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radar: Sharjah, UAE
الاثنين، ٣٠ سبتمبر ٢٠١٣
experiences working with the wrong online
الاثنين، ٢٣ سبتمبر ٢٠١٣
- As many hoteliers have learned through past negative experiences working with the wrong online marketing companies, hotels need to exercise caution in selecting an online marketing partner. Every online marketing vendor operates differently, but being able to spot the warning signs of a bad partnership before you sign on the dotted line can save you a lot of headaches in the end. Here are 7 warning signs that your hotel may be working with the wrong marketing agency: Lack of Transparency - Avoid vendors who fail to disclose how much time they commit to your account each month and don't provide details regarding the actual tasks they are performing. We're in the service industry, and we are providing our time and that must be budgeted each month. I can't tell you how many times I've spoken with a potential client who is comparing us to a competitor and they say, "Well they're providing the same services, but their cost is $200 per month." The response that is immediately triggered in my mind is: "Really!?! Hmmm. Something doesn't add up. How it is possible that my competitor is providing the exact same services each month yet can execute the services in a fourth of the time Blue Magnet is budgeting?" I've been in the marketing business a long time and I will tell you that for $200/month, they are not putting in the hours necessary for your hotel to be successful in any one online marketing channel (SEO, social, website management, etc), let alone a campaign that focuses on all channels. The bottom line is that this stuff takes time and there is NO automated system that completes all these tasks at a push of a button. Spread Too Thin - Avoid vendors that assign you to an account manager who services 15+ other hotels. Unless the account manager is providing an extremely focused level of services for 15+ hotels (i.e. just link building), there is no way your campaign is going to receive the level of dedication needed for success. My advice is to ask your potential vendor if you will have a dedicated account manager and how many accounts each manager handles at any given time. Proprietary Content Management Systems - Avoid vendors that box you into a proprietary content management system. Most likely you will need a scalable and transferable solution. Over time, the needs of your organization will change, and potentially so could your online marketing vendor. If your website is powered by a proprietary CMS, should you need to transition to a new vendor or bring website management in-house, you will likely have torebuild your entire website since you will be extremely limited in the content, aesthetic, and SEO updates that you can make on the proprietary CMS. Stick with open source CMS solutions like Joomla, Drupal, or Wordpress instead--they're flexible and can be migrated anywhere you decide to move your business. Expensive Website Hosting Fees - Be careful with vendors that charge you $200+ for their in-house hosting solution. Instead, ask your marketing agency to consider using a 3rd party hosting provider which could cost as little as $10-$50/month depending on your needs. In most cases your hotel website will only require basic hosting services. For $10-$50/month, this cost includes all the server maintenance, account login, and customer service support that you need. More demanding sites will certainly require more powerful hosting needs, but many basic hotel websites can succeed with some of the more inexpensive options. Unrealistic Guarantees - Avoid vendors that guarantee first place organic rankings in the major search engines. There are no guarantees in SEO and any company that offers them is likely using spammy/black-hat SEO tactics that will hurt your site's search engine ranking in the long run. While Blue Magnet has years of experience understanding how a hotel website can gain high rankings on search engines, no vendor has ultimate control of how Google displays and ranks hotel websites. That will continue to be in the hands of Google. A reputable vendor will be upfront about the personalization of search and the constant changes that the search engines institute which will affect your rank. For this reason, your SEO strategy should not be a "set it and forget it" strategy. Success comes from consistent and continual focus on all aspects of SEO. Automation Only - It is true that there are many wonderful tools that hotel internet marketers use as a means to maximize the potential of our internet marketing campaigns and in some instances streamline/automate our efforts. This, however, in no way means that these tools remove the necessity of the human element in implementing successful hotel internet marketing campaigns. As I stated above, there are no tools that will successfully automate your entire online marketing campaign. Level of Service/Response Time - This doesn't take a lot of explanation. If it is taking your vendor 7+ days to respond to you, I wouldn't consider that a true partnership. Blue Magnet account managers typically respond same day or at least within 24 hours. More importantly, it is not all about your vendor waiting for you to contact them. I think it is important for a vendor to be proactive in their account management, which means that in more cases than not, the vendor is reaching out to you even when you have not made a request. Blue Magnet always ensures that our team is proactive in its management of your account, consistent in our communication with your hotel, and innovative in the way we test new marketing channels and strategies. Above all, a successful online marketing partnership should be mutually beneficial for both the hotel and the vendor. It is crucial that you choose a vendor that will become a long-term partner for you and your online marketing crusades. Turning over vendors frequently will only stall your success, as you look to build your campaign back up from where the old vendor left off. Looking for the right online marketing vendor is much like looking for the right life partner--you want someone who is honest and transparent, someone who makes time for you, and someone who always sticks to their word. When those conditions are met, the revenue will be sure to follow...and, of course, the love.
