Travel Industry News Archive for 2005

At the recent ISHC Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, ISHC Members participated in a series of roundtable discussions to identify the ISHC Top Ten Global Issues and Challenges in the Hospitality Industry for 2006.

This article examines customer segmentation in the online hospitality sector and how to structure your web site to maximize the value of your most important web site visitors.

We are being forced to re-design to a new level of 'micro-nization' of business units, a 'wireless-izing' of mass communication and a 'voip-izing' of populace conversations in marketplaces, under a massive globalization with highly localized customization to fit the demands of consumers. This subject is very hot and research on these issues is still being drafted.

All of us at the Ozean Group extend our best wishes for the holidays and the new year to our readers. We are taking a holiday break and look forward to serving you again after January 3rd.

For a few tense hours on September 21, the fate of JetBlue Airways hung on flight 292. The nose landing-gear of the Airbus 320 jet was stuck sideways. The plane, carrying 146 people, circled Los Angeles to burn off fuel and then came down safely with its landing-gear still askew.

Whether hitting the ski slopes, heading for warmer climes or visiting family and friends, Americans will not let the cold weather keep them from traveling during December, January and February. According to the latest seasonal forecast by TIA, overall travel by Americans this winter is expected to grow by 2 percent with an estimated 251 million trips. Leisure travel alone will grow 2.4 percent while business travel will increase 1 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 5.3 percent more domestic passengers and flew 1.2 percent more domestic flights during the first nine months of 2005 than they did during the same period in 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported, in a release of preliminary data.

The economic growth that the United States enjoyed in 2005 will continue in 2006, as stronger business investment begins to pick up the slack on the part of consumers who will curtail the white-hot spending that has been a key factor in propelling the economy, according to Wharton faculty members and private-sector economists.

According to a column in the December 11th Boston Globe, The National Basketball Association is considering ways to tone down the noise at NBA games by testing 'silent nights. In this scenario, the only noise in the house would be generated from the game and the stands. When told of this, one of the more marketing savvy owners said, 'We don't sell basketball. Going to a game is about having fun, not comparing how team plays to what the scouting report says.'

It's practically second nature for U.S. online consumers to look for travel deals on the Web. In fact, nearly nine out of 10 U.S. online consumers used the Web in summer 2005 to plan or purchase travel, according to Feedback Research.