Tourism INTERNET Marketing Blog 1.0

We all know that Montreal is one of the coolest cities in North America, but Montreal is also pretty creative when it comes to presenting itself online. You may have seen Made in Montreal, which is a great interactive multi-media site that let's you experience Montreal as if you were there...

Also, the smart people at Tourism Montreal recently launched Brits Wanted, a campaign targeted to ... well, Brits. A very creative approach in selling Montreal to the UK through their local residents.

Have you ever wondered if your site is more popular with women or men, and how old these people are.  With Microsoft AdCenter's Free Demographic Prediction Tool you can quickly find out.  It may also be helpful to search by keywords or even competitors, instead of searching by URL.  Below is a look at the Tourism Internet Marketing Blog. Looks like I am really popular with 18-24 year-old guys.

Now here is an interesting thought: Have you ever checked-in to your flight, and you wished that you could influence who you would be sitting next to over the next few hours on that plane, or not sitting next to - a mother with a crying baby, a big guy with body odor, or the smart interesting entrepreneur, or even a beautiful girl (or guy)???

Well, in the very least, I think we all always hope that the person that the airline is matching us up on this flight as a blind date does not turn out to be a total ass or complete nuissance. And as we sit in our seat and wait for our blind date, we inspect every individual that is nearing our row...sounds familiar??? Well, maybe not, or maybe I am over dramatizing...

But now there is an online service that could put you in control of this involuntary air-travel matching matchmaking. AirTroductions's idea is to connect like-minded fliers - either in the personal or professional realms - who are traveling on the same flights. Here's how it works: Travelers join AirTroductions (airtroductions.com) for free and post personal and/or business profiles. Then, before taking a flight, you enter your itineraries and are notified of other members booked on the same flight. You're given the option of sending anonymous e-mail through the site (at which point a $5 fee kicks in) to determine whether you want to meet at the airport, and, if mutually acceptable, get reassigned to adjoining seats. There is even an option to share a cab and the $5 fee is soon recovered. If you are very sure you will be using the service a lot, you could also sign up monthly for $20.

Airline flights are one of the few situations where you find yourself wedged against a total stranger for hours at a time. It might as well be someone you like. If the idea catches on, it may be the end of the seatmate from hell. It's like online dating for travelers.

Well, interesting concept - not much to lose - maybe worth joining the AirTroductions community of already almost 21,000 travelers worldwide.

Now, here is an interesting concept...flying luggage-free! A great deal for lazy, busy, rich, or any combination of those frequent flyers. Flylite is providing this new service to US frequent travelers.

Here’s how it works: You sign up online, and FlyLite sends you a suitcase to fill with your usual travel kit (jeans, shampoo, golf clubs). They clean, store, and catalog everything (in a virtual closet that you can arrange to your liking). Before your next trip, select what you want online, and let FlyLite know where and when you’ll need it. Your stuff will be there when you arrive.

The downside: So far the service is available only in the United States. And it costs $100-$200 per trip.  This might sound quite expensive, but when you add up everything from your time, dry-cleaning cost, the optional insurance to guarantee that you see your luggage when you arrive at your destination, and not to forget the wear and tear of your luggage by commercial airlines...may not such a bad deal after all.  If they ever come to Canada, I might try...or might this be a business idea worth considering??

What about the competition? Here is a list of other Luggage Shipping services, in case you are wondering. In any event...a smart move by an innovative entrepreneur from Virginia.

http://airportbags.com
http://baggagedirect.com
http://fedex.com
http://flylite.com
http://luggagefree.com
http://luggageforward.com
http://luggageconcierge.com
http://sportsexpress.com
http://ups.com
http://usxpluggageexpress.com
http://virtualbellhop.com

Tourism Malaysia just launched a new portal website "Virtual Malaysia".  The site is very well designed and includes a lot of useful features, such as a detailed Destinations guide that brings Malaysia to life via credible visuals and third party experiences. Unfortunately though, the site does not seem to be appear to be optimized for North America as the site loaded very slowly each time I visited and the videos did not play very well.  However, conceptually very well done, especially the balance of content and experiences. The unique feature of the website is the My Discoveries section, which highlights real stories from real travellers as they journey throughout Malaysia, detailing their personal experiences, each with their own photo slideshows and videos. Under another segment called Malaysia at Home, the website highlights to those who would like to stay in touch with the country, providing information such as recipes of local favourites like nasi lemak and listings of restaurants that serve Malaysian cuisine, local Malaysian events, activities and celebrations carried out in their respective countries. In the future, the level of interactivity is planned to be further enhanced next year as potential tourists will be invited to submit their travel itinerary for a chance to win a trip to discover Malaysia and share their holiday experiences in My Discoveries upon their return home. On top of that, besides English, the website will be made available in five other languages – French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish – to fully cater to European travellers by the end of the year.

Overall, the site is very refreshing and clean, easy to navigate, and has a nice balance of useful content, including packages, destination content, and experiences from past travelers - with a big dose of multi-media.  In addition to the Consumer website, the portal also includes MICE, Trade, and Media websites. There are not many National Tourism Websites, except Canada's new Keep Exploring brand at Canada.travel, that focus on people instead of buildings, landmarks, and scenery.  In my opinion, Malaysia is doing a nice job in inspiring potential travelers to visit the destination. And for all the Tourism Internet Marketers who read my blog, you can even have a peek on how well Tourism Malaysia did in 2006 in respect to their web marketing efforts with 1.5 MM Unique Visitors (not sure if this link is supposed to be public...smile).