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resources and information Google+, please visit Google+.
1
Google+ is a social media platform created by Google, which has many benefits for hoteliers—both in communicating with potential customers and increasing a property’s online visibility. While many people choose not to use Google+ when it initially launched in June 2011, 27% of worldwide Internet users are now active on the site - a number that continues to increase every month1. Today, Google+ is the second largest social networking site, so hotels who are not using Google+ could find that they are losing many bookings to the competition.
Find out more about the features of Google+ here.
Creating a profile
When creating your profile, ensure that you create a Google+ Business Profile, instead of a Google + profile, which is for personal use. Keep in mind that business profiles require the administrator to have a personal profile in order to manage the page but your personal details will not be shared publically on the Business Profile page. If you choose to become your property’s Business Page administrator, your business profile will be linked to your personal profile, making it easy to switch back and forth. You can always add or remove additional administrators to your page whenever necessary.
The first step in creating your profile is to select ‘Local Business or Place’, which will allow you to show a physical address of your property. Selecting this category will also show your Google+ Page on Google Maps, making it easy for customers to find you when doing a Google search. If Google is unable to find your address automatically when you are creating your profile, just click ‘Add your business to Google.’ From there, you will be able to add the basic contact information about your business.
After you’ve registered your business, you can begin to add information and images to make your page reflect your property’s brand. By adding your property’s tagline, you are letting the world know who your business is. In addition, adding a photo of your property will make you more recognizable to your customers and entice them to come visit.
Now that you are recognizable on Google+, it’s time to start engaging with your customers. Other Google+ users can only see your posts in their newsfeeds if they have added you into their circle, meaning that you must take the time to develop your network or else your posts will go unnoticed by other Google+ users. Using relevant hashtags will also help you show up in searches and be discovered by users. To maximize your online presence, always cross-promote your social media profiles by asking your followers on other sites to add you to their Google+ circle. Always include your Google+ profile info/link on your property’s website as well. Friends in your Google+ circle can be divided into segments based on demographic info (including gender, geographic location and special interests) that can be useful for marketing your property – as you can tailor your messages to each specific demographic or all of them for each post.
Now, let’s look at some of the benefits this channel offers for hoteliers:
Public Recommendations
People using Google+ or Google search can find your posts by looking for hashtags or using Google’s search engine itself. If your posts are publicly shared or given a “+1”, they will be shown to people connected to whomever originally shared or gave the post a “+1”. Therefore, the more interesting your post is and the more engagement that it creates, the more people will be able to see your post.
Create Meaningful Conversation
Google+ allows you to write longer and more meaningful posts, which is useful for encouraging interaction and increasing engagement. Ask questions, respond to your friends’ answers and, as always, share the most beautiful photos of your property and destination. Creating conversations will give your followers more insight into your property’s “personality” and will make your consumers feel more engaged and loyal to your brand – a first step increasing your bookings.
Build Credibility by Interacting with Top Industry Influencers
Google+ will help you create relationships with industry influencers—people who have a strong online following and whose opinion has the most potential influence on their followers to take action. Building relationships with these experts will extend your reach and visibility online drastically. An endorsement from a popular industry influencer on Google+ will build credibility for your property and will inspire trust in the minds of potential customers.
As you can see, Google+ is a fantastic tool for hoteliers to maintain your competitive advantage, earning you additional bookings, ADR and RevPAR. So have you joined Google+ yet?
For additional resources and information Google+, please visit Google+.
Not delegating kills your business in several ways
السبت، ١ يونيو ٢٠١٣
lisen the artical writen by ahmed korra
Audio recording software >>
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start planning your next trip
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Record and upload voice >>
memorable ‘touches
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what about Service Appreciated?
