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October 31, 2009 – 2:23 pm

3133924813 df166bd818 s Tours Aggregation coming soon!Imagine being able to cross sell your tours with other operators! Or being able to have affiliates and resellers selling tours on your behalf.

We’ll you wont need to imagine for long as we are currently working on a tours aggregator where you can pick and mix tours from your network of friends and sell tours on their behalf.

So selling tours to France from the USA will be quick and easy, likewise selling pan-european tours through Asia wil be a click or two away.

More information on this coming soon!

October 29, 2009 – 6:24 pm

Yesterday, Google announced their new GPS solution for the Android mobile phone platform – and it looks like its a Killer App!

googlenav Google takes a swipe at traditional GPS

Within 24 hours of announcing it, both Garmin & Tom Tom share prices slumped.

slump Google takes a swipe at traditional GPS

Thats a BIG drop in 1 day – and there seems to be a reason for it. Not only does the Google Android app look great but its closely connected to the Web and it will be powered by millions of people making the application better by adding information to google maps in real-time. Best bit. Its Free!

At TravelManaer, we know this is the way forward. Business that dont accept the move towards the web will be dead before long.

We’ll be taking a look at this application in the near future in greater detail to see where we can add value to the TravelManager application with it.

Watch this space.

October 19, 2009 – 6:00 pm

For the last few months we’ve been working with lead Motorcoach and Tour Companies in designing a new Tours module in TravelManager.

GPN Coach Tours TravelManager Tours 2.0 – Next Generation of Tours

Now that we have some of our users live with Tours on their website and with more to following in the coming weeks it’s a pretty exciting time for Tours. However this is just the starting point over the coming months we want to help more of our existing and new users to get up and running.

If you’re listing your Tours as PDF’s on your website, you’re missing a huge opportunity with the search engines. They love content and by using Tours in TravelManager you get to leverage that content to drive more traffic to your website.

Sample Tour TravelManager TravelManager Tours 2.0 – Next Generation of Tours

Our goal is bring new and innovative features to TravelManager that will really help sell and promote your Tours. For us this means really listening to your feedback and sharing ideas on how to market your Tours more effectively. Search Engines, Social Networks are potential growth areas for your business, let us help you get the most out of these.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Eamonn

October 9, 2009 – 3:00 pm

This is a common discussion I’ve been having with operators over the last few years. The typical reaction is that’s too hard to generate an accurate price in real-time and also there’s a fear that online booking will facilitate shopping around for the cheapest price.

The reality is the Motorcoach is not seen as a viable alternative for a large percentage of the population. In fact the figure of 7-9% is quoted regularly at conferences about the percentage of North Americas that use Motorcoaches. So why is it that the remaining at worst 81% don’t ever use your services?

1)   Lack of Awareness

2)   Unfashionable image of a “Motorcoach” (an old Bus)

3)   Not marketing to new markets / customers (too much focus on older/traditional audience)

4)   Inability to get a fast quote/price

5)   All of the above and more…

I see the Motorcoach Council are trying to coordinate an industry wide campaign with their “Motorcoachified”  message which is a step in the right direction on the awareness front but….

Internet Sales Stop Sign Why the Motorcoach industry needs Online Booking? 2010

Internet Sales coming soon

It’s not enough the industry needs to change how it sells to the new customers who will what the convenience of real-time booking before they see the Motorcoach as a real alternative to taking a car, train or flight.

It can happen but does the industry what this? – We think at TravelManager that 2010 is the year for it happen icon smile Why the Motorcoach industry needs Online Booking? 2010

Regards,

Eamonn

**Not convinced of the benefits? Here’s a good article from the LCT (Limousine, Charter & Tour) website: http://www.lctmag.com/features/features-story.cfm?id=1537

October 2, 2009 – 8:30 am

With the increasing number of ways for customers to express their opinion about your product or service there’s a new trend to monitor sentiment on the Internet. Basically it’s about tracking whether the crowds opinion is positive or negative in blogs, social networks, news articles, online forums etc.

good and bad egg The next wave of online marketing? Listening

Good and Bad Sentiment Online

What does this mean for the Motorcoach industry? Well not a whole lot at the moment, but there’s an opportunity here to get and stay ahead of your competitors by starting to invest in your online reputation.

This is more than optimizing your website for search engines and more about really listening to what’s being said about your company good and bad. In fact as often is the case with dealing with traditional customer complaints, dealing with the negative effectively can often turn into a positive experience for the disgruntled customer.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to share my experiences about Twitter and similar tools you can use to manage your online reputation.

Regards,

Eamonn

*Data mining and connecting with services like Facebook and Twitter will be part of TravelManager in 2010 to help our users connect with new customers and retain existing ones.

Don’t just take my word for it! Recent Article in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/technology/internet/24emotion.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all