Tourism INTERNET Marketing Blog 1.0 - Personal

We are very fortunate...

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:10:16 -0800

...be appreciative.

Re-Launch of the Tourism INTERNET Marketing Blog

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:00:48 -0800

Exactly 1 Year ago, I developed and launched this blog just for the fun of it, and to play around with the technology and the medium. At that point, there were not many travel-related bloggers out there, and the few of us quickly became a virtual community, with the creation of the "T-List" by Mathieu back in March. That then lead into the travel-related blogging communities on Facebook (by me) and WIWIH (by Guido), as well as Henri's blog consolidation, and finally the global launch of the "Tips from the T-List" book (together with publishers Stephen and Phil from Rezgo and our editorial board Kevin, Siew Hoon, Mathieu, and myself as Editor-in-Chief) at premier online travel conference worldwide in Vancouver/Canada, London/UK, Orlando/USA, and Singapore. Darren from Travel Rants is looking to showcase different travel-related blog posts via his Blog Carnival, a great idea that maybe leveraged for future versions of the "Tips from the T-List" book. And these are just some of the iniatives - but in the end it all comes down to mass collaboration in understanding this ever-changing space. The bottom line for me, I have had so much fun with the blogging experience, but more importantly would have never imagined in my wildest dreams to meet so many great people around the world! I have gotten to believe that this travel blogging community has become the new influencers when it comes to the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. That realization was confirmed when Phocuswright invited us to host the first Bloggers Summit at the PhocusWright Conference, and Phil, Stephen, and myself are now working with Bruce from PhocusWright on the second Bloggers Summit at the biggest annual tourism fair in the world, ITB in Berlin/Germany in March. Please watch for announcements soon - and it will be a must-attend event! Other Bloggers Summits (by the "Tips from T-List") at other top travel and tourism events are in discussion. But I give Philip Wolf a lot of credit for embracing these sometimes controversial bloggers, and inviting them to his event - something unheard of probably just a year ago. Bravo!

I would like to thank all my loyal readers (I am still amazed by all the traffic!), and my new blogging friends who I converse with now on a regular basis. I wish you all a very healthy, happy, and successful new year. 2007 was an amazing year, for me predominantly with the first Canadian e-Tourism Strategy Conference, Canada-e-Connect and the first Canadian e-Tourism Awards. 2008 will be another unbelievable year, and I cannot wait for all the exciting changes and developments to come to fruition.

But one change I can already announce - and that is the re-launch of the Travel Internet Marketing Blog! I have been experiencing some real frustrations with my hosting provider, and have decided that it is time for a real upgrade. I have also decided to allow select guest bloggers to be part of the Travel INTERNET Marketing Blog. I hear from many travel and tourism executives that tell me that they would love to share their opinions, but do not want to start their own blog as they don't think they have the time to commit (it's like getting a little doggy). So please feel free if you are interessted in becoming guest bloggers on Tourism Internet Marketing. I am also extremely pleased to announce my Senior Guest Blogger, Chris Clarke. Chris will continue to be writing on his popular Vacant Ready Blog about the Hotel Industry, and will be sharing his online marketing and social media insights right here on this site. I have agreed to become his Senior Guest Blogger on Vacant Ready, where I will be focusing more on the hotel industry. Chris was the Co-Blogger for the Canada-e-Connect Blog together with myself and did a tremendous job. Chris also has some amazing changes in store, which I am sure he will share soon.

So expect, some great content to be published on www.TourismInternetMarketing.com starting January 6th, 2008. The current Tourism INTERNET Marketing Blog will continue to exisit here at www.JensThraenhart.com/cblog.

Since this is the last post on Tourism INTERNET Marketing 1.0, I thought I finish with wishing you all a Happy New Year with U2's virtual concert in Second Life, in the spirit of social media. Enjoy, and see you all very soon on Tourism INTERNET Marketing 2.0.

New Logo for the TOURISM INTERNET MARKETING BLOG

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 19:09:24 -0700

I have a new logo for my blog. Nice and whacky, but that's what it is all about!

Continue reading "New Logo for the TOURISM INTERNET MARKETING BLOG"

Took a little break....

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:32:32 -0700

Sorry, I have taking a little break from posting on my Tourism Internet Marketing Blog. I was in Las Vegas, speaking at TIA TravelCom, and attending the HSMAI Internet Marketing Strategy Conference. I will write something about both events in the next few days. Then I was in St. Lucia for a wedding. I can tell you – traveling from Vancouver to St. Lucia is a 30 hour affair, however the island is beautiful. With amazing beaches and lush rainforest makes it nice get-away. And it has been rated as one of the best Wedding and Honeymoon Destinations…

I am shutting down my Forum!

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:23:00 -0800

After shutting down my Guestbook a few weeks ago due to eccessive spam, I am now also shutting down my Forum. Even though I have a received a few interesting comments, these tools seem to be more a breeding ground for spam. Oh well - maybe someday this issue will be solved and controlled. If anybody has figuered out how to run an open forum and control spamming messages, please let me know.

Anyhow, since I believe in interaction and sharing of ideas and thoughts in the online travel and hospitality space, I encourage you to to get engaged in these two forums:

For HSMAI Members: Travel Internet Marketing Community (I wrote a post on my blog about the community recently)

For WIWIH Members: Online Revealed Canada Community or Travel 2.0 Phocuswright Community.

I will meet you there!

By the way, WIWIH, just launched WIWIH-Blogs. A profile of the Tourism Internet Marketing Blog is included here: http://www.wiwihblogs.com/jens/index.html, or people can create their own blogs on the WIWIH blogs. A great initiative from my old Dutch friend Henri Roellings.

Tourism Internet Marketing Blog featured on two European blogs

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:21:42 -0800

The Tourism Internet Marketing Blog was featured a couple of times last week by two other blogs in the online travel and tourism space.

1. France-based Claude Benard from his fantastic Les Explorers Blog interviewed me. You can view the interview by clicking here.

2. UK-based Dominic Sawyer introduced three blogs covering online destination marketing on his great Dot Tourism Blog. You can read his post by clicking here.

Thanks to both of you for the opportunity!

Bye-bye Guestbook!

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 12:12:00 -0800

Unfortunately, I had to delete my Guestbook on this blog, due to excessive spam. Thanks to everybody who left a message (EXCEPT THE SPAMMERS!!!). Spam has to be just one of the most annoying things of the Internet...I guess something we just have to live with...

You can still leave me a message either via email (jens.thraenhart at gmail dot com), or via my Xing Guestbook.

Which Super-Hero are you?

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:44:00 -0700

Nice! I'm 85% Superman. (SMILE)
You can find out which Superhero you are (or which Supervillain for that matter...).

You are Superman

Superman		85%
The Flash		70%
Green Lantern		65%
Iron Man		65%
Spider-Man		65%
Supergirl		45%
Catwoman		45%
Wonder Woman		40%
Robin		40%
Hulk		35%
Batman		25%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Welcome to my new Blog!

nospam@example.com (Jens Thraenhart) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 13:07:00 -0800

I love the power of the Internet and the impact it has on travel and tourism. On this blog, I hope to share my thoughts around e-marketing as well as to connect with other like-minded individuals world-wide. Currently I live in Canada, have worked for the most prominent Canadian hotel company (Fairmont Hotels & Resorts), and now work for the Canadian Government (Canadian Tourism Commission) - both times responsible for interactive marketing and strategy.
The funny thing...I am not even Canadian, I am German!