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Tourism Exchange between Thailand and Kyushu
الأحد، ٢٦ مايو ٢٠١٣
ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, the Symposium on Mutual Tourism Exchange between Thailand and Kyushu was held in Fukuoka on May 8.
Participants included representatives of Kyushu’s tourist businesses and Thai government officials. Led by Mr. Thanatip Upatising, Thai Ambassador to Japan, and Mr. Suraphon Svetasreni, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Thai side met with the Japanese delegates to map out a plan to increase two-way tourist traffic.
Though Thailand received 1.3 million Japanese visitors in 2012, only 10% of that total came from Kyushu. Conversely, of the more than 260,000 Thais who visited Japan last year, about 8% went to Kyushu, most having made cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto their holiday destinations.
The symposium focused on enhancing bilateral Thai-Japanese relations at the national level, then examined channels to improve marketing activities to increase two-way traffic. Over 500 Japanese representatives of Kyushu’s tourism industry participated, including the local government leaders of Fukuoka Prefecture and executives of Japan’s Transport Bureau and Japan Railway.
The event highlighted the need for active involvement of the Thai and Japanese governments in facilitating travel between Kyushu and Thailand. Marketing routes considered were more frequent media and travel agent familiarization trips and better exposure in each country’s travel shows.
In 2012, Japanese tourists to Thailand totalled 1,371,253, an increase of 21.58 percent. In Jan - Apr 2013, Japanese arrivals totalled 520,415, up 19.16% over the same period of last year.
In 2013, TAT is expecting 1.42 million Japanese visitors, generating an estimated 55,690 million baht in tourism revenue.
Japan is Thailand’s largest trading partner, while Thailand is Japan’s sixth largest trading partner. In terms of investment, Japan is the largest group of investors in Thailand, with investment value of 312 billion baht, accounting for 63 percent of the total foreign direct investment in Thailand. There are about 7,000 Japanese companies operating in Thailand.
- الصفحة الرئيسية لموقع سواح اون لاين
- من نحن
- للاعلان فى جريدة سواح وموقع سواح اون لاين
- اتصل بنا
- موقع الخبير السياحى والشاعر احمد قرة
- قائمة المقالات السياحية المتخصصة للخبير احمد قرة
- موقع الموبايل للخبير احمد قره
- مدونة سواح اون لاين باللغة الانجليزية
- مركز ابحاث سواح السياحى
- مركز الاسكندرية للسياحة الخضراء
- الشبكة العربية للعاملين بصناعة السياحة
- الاعضاء المؤسسين للشيكة العربية للعاملين بصناعة السياحة
- الاهداف الاستراتيجية للشبكة
- شروط العضوية للشبكة
- بيانات الشيكة العربية
- انضم لعضوية الشبكة العربية للعاملين بصناعة السياحة
- جاليرى سواح بالصور
- اخبار النقل السياحى العربى
- اخبار الاطعمة والمشروبات وقطاع المطاعم السياحية
- اخبار تكنولوجيا السياحة
- قائمة اخبار الاعلام السياحى العربى والعالمى
- اخبار الترويج السياحى
- قائمة اخبار المقاصد السياحية
- قائمة اخبار المنظمات السياحية الدولية
- قائمة اخبار سياحة البواخر والكروز
- قائمة اخبار السياحة العربية ودول الخليج
- قائمة اخبار الارشاد السياحى العربى
- قائمة اخبار الامن السياحى العربى
- قائمة اخبار المنتج السياحى وتنوعاتة الدولية
- بث مباشر للقناة الالمانية الثانية
- قائمة اخبار الهوتيلير الغربى
- اخبار العروض السياحية
- بث مباشر لقناة سى يو نت تى فى الفرنسية
- اخبار البورصات السياحية العالمية
- قائمة اخبار خبراء السياحة العرب
- لخر الاخبار السياحية فى سواح
- الصفحة الرئيسية لموقع سواح اون لاين
- قائمة اخر اخبار مصر السياحية
- قائمة اخبار منظمى الرحلات الدوليين
- قائمة اخبار السياحة البيئية
- السياحة الخضراء
- قائمة اخبار التوظيف السياحى
- قائمة اخبار الشيف العربى
- المرصد السياحى العربى
- اخبار الكتب السياحية والاصدارات العالمية
- اصوات واراء سياحية
- قائمة اخبار قطاع الطيران والشحن الجوى
- قائمة اخبار المنتديات السياحية العربية والعالمية
- للاعلان فى جريدة سواح وموقع سواح اون لاين
- اخبار سياحية عاجلة من سواح اون لاين
- قائمة اخبار فاعليات المعارض السياحية
- قائمة اخبار سياحة رجال الاعمال والطيران
- قائمة الاخبار السياحية المتصلة بالسياسة
- قائمة اخبار صناعة السياحة العربية والعالمية
- راسل رئيس تحرير جريدة سواح السياحية
- ارسل مقال سياحى لموقع سواح اون لاين
- ادعم موقع سواح اون لاين
- قائمة مواقع سياحية عربية وعالمية
- موقعنا على الفيس بوك
- موقعنا على تويتر
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Carlson-Rezidor boosts APac portfolio in Q1, 2013.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group kicks off the second quarter of the year with the signing of Radisson Blu Zhengzhou Huiji, China, after a strong first quarter, which saw the opening of two new hotels and the addition of three hotels to its pipeline in Asia Pacific.
