Travel2.0 for hotel websites

The nature of the internet is rapidly changing. The online accommodation business is moving away from the large channel operators and directly to the hotel’s own website.

But the modern or second generation internet user wants real information and service online, with trustworthy customer generated media and interactivity as well as security in booking. The popularity of sites such as TripAdvisor and others is testament to the power of social media in the travel arena, but reviews on such sites can be generated by anyone whether they have knowledge of the service or not. Gathering reviews from genuine customers ensures a proper balance of views for the online reader.
Bookassist has been at the forefront of research into modern internet technologies and Web2.0/Travel2.0 developments and now brings these key technologies into a new product offering for client hotel websites.

The new product roll out will enable customers to embed directly in their website functionality for the sale of online electronic vouchers redeemable online in the booking process; show customer generated reviews, automatically requested by the Bookassist system of customers who have actually booked with and stayed in the hotel; display their location on their website using Google maps as a background with citywide information nearby. Additionally, hotel groups can enable group and individual websites with these features to tie the group functionality together and increase business transfer between members of a group.

“What you are beginning to see here is the enabling of a hotel to compete directly with the big Travel2.0 players, channels which have built their market share on providing detailed mapping and reviews for example.”, said Dr Des O’Mahony, Co-founder and Managing Director at Bookassist. “If a hotel is providing rich online services, there is no need for the customer to go to these TripAdvisor style sites to get the additional information they might want, so there is less chance for the hotel of losing the customer.”

Web 2.0 is irritating and irrelevant

Web 2.0 is of little relevance to most organisations. That’s according to Business Process Management software maker K2, who has said it’s time to stop messing about with Web 2.0.

“This talk of building standards for mash ups is frankly irritating. Web 2.0 is not relevant. It doesn’t address the pain points that companies are facing,” said Perry Gale, regional director at K2.

The firm was launching Blackpearl a Microsoft Share Point snap on BPM product which targets users to build their own application workflow processes. Faced with some tough questions from customers and partners on the management issues associated with user built processes of the kind often associated with the deployment of Web 2.0 applications.

Gale distanced his company from the approach. “Firstly, in general, there is not a clear definition in the mind of anyone I’ve spoken to about what Web 2.0 really means and as a result it is becoming a “throw away” term to describe too many things. The result is that it is becoming largely meaningless at this stage. If we look at it in its broadest sense which is to provide web based availability of information from multiple sources, I guess it has some small relevance. But it’s suggestion of an undisciplined and slightly chaotic approach to application delivery is distinctly unhelpful and I think worrying for business. It was this I believe, that lay behind the questions we got.”

Some customers questioned the potential for users to build too many processes in Blackpearl resulting in increased complexity and IT support.

“Our approach to this is fundamentally different in principle to the naturally unstructured and undisciplined world of Web 2.0. The business is enabled to use IT governed objects to build its own applications. This is distinct from the more chaotic approach suggested by Web 2.0. What Blackpearl is seeking to provide is in effect technical tooling for IT professionals to create “objects” for their business people in a form that is meaningful to them,” said Gale.

Ref: http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=10206

Open Source Magazing:Free download

Issue 9 looks at Open Source Publishing, using o3 magazine as a case study. This issue looks at creating documents with Scribus, collaborative document editing with OpenOffice, creating graphics for publication with the GIMP and creating newsletters with OpenOffice.

Features include:

• Creating Newsletters with OpenOffice
• Open Source Publishing with Scribus
• Collaborative Document Editing
• GIMP created graphics for Publishing

Click here to download it.