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Posted Aug 2, 2010
We’re moving into the hotel sourcing season, so take a moment and think about your favorite little black dress or your best power suit. What makes it your favorite? And how the heck does this relate to hotel sourcing?
Posted Jun 18, 2010
Some forms of simplicity are pure genius. Therein lies the lesson for all you travel managers who wrestle with travel policy issues. After all, it’s not changing the words in the policy that matters – it’s changing people’s behavior. Let’s learn from Starbucks how a simple chalkboard can be the centerpiece of a massive campaign to change people’s behavior.
Posted Jun 16, 2010
Let’s cut to the nub of this issue. No one will ever know for sure if ancillary revenues make airlines more profitable. There are just too many moving parts in an airline’s revenue stream. Sure, airlines may report an extra billion dollars in ancillary revenue (AR, from here on) – but what did fares do?
Posted Jun 15, 2010
Last week I delivered an NBTA training course to Delta Air Lines. The workshop was geared to Delta’s global corporate sales team, and naturally we had some good give and take about trends in airline RFPs. Three things puzzled me, and so I throw these mysteries out to you, valued reader, for your insights.
Posted May 27, 2010
Good innovation solves worthy problems. Here are three problems that strike me as worthy, and their very rough calls to action.
Posted May 18, 2010
Let's connect some dots.
Dot 1: Google is in a quandary. It needs to enter big markets with high growth opportunities.
Dot 2: Google likes the travel industry. I've heard estimates that about 10% of its revenues are attributable to travel.
Dot 3: There's a big travel-related search market that Google hasn't cracked. It sits behind the walls of the GDSs.
Posted May 5, 2010
As I described in Part 1, broad innovations in technology have paved the way for many travel innovations. But surely there are important non-technology factors that are shaping the future of the travel industry. Let's take a look at five such factors and their implications.
Posted Apr 29, 2010
Yesterday I spoke at the Open Travel Alliance's Forum on the topic of innovation in consumer travel. This post summarizes the major factors influencing travel innovation, and the top innovations in consumer travel from the last two decades.
Posted Apr 9, 2010
Just for a moment, set your clock back about twenty years. Imagine a wild-eyed socialist screaming at Michael Dell and Steve Jobs about the the pain and suffering they were causing consumers by--gasp--their choices of product standards and distribution channels.
"You, Dell, need to make your computers available to the masses! In every store! Through every channel! Wherever the working man wishes to find it!"
"And you, Jobs, you need to build products that are open! That play nice with Windows! That fit the established order of things!"
Posted Mar 23, 2010
If Jeff Smisek, Continental Airline’s CEO, was a gambler, he probably wouldn’t play roulette. Why not? The odds are stacked too far in favor of the house.
Mr. Smisek’s risk tolerances came to light at an investors’ conference earlier this month. He made it clear how Continental would handle the risk of being fined up to $27,500 per passenger for excessive tarmac delays.
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