Another significant success is a joint venture to establish a network of 20 Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Indonesia. As of today, Carlson Rezidor has a total of 163 hotels in operations and under development in Asia Pacific.
“Carlson Rezidor is achieving steady growth in Asia Pacific, especially in high-growth markets like China, India and Indonesia. We have opened 35 new hotels and added 48 hotels to our pipeline over the last two years. We have had a strong start in 2013 and will carry that momentum into the rest of the year. Apart from two new hotel openings in Mumbai and Davao, we are expecting to add 13 more hotels before the end of the year, bringing our operating portfolio to 101 in Asia Pacific. The joint venture agreement with Indonesia’s Panorama Group will significantly boost our portfolio growth in this region as well as accelerate our development in Indonesia, which is rapidly growing to become one of the world’s largest economies,” said Simon C. Barlow, president, Asia Pacific, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
New Deals
Radisson Blu Zhengzhou Huiji is a 300-key hotel in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province in central China. The hotel is located close to Henan Huiji Economic Development Zone, Zhengzhou Information Creative Industrial Park and has easy access to Zhengzhou International Exhibition and Convention Centre as well as Zhengzhou High and New Technology Industry Development. Owned by Zhengzhou Mao Feng Real Estate Co. Ltd., the hotel is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Park Inn by Radisson Mohali is a 160-key hotel located close to the upcoming business hub of Chandigarh and Mohali. Park Inn by Radisson Gurgaon Sector 88 is a 200-key hotel located near the business hub of Gurgaon. These hotels are the result of the Joint Venture between Carlson Rezidor and Bestech Hospitalities Pvt Ltd (Bestech), which formed a strategic partnership in 2012 to develop 49 Park Inn by Radisson hotels in central and north India by 2024. Park Inn by Radisson Mohali and Park Inn by Radisson Gurgaon Sector 88 are expected to open in the second quarter of 2016.
Park Inn by Radisson Bhiwadi is a 100-key hotel, located in the city of Bhiwadi. Bhiwadi, an upcoming industrial town within the Delhi NCR region, is 75km from the city center of New Delhi and is also known as the gateway to Rajasthan. Owned by EOS Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, the hotel is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2015.
In addition, Carlson Rezidor also signed a joint venture agreement in February with Indonesia’s Panorama Group to develop 20 Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Indonesia over the next seven years. These hotels will be located in top tier Indonesian cities including Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, as well as emerging cities such as Manado, Makassar, Palembang and Medan.
New Hotel Openings
Park Inn by Radisson Davao is a 204-room hotel in Mindanao, Philippines. The hotel is located next to SMX Convention Centre and SM Lanang Premier Mall, and is close to the airport, the city center and major tourist attractions. Owned by the SM Group, the hotel opened in March 2013. Park Inn by Radisson Davao bears the distinction of being the first Next Generation Park Inn by Radisson hotel in the region.
Country Inns & Suites By Carlson Navi Mumbai is a 94-room hotel located in the commercial and business district of Mahape, in the city of Navi Mumbai, which is known as the twin city of Mumbai and which is also one of the biggest planned cities in the world. The hotel, opened in March 2013, is owned by Lotus Pond Hotel Pvt. Ltd.
