany. Within their hand luggage were giant speech bubbles, which they displayed during the flight in front of the passengers and which in the end suggest a flight with Germanwings. The video was successfully posted on YouTube in April where currently about 80 000 people are counted to have watched it. (QuietGlover.com 2010)

The campaign was interviewed, posted on several social networks and microblogging sites and created a huge Buzz in the German travel market. Good for Germanwings, rather mortifying for easyJet...