Taiwan Tourism trying to sell snow to eskimos

I cam across this advertisement by Taiwan Tourism while catching a train in Sydney. They can also be found in buses all over the city.

I am all for promoting Taiwan as a destination and am happy for them that Lonely Planet named the on of the top 10 countries to visit in 2012. But this is an absolutely stupid campaign idea. If the target market is Australia, especially Sydney siders, then here are probably 107 things you should promote about Taiwan ahead of surfing. I showed this advert to my 9 year old son and asked him "what do you think?". His reply "waves look crap, Dad". Hardly a great tag line to inspire travellers. My marketing tip for Taiwan tourism - selling surf to Australians is like selling snow to eskimos. You better be very very very good at it before you try. Have a look at the below and tell me what you think.

The BOOT (and Lounge) at WebInTravel and ITB Oct 16-21

I will be in Singapore next week (Oct 16-21) to attend WebInTravel and ITB asia. Send me an email if you are interested in meeting up.

I am running a series of sessions and presentations across the WebIntravel program (both the main program and the Boot Camp). Here are the sessions I will be in

At the WIT Boot Camp I am on at the following times (Monday 17 Oct)

11.00-11.50 Innovation Across Asia, Part 2
Facilitating a series of presentations on innovation and what's news across Asia. Presenting will be:

• Australia: Ian Cumming, Founder, GetFlight
• Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand: Brett Henry, Vice President Marketing, Abacus International
• Vietnam: Tran Trong Kien, CEO, Buffalo Tours, Vietnam
• Facilitator: Timothy Hughes, CEO, Getaway Lounge, Australia

12.30-12.40 The WIT Bootcamp Debate: Old People Suck At Start-Ups
Standing in between two entreprenuers and they battle it out over whether or not old people belong in start ups.

• For: Wong Bi Ying, Content Strategist, Savant Degrees, Singapore
• Against: Timothy O'Neil-Dunne, Managing Partner, T2Impact

At the Main WIT show

Tuesday 18 Oct

12.40-13.00 The first two presentations of the inaugural WITovation Awards 2011

I will be presenting the Winner of the Mobile Groover section

15.00-15.45 The WIT Groove Debate 2 + Panel

Debate: A debate on the value of deals. I will be head to head against a Sabre representative on the value of the deal sector

• For: Patrick Andres, Vice President, Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Asia Pacific

• Against: Timothy Hughes, CEO, Getaway Lounge, Australia

Will then join a panel to discuss further with

• Bryan Lewis, Chief Commercial Officer, Agoda

• Tai Parata, Managing Director, Travel,
• Ensogo
Patrick Linden, Co-founder and CEO, Dealguru Holdings, Singapore
• 
Remy Merckx, VP e-Commerce Sales & Distribution, Accor
• 
Tom Gallagher, Executive Vice President, Revenue Generation, Pegasus Solutions
• 
Mohamed Yusof, Director of Business Strategies, Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore

All moderatored by Yeoh Siew Hoon, Editor & Founder, Web In Travel

On the 19th

Oct 19, 16.10-16.40 Get Into The Groove – The Future of Social

• Jakob Riegger, Co-Founder & Managing Director, TrustYou, Germany

• Danny Oei Wirianto, CEO, Mindtalk, Indonesia

• Margery Lynn, Dachis Group South-east Asia
• 
Abrar Ahmad, Partner, Travel Capitalist Ventures

Mobile Search Still has a long way to go...about 17,000kms

In 2008 and early 2009 I was a mobile skeptic. I argued on a number of posts that that true mobile Internet was still years away. Then in Nov 2009 Google bought AdMob and I ate humble pie - admitting that the mobile Internet was here to stay. As a convert I became a near fanatic writing a two part piece on Tnooz (part 1 here, part 2 here) on the mobile revolution and what to expect next. I also predicted that this year mobile would "die" as a separate category and simply be subsumed into the "regular" internet.

But yesterday I was brought down to earth again and reminded how there is still so much that needs to be done to make the mobile Internet ubiquitous and universally useful.