- الصفحة الرئيسية لموقع سواح اون لاين
- من نحن
- للاعلان فى جريدة سواح وموقع سواح اون لاين
- اتصل بنا
- موقع الخبير السياحى والشاعر احمد قرة
- قائمة المقالات السياحية المتخصصة للخبير احمد قرة
- موقع الموبايل للخبير احمد قره
- مدونة سواح اون لاين باللغة الانجليزية
- مركز ابحاث سواح السياحى
- مركز الاسكندرية للسياحة الخضراء
- الشبكة العربية للعاملين بصناعة السياحة
- الاعضاء المؤسسين للشيكة العربية للعاملين بصناعة السياحة
- الاهداف الاستراتيجية للشبكة
- شروط العضوية للشبكة
- بيانات الشيكة العربية
- انضم لعضوية الشبكة العربية للعاملين بصناعة السياحة
- جاليرى سواح بالصور
- اخبار النقل السياحى العربى
- اخبار الاطعمة والمشروبات وقطاع المطاعم السياحية
- اخبار تكنولوجيا السياحة
- قائمة اخبار الاعلام السياحى العربى والعالمى
- اخبار الترويج السياحى
- قائمة اخبار المقاصد السياحية
- قائمة اخبار المنظمات السياحية الدولية
- قائمة اخبار سياحة البواخر والكروز
- قائمة اخبار السياحة العربية ودول الخليج
- قائمة اخبار الارشاد السياحى العربى
- قائمة اخبار الامن السياحى العربى
- قائمة اخبار المنتج السياحى وتنوعاتة الدولية
- بث مباشر للقناة الالمانية الثانية
- قائمة اخبار الهوتيلير الغربى
- اخبار العروض السياحية
- بث مباشر لقناة سى يو نت تى فى الفرنسية
- اخبار البورصات السياحية العالمية
- قائمة اخبار خبراء السياحة العرب
- لخر الاخبار السياحية فى سواح
- الصفحة الرئيسية لموقع سواح اون لاين
- قائمة اخر اخبار مصر السياحية
- قائمة اخبار منظمى الرحلات الدوليين
- قائمة اخبار السياحة البيئية
- السياحة الخضراء
- قائمة اخبار التوظيف السياحى
- قائمة اخبار الشيف العربى
- المرصد السياحى العربى
- اخبار الكتب السياحية والاصدارات العالمية
- اصوات واراء سياحية
- قائمة اخبار قطاع الطيران والشحن الجوى
- قائمة اخبار المنتديات السياحية العربية والعالمية
- للاعلان فى جريدة سواح وموقع سواح اون لاين
- اخبار سياحية عاجلة من سواح اون لاين
- قائمة اخبار فاعليات المعارض السياحية
- قائمة اخبار سياحة رجال الاعمال والطيران
- قائمة الاخبار السياحية المتصلة بالسياسة
- قائمة اخبار صناعة السياحة العربية والعالمية
- راسل رئيس تحرير جريدة سواح السياحية
- ارسل مقال سياحى لموقع سواح اون لاين
- ادعم موقع سواح اون لاين
- قائمة مواقع سياحية عربية وعالمية
- موقعنا على الفيس بوك
- موقعنا على تويتر
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the world’s largest vacations rental site,
HomeAway’s expansion has largely been driven by acquisitions. Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with Carl Shepherd, co-founder & chief strategy and development officer of the world’s largest vacations rental site, to find out more about its plans for Asia.
Q: What’s the state of the overall vacation rental market in the US and Europe currently? What kind of growth is it seeing?
The vacation rental industry primarily consists of second-home owners and small vacation rental management companies (overseeing 10 or fewer properties). As evident by HomeAway’s year-over-year paid listing increase of 11% and the 22.1% increase in website visits, the market continues to grow. However, awareness remains the biggest obstacle to consideration among travelers.
Q: Where is demand coming from and what kind of content is most in demand?
The typical owner on HomeAway is generally married and over 46 years old (a “baby boomer”). The traveler booking a vacation rental is typically female, age 45-64, with 1 to 2 children and they are booking, on average, a weeklong stay at a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom rental for approximately US$1,500. Currently we have more demand than supply for destinations in South-east Asia. Demand for select cities follows the profile one would find for international travel from Europe and the US: the best known destinations attract the most interest.
Q: Can you also share content split – in US, Europe, Asia?
