ENTER 2012 Presentation: Social media use and impact during the holiday travel planning process

 

New paper: Social media use and impact during the travel planning process

Fotis, J., Buhalis, D. and Rossides, N., 2012. Social media use and impact during the holiday travel planning process. In: Fuchs, M., Ricci, F. and Cantoni, L., eds. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2012. Vienna, Austria: Springer-Verlag, pp. 13-24.

Abstract:

Through an empirical study among holiday travellers, residing in the Former Soviet Union Republics, this paper presents a comprehensive view of role and impact of social media on the whole holiday travel planning process: Before, during and after the trip, providing insights on usage levels, scope of use, level of influence and trust. Findings suggest that social media are predominantly used after holidays for experience sharing. It is also shown that there is a strong correlation between perceived level of influence from social media and changes made in holiday plans prior to final decisions. Moreover, it is revealed that user-generated content is perceived as more trustworthy when compared to official tourism websites, travel agents and mass media advertising.

Download the accepted version here. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com

Presenting at ENTER 2012 in Helsingborg, Sweden

During the ENTER 2012, held in Helsingborg (Sweden) between January 24 and 27th, I delivered two presentations: The first was a full research paper co-authored together with by D. Buhalis and N. Rossides entitled "Social Media Use and Impact during the Holiday Travel Planning Process". The second was during a "Destination Focus" session and was entitled "Consumer Behaviour and Social media", where I presented some thoughts on how consumers use social media throughout their holiday process and what are the implications for destination marketers

The decision making cycle of connected consumers

Brian Solis released recently (in his Flickr page) the above graph describing the decision making cycle of connected consumers. As he admits, the graph is influenced by the McKinsey's Consumer Decision Journey and of course by his own work. Solis said that this graph belongs to a chapter in his forthcoming book "The end of business as usual: Rewire the way you work to succeed in the consumer revolution" . 

Honoured to offer my knowledge and services to Bournemouth University's Digital Hub

The Digital Hub, an initiative by Dr Philip Alford, is an emerging centre which brings together the skills and knowledge of Bournemouth University academics that have expertise in digital media and innovative technology, providing a one-stop point of contact for research-led enterprise. The spirit of the centre is to work without barriers, in inter-departmental synergy, creating, using, and passing on knowledge for the benefit of all those we work with: students, businesses, our staff, government and many more. The Digital Hub offers a range of services drawing on the skills, experience, research and consulting work undertaken by academics at Bournemouth University (BU). The team consists of staff members from the School of Tourism, the School of Design, Engineering & Computing (DEC), the Media School and the Business School, sharing skills in Cloud Computing, Digital Marketing, Eyetracking, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Social Enterprise. The wealth of knowledge and expertise at BU provide business solutions through The Digital Hub online gateway and they are available to local, national and international businesses. The centre allows easy access to details of BU consulting services, online content advice, funding opportunities (including Knowledge Transfer Partnerships), training, seminars, conferences, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), e-learning, digital consumer profiling, usability testing, online advertising and more.  The Digital Hub services include: Cloud Computing, Geographic Information System (GIS), Market Intelligence, Social Enterprise, Digital Marketing, Process Improvement, Computer Animation, Eye Tracking, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), Training, and E-Learning. For more information about the Digital Hub, and how we can assist your business to gain competitive edge in digital media and innovative technology applications please contact Dr Philip Alford at thedigitalhub@bournemouth.ac.uk

Skyscanner launches flight search within Facebook

Story from Travelmole.com:

"Flight comparison site Skyscanner has launched a way of finding flights via Facebook.

The new ‘Skyscanner for Facebook’ tool allows Facebook users to post a flight request on Skyscanner’s Wall and receive a price quote and flight details back in seconds.

The tool has been created specifically for Facebook functionality, which means there is no need to navigate away from the Facebook site or install any apps.

Users simply ‘like’ the Skyscanner page to use the tool.

The post also includes a link to the flight details on the main Skyscanner site, from where flights can be booked or options filtered.

The service uses ‘free text’ technology that means customers don’t have to select pre-set dates or destinations.

TravelMole tested the site and it did, indeed, come back with a response within a minute.

For example, the Mole posted “Gatwick to Amsterdam, July 29" and within seconds Skyscanner Flight Search had emailed back with a link to flight options, including £121 Cheapest direct (easyJet) £135 Cheapest indirect (British Airways, easyJet) £140 Shortest (1 hour 10 minutes out, 1 hour back).
It included a link to all 126 results and a link to click for further searches.

Even if customers don’t have specific dates, they can enter “Manchester to Malaga in August” to request a quote for the cheapest flights in that month.

Skyscanner director of sales and marketing Frank Skivington said: “Travel companies are starting to realise that there is more to Facebook than collecting fans, and we’re proud to have developed a pioneering tool for members that has been created with Facebook users in mind.”

Ebookers Explorer iPad app claims to be the 'first social media travel guide'

As posted by Brad Girtz in Travolution.com

"Ebookers and digital solutions company Fortune Cookie have developed a new iPad app they claim is the first social media travel guide.

The ebookers Explorer application aggregates social media content from around the web to create a dynamic travel magazine, integrating with services such as Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, Google Blogs and Twitter.

It also serves relevant hotels from the ebookers inventory.

The new app is set to launch at the travel agent consortium Advantage's 2011 conference, where Justin Cooke, Fortune Cookie CEO will be speaking with Travolutions own Simon Ferguson. The new software is not intended to handle bookings, but rather to help inspire users in the early stages of the travel decision-making cycle.

Users will be able to share content from their personalized magazine with friends and family by Facebook, Twitter and email."

The application is already available at http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ebookers-explorer/id431915790?mt=8


My comments: Well, it seems as an interesting application, however its real value could unfold if the app had the additional function of locating and presenting travel content within the network of your existing friends!!!! Its not stated in the specs, however I do not have an iPad to test it out. Any one with an iPad out there who can test this and tell us if there is such a thing? Simply comment on the post!!!