Marketing Review — Fall 2008 - (Page 17)

check or finding someone to swap dollars for yen or pesetas. #9 Digital Photography 5) Cell phones If you are old enough to remember when land lines were the only option, this needs no explanation. If not, think about having to walk for miles to call for help when your rental car blows a gasket or taking a cab across town only to discover that the restaurant is full or the museum has already closed for the day. Then be glad you can get help or the answer to nearly any travel question by pulling a few ounces of fancy electronics out of your pocket or purse. It was not always so. 4) Global Internet access For communication and information-gathering, there is nothing like the Net. Whether it’s previewing a resort in Africa before you leave Nebraska, rescheduling a flight to extend your stay, or e-mailing friends from mid-ocean to report on the pleasures of your cruise, you can do it online. It’s the cheapest way to stay in touch, and it is increasingly available even in the remotest parts of the world. 3) TripAdvisor Did you ever book at a hotel, only to find that the luxurious accommodations you expected were really a small, shabby room overlooking the local bus station? Visit TripAdvisor first, and you should never be disappointed again. The site features reviews of hotels, restaurants, attractions, and destinations by fellow travelers who enjoyed—or sometimes hated—their trip. TripAdvisor is a classic demonstration of the Internet’s “power to the people” approach to consumerism. 2) Online travel booking Cheap air fares, discounted rooms at fourstar hotels, cut-rate rental cars, and video tours of top resorts—they are all available on the Internet. That is good news if you are a traveler looking for a champagne vacation on a beer budget. It’s bad news if you are a travel agent wondering how to make a decent living until you are old enough to retire. Only cruise vacations and complicated, one-off luxury tours FALL 2008 • HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW remain largely in the agents’ hands, and most cruises soon will be booked online. haven’t seen one in ages. Sliced bread used to be the standard of convenience. For today’s travelers, it has to be roller bags. And that does it for the past decade. No doubt many of us could nominate other developments for top-ten status. In fact, many of Budget Travel readers did. The items above were picked by vote from among the 20 most common suggestions, and there reportedly were many, many more. Yet, we think the Frommer crew did a good job of identifying the developments that have had the greatest impact on travelers in recent years. 17 1) Roller bags Unlike most of these innovations, the top choice at Budget Travel was decidedly lowtech: Luggage with two wheels and a retractable handle. If you aren’t convinced that these maneuverable, hard-to-tip bags rate the number-one position, look around the next airport you visit and see how many of the real professional travelers—airline flight personnel—still drag a four-wheeled suitcase by the strap or, worse, carry a bag. We spend a lot of time in airports, and we 82662803/iconica/getty images

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review — Fall 2008

Marketing Review – Fall 2008 Contents The Online Marketer Success Stories Forecasting Trends Ian Schrager: The Revolutionary Man Leaving No Stone Unturned: The Quest for Ancillary Revenue Gaga Gadgets for Execs on the Go: Functional New Portable Technology to Make Life and Work on the Road More Hospitable Effectively Weathering the Ups and Downs of the Economic Cycle Experiments in Podcasting Higher Transportation Costs and a Slowing Economy Shift Hotel Room Demand

Marketing Review — Fall 2008

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