I found myself yesterday at the TRAVELtech conference with a problem. The sole of my shoe was beginning to fall off. Rapidly. I was about to go on stage to present but became worried that between the audience and the stage my sole would fall off completely making me look more hobo and hopeless than serious and CEO like. So I did want any normal exec of the second decade of the 21st century would do. I pulled out my iphone and Googled "shoe repairs sussex st" (with sussex st being the major downtown city street behind me). I then followed up by prompting Google to accept and read my location using the GPS and manually accept that I was in "Sydney,NSW". Below is a screenshot of the search results

If you are on a device that cant see the image above, let me type out the text for you. It says

"Did you mean A B & C Shoe Repairs, Croft Rd, Crowborough, Sussex TN6 1DL United Kingdom"

A quick follow up Google search indicates that this particular shoe store is about 17,000km from my current location. Clearly the word Sussex confused the search algorithm. But how? How did the world "sussex" override that Google new exactly where I was via the GPS and new the broad region through by selection of Sydney. Either way, I was forced to put down the phone and try to find some double sided tape to save the day. I am still a mobile fan and believer but am reminded that there is much to doo before the shoe and the BOOT are fully satisfied by the phone.

BOOT at TRAVELtech 2011: Sydney August 29

I will be at TRAVELtech 2011 presenting in my role as CEO of travel deal site Getaway Lounge. The session is titled

Daily Deal Websites – A New Distribution Channel or A Flash In The Pan?

Wow, two years ago this sector hardly existed now it is white hot. Travel was slow to get on board – leaving the playing field to restaurants, spas and hairdressers - but not it is full steam ahead with several purpose built companies emerging and big incumbents getting also getting involved. Overview from industry analyst followed by panel discussion.

I am on the panel with a who's of deal site execs in Australia

• Tim Hughes, Getaway Lounge
• James Gilbert, Living Social
• Sam Friend, TravelCandy
• Sam Yip, Senior Research Manager, Telsyte
• Dean McEvoy, Founder, Spreets

Registrations are still available here.

Let me know if you will be there and want to meetup.

Thursday - tweeting about Stayz, Fairfax, Occupancy and Vacation rentals in OZ

Tomorrow (Thursday 21 July) I will be at a press event for the Stayz Group (called a holiday rental summit). That is the collectioPublish Postn of companies that Fairfax (media coy) have put together that allow booking of vacation rentals, holiday homes and short lets. Will be tweeting from 830am-1030 or so (Australian eastern time) under the hastag #stayz

For background on the sector check out these posts. More on this interesting sector soon

• Fairfax buys Occupancy.com - owns online vacation rental market in Australia
• Australian Online Market for Short-Lets and Holiday Rentals: Interview with Occupancy.com joint-CEO Justin Butterworth Part 1
• Australian Online Market for Short-Lets and Holiday Rentals: Interview with Occupancy.com joint-CEO Justin Butterworth Part 2

BOOT speaking at Pricing For Growth conference Sheraton on the Park Sydney 25 July

I will be at the Pricing For Growth conference at the Sheraton on the Park on July 25. My session is at 945am on the Monday. Topic is:

Case study Competing effectively in an online world

• Keeping up with the changing business models that are being borne out of the growing online world
• Tailoring and strengthening your online pricing strategy to withstand both local and global competition
• Having an agile pricing strategy in place that can quickly respond to market changes when time is of the essence
• Transparency, opacity, flash sales, closed loops, geo targeting and the complexities of selling in a world where everything can be discovered

Let me know if you are attending and want to meet up.

WebInTravel 2011: WITovation Awards and Nominations

The deservedly popular WebInTravel conference is schedule for October 18-19 in Singapore. As part of this year's conference organiser Yeoh Siew Hoon is running a series of Awards called the WITovation Awards. These award will "recognize companies or individuals which have made a difference in a chosen field, either through a specific marketing campaign or an overall strategy, in the digital travel space in 2011.". Four cateogories - social media, mobile, niche/specialist and customer focus. Details here and nominations through this PDF form.

Seat Review - Pacific Blue International Economy Class (Virgin Australia)

