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Blogging is next big thing
Consumers will increasingly make decisions about travel according to the recommendations of strangers on the web.
This was the message from the speakers taking part in this week’s EyeForTravel Summit in London, who talked of the increasing importance of “blogging”.
Blogging, put simply, is the online publication of debates between consumers on specific topics.
Speaking at the summit, Tim Frankcom, head of travel Europe at Yahoo, spoke of the importance of the 250,000 user reviews featured on Yahoo Travel, which was relaunched this week. He said that it was a section that influenced consumers and something the company was hoping to build on.
Joining him on the panel was Travelzoo UK managing director, Chris Loughlin, who said: “Blogging and peer-to-peer recommendations is going to grow and grow over the next five years.”
Loughlin spoke of his experiences with the search engine phenomenon in the US. “There is a tidal wave coming from the US of these things,” he told the audience in response to a question about whether search engines would begin to decline over the coming years.
Speaking at the summit on the previous day, Cendant Travel Distribution Services president and chief executive Gordon Wilson, spoke of the increasing use of personal reviews in sites.
He said one of the greatest strengths of Octopustravel.com, the online accommodation broker purchased by Cendant last year, was the independent reports written for each hotel by travel professionals who have personally visited the hotels.
Report by Ginny McGrath
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