Travel Industry Focuses on User Generated Content

I found an article reviewing the EyeForTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit North America. One of the conference’s 2008 projections is that word of mouth will be key to the travel industry in the future. This caught my eye particularly because I will be doing a project this semester that markets for Easter Island. Therefore, any and all travel industry happenings are notable to me.

The platform for growing word of mouth in this industry will be through electronic conversations or user generated content, such as social network connections on programs like facebook and also by individuals relaying feedback by leaving comments on sites like blogs or company websites. Trends show people trust this form of communication much more than advertising messages given to them.

Many companies are trying to expand on this trust by creating an online presence. Also, travel sites that are based on user generated content that weren’t initially successful are beginning to take off due to the growing market. Sam Shank, the vice president, General Manager of travelpost.com, sidestep discussed his companies past, present, and future endeavors, "SideStep has several popular Facebook applications that combine travel planning and advice tools with the Facebook social graph. Our goal with these applications is to introduce a whole new audience to the SideStep brand and services."
Keep a look out for an Easter Island facebook group in the near future. My group and I will be starting one up in order to get some user generated content flowing about what people think about it as a travel destination.

http://www.eyefortravel.com/index.asp?news=58122
http://www.womma.org/blog/2007/10/word-of-mouth-and-viral-marketing-definition-faceoff/