Virgin Australia (nee Blue) may have rebranded and retargeted itself in a flurry of fancy press events and well crafted media releases, but when it comes to the product there is nothing fancy or well crafted about Virgin Australia’s Pacific Blue international economy class. It is a flight that gets you where you are going with a smile but the bare minimum of extras. It is low cost seat, nothing more. The BOOT rating for Virgin Australia / Blue International Economy is 1.5 stars out of 6 or "Bad Seat". Here is the detailed (other reviews and scoring system for airline seat reviews here)
Getting on board	Score 0
I am Velocity Gold (Virgin’s frequent flyer program), Qantas Gold, United Gold and Singapore Airlines Gold. But none of that matters or means anything when flying Pac Blue. There is no lounge access for anyone in any status or any class no matter what. I put a post on Australian frequent flyer hoping that someone knew a trick or twist…but had nothing but crickets in response. On the Virgin website under the lounge section they mention how for every other international flight they do on V Australia, Virgin Atlantic, Etihad etc. Velocity Gold is enough to get lounge access. If flying from NZ there was mention of some lounge with names I'd never heard of. But in ex-Sydney on Pac Blue nothing. This is a significant weakness in this product. Lounge access is a critical value to a top tier flyer. The absence of it is felt and sets the tone for this product. I did get access to a priority check in queue which saved about half an hour on the land side (but then without lounge access what am I actually going to do with that extra time airside). Pac Blue is pure low cost carrier in approach but does have assigned seats. However, they have not initiated online check-in for international departures. By phone they will not set aside seats for groups/families sitting together. I asked over the phone “can you guarantee that all four of us will be seated together.” The useless reply was “we cant guarantee but you will probably be able to sit together.” This means we had to be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time to guarantee being together which mean 1.5 hours in the airport with no lounge access. Pure LCC. Note - DJ have announced a tie up with Singapore Airlines which may deliver lounge access but press releases of future luxury do not remove the sting of having to pay $5 for a luke-warm coffee on a hard bench in an overpriced airport.
The Seat	Score 0
It is a economy seat on a low cost carrier so you expect it to be small and narrow. It meets that expectation. To be fair, the seat is a reasonable size for a economy class seat. The tray table is a fair size and adjustable. The arm rests lift, allowing children to easily sleep on the laps of parents. The seats are leather and pleasant on the eye. All acceptable stuff. What is not acceptable is how dirty the area is in and around the seats. Carpets stained with what I hope is food. Seats covered in what I hope is dust and seat back pouches filled with tissues, dirt, wrappings and what I hope is not human waste. Filthy and unacceptable. If is fine for low cost seat to mean small but it is unacceptable for it to mean unhygienic. What is also not acceptable is the slant. For some reason the head rest slants forward not back. It is understandable that the LCC economy class seat does not recline much but it is unacceptable that the headrest pushes forward - not lean backward. By pushing forward it makes sleeping impossible. If it could lean back just a few inches it would go from impossible to bearable.
Entertainment	Score 0
Virgin’s live2air service combines a live feed from Australian cable television companies Foxtel and Austar. Means 24 cable channels covering sport, comedy, drama and kids programs. There is also a movie channel with 3 movies running on a loop (set start times). Cost is $9.90. That is fair and reasonable for a low cost carrier but I am not sure why they chose live TV vs on demand TV. For live TV to be attractive there has to be something on at the time you are on. Taking a day-time flight means the TV channels are full of...well…day time television. Hardly appealing stuff. The decision to use live TV goes from strange to ridiculous on the return trip starting in international waters. Clearly Virgin or Foxtel have not secured rights to broadcasts starting in non-Australian waters. As a result return trips to Australia involve a number of hours of "service not available" until Australian territorial waters appear. Virgin should replace this as soon as possible with an on demand service
Food	Score 0.5
There is lots of food on board provided you are happy to pay. Again -completely acceptable on a low cost carrier. But it is completely unacceptable that there is no free water option. The only water available is $3 for 330ml. It is well accepted that you should drink a lot of water on planes. The official recommendation is to drink two litres per day. For a flight you should increase this 50%. Means for each hour of flying time you need to drink between 125-200ml of water. To do this on DJ long haul adds a minimum $12-13 to the price of the price of each ticket. It should be a regulatory requirement that airlines provide water. Regulations aside Virgin must immediately change this position and make water available for free. Another peculiarity of the food is the timing of the hot food service. My flight was a day flight lasting 7 hours. The first cart came passed a few moments after take off (ie in the morning Sydney time). It was only made clear to me later (maybe I missed it) that this was the only time hot food would be served. This does not work for me (and probably for most people) to get on a plane first thing and have to eat the only hot meal. As Sydney dinner time approached all that was available was day old wraps and cheese and crackers That all said, the quality of the food on offer is better than low cost carriers I have flown in Europe through the sourcing of snacks from higher quality providers.
Service	Score 1.0
The staff were fantastic. They out-shined all other elements of the product. The staff were pleasant and lively despite a flight at horror hours and children running everywhere. A tribute to air crew. The plane was full of children running everywhere yet the staff dealt with all with a smile, a sense of encouragement and filled with great humour
BOOT Factor	Score 0
The flight is factor-less. There is not a bell or a whistle or a twist.
Final Score	1.5

BOOT and Getaway Lounge profile piece on WebInTravel

Over at the WebInTravel site there is a profile piece on me and my new venture - Getaway Lounge. Title of the post is "Give me a deal, and I will give you brand, sales and customers"

Tnooz: why the Baidu / Qunar deal is a moment in Chinese economic history

New post now live on Tnooz titled "Unhappy Fourth of July – Why summer 2011 is a big moment in Chinese online travel". In it I analyse the $306mm investment by Chinese search giant Baidu in Chinese meta-search giant Qunar. Check out the full story and analysis here.

Google brand bidding war extends to tourism orgs

I am an only child so sibling rivalry is a bit of a mystery to me. That said I remember some very vigorous games of football and role playing games against cousins. Nothing beat the satisfaction of crash tackling a cousin during a family event. I imagine that is part of the motivation for this screenshot from a Google search page. On it you can see Tourism NSW bidding for the search term "tourism vic". I would love to be in the room when the head of marketing from Tourism Vic calls their cousin in NSW and demands a please explain....

Tuesday 21 June at WIT in Sydney - talking startups

I am at WebInTravel tomorrow (Tuesday 21) at the Shangri-La in Sydney. I will be talking on stage with Ian Cummings of Getflight about start up and trends in online travel in Australia and Asia. We have four themes to cover - search, retail and marketing, planning and engagement. 20 start ups to talk through and a lot of analysis to share. Come join us.

Upate - Tweets will be on hastag #witoz not #webintravel

Getaway Lounge profile on Tnooz TLabs

Industry blog super-site Tnooz has run a profile of my new travel deal site Getaway Lounge - check out the post here. We have hit 20k subscribers and climbing

How is the Qantas frequent flyer program like an angry Russian Model - Extended Version

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on how losing Qantas Platinum status was like breaking up with a sexy but temperamental Russian super model. I recently wrote and extended version of that post. Here it is....

After ten years I lost platinum status with Qantas. I fell about 8% short of the status credit target so find myself in the unexpected position of carrying a gold rather than platinum frequent flyer card on my many travels. Time away from the black card has allowed me to reflect on what I am missing and the value of platinum membership. I have decided that losing platinum status is like breaking up with a gorgeous but temperamental eastern European super model. They looked beautiful, your friends were impressed and the promise for excitement was high. But in reality you were treated really badly, the private times never matched the public promise and all that sticks in your mind long after the relationship is over is how often you fought over the stupid things they did but refused to apologize for. So how is losing Qantas FF platinum like breaking up with Ivanka - let me tell you.

I try to remember the fond times but there are too many painful memories. Like Ivanka refusing to take me to the coolest nightclubs in case we are spotted by friends, QANTAS revoked my anytime lounge access via an email promising enhancements to the program. Somehow for QANTAS the word enhancement does not mean improvement.

Like Ivanka refusing to do anything around the house "not with these hands" she would cry - there was the look that a long-haul QANTAS staff member would give you if you pressed the call button and asked for a glass of water during what they had clearly designated as "nap time". That is anytime between two hours after take off and two hours before landing.

Like Ivanka looked good around technology and always had the latest high-end gadgets and gizmos but never knew how to use them - there was the two year stint where QF was claiming to have the best in the air video on demand system despite the fact that SQ, CX and many more clearly had better system. Critically I had two years of flights where the Qantas entertainment system crashed every single time.

Like the time Ivanka told me "it was simply impossible (darling)" for her to be able to change her plans to meet my sick mother but then miraculously found a way when she discovered that my mother was drafting her will - there was the time QF told me that there was nothing they could do to get me on a flight. "The system simply won't let me". Only to change their mind and miraculously find a way 1 minute later when told by a colleague you'd better get them out a storm is coming (story here).

But there is an Ivanka moment I will never forget and always be grateful for. Like when she drove through the rain for two hours to pick me up at the side of the road with a flat tire - there was the time I had to get out of Bangkok but there were simply no seats on the QANTAS flight. I went to the airport 2 hours early and sat and waited. With 30 minutes to go before departure there were 40 people queued up trying to get on this flight. From the far right hand corner of the airport the chief check-in agent waved to his colleague staffing the front of the queue and held up two fingers indicating how many seats there were. Without blinking or pausing the agent then pointed to me and one other passenger - granting us the magic tickets home. Sure I had to downgrade to a middle seat economy. But 38 other people went back to there hotel rooms and cried.

So farewell Qantas Platinum/Ivanka. In my dark moments I miss you and wish I was still part of the in-crowd that gravitated around you. But without you my life has less missed expectations and fights on the side of the curb....my friends say I am better off.

(call me)

-------

PS - A news site of note asked me to write this extended version of my Russian model vs Qantas Frequent Flyer programme post then decided to pass on it. What do you think - is this extended post any good?