We don’t disclose the content percentages by region because travel is a global industry; a property in England is equally attractive to an American, German, or Brazilian if that family is traveling to the UK. As a proxy, we can note that about 40% of our revenue originates outside the United States, although this metric can be impacted by swings in the exchange rates from time to time. Revenues from Asia would be a small percentage, as we are only now beginning our work in those markets.
Q: What are HomeAway’s plans for Asia, other than opening an office in Bangkok?
HomeAway’s mission is to make every holiday rental in the world available to every potential holiday rental traveler in the world. As such, our first goal for our Asia operation is to generate supply for the more than 44 million monthly visitors to our website, and to have high quality options for them when they want to travel to South-east Asia.
As for the office in Bangkok, the initial team is sales based: charged with finding the best vacation rental supply and to generate high quality listings for distribution to the US, EU, SA and Oceania. We also plan to partner with the nascent but growing STR industry in Asia, and have already found a productive relationship with travelmob.
We are also pleased with our partnership with Tujia in China. We are already seeing bookings by Chinese into homes in South-east Asia, the US and Europe, and we look forward to having Tujia’s inventory on HomeAway. (It has also signed a partnership agreement with Tripvillas, which gives it access to more than 2,000 holiday homes across APAC.)
Q: What’s the over-riding vision for HomeAway in Asia – to take vacation rentals mainstream? How would you define that, and how long would this take?
HomeAway’s over-riding vision is global and it is that vacation rentals supplant hotels as the preferred choice for family and group travel worldwide. With this lofty vision comes the understanding it will take the vision will take years to achieve.
Q: How do you intend to tackle the cultural issue that generally, people in Asia don’t like to stay in people’s homes or that they don’t like other people to stay in their homes?
We are not sure that the cultural issue is as firmly rooted as one might have supposed even two years ago; the recent success of companies like travelmob, tujia, and roomarama, and even to some extent Airbnb are proving that Asians grasp the concept. Additionally, there is already a great deal of inventory managed by professional managers in SE Asian travel markets. Over time, we will need to drive demand from inside the region, but we have many options for serving internal Asian demand for Asian properties, as our partnership with travelmob illustrates.
Q: Do you think the market needs education – in terms of what vacation rental is and how different is this from social stay sites such as AirBnb, 9flats or wimdu?
Yes, there is a great opportunity to increase awareness about vacation rentals through education, but education needs are different based on the market. For example; in the US the need focuses around building awareness around the industry and highlighting the benefits of vacation rentals for families and groups that have never stayed in a vacation rental before, or at least don’t realize they have.
Media and those less familiar with HomeAway’s business will sometimes mistakenly identify AirBnB (and their clones) as direct competition. However, the businesses are actually very different. HomeAway’s inventory is second homes in vacation markets whereas the aforementioned companies’ inventory are primary homes located in major metropolitan areas. Plus HomeAway’s primary customers are not individuals searching for a hotel replacement for a weekend, but instead are families and groups, with an average stay of seven days.
Overall, vacation rentals are not commonly thought of when travelers consider their lodging options. A recent PhoCusWright survey of the industry cites awareness as the biggest barrier to growth of the industry. We recognize that the process is further along in the US and EU, but our experience in markets like Brazil illustrates when the option is made available, the public responds to the value, space, and privacy afforded by vacation rentals.
Q: What are the challenges you think you will face coming into Asia?
We very much respect the cultural differences, and believe this challenge is particularly acute in Asia. Americans, Europeans, Australians and South Americans share a core cultural background, and there is no doubt that this commonality has lowered the hurdles in establishing growing businesses in those countries. We feel that finding the right partners and the right management team will be our best defense against being perceived as clueless Americans.
The next known challenge is building demand within Asia. As you note, there is not a culture of traveling this way, so that demand may take a while to build. However, history shows that Asians are fast to adopt new business models on the internet, so we don’t view this as a long term challenge.
Q: You mentioned you’ve done 16 acquisitions since start-up, so Homeaway is an acquisition story.
It’s true that in our early years, HomeAway acquired local market leaders in markets where the vacation/holiday rental industry was well established. Like any other online marketplace, the goal was to develop the largest possible network of buyers and sellers in the shortest amount of time.
In more recent years we have focused on building out a common infrastructure and technology platform that can scale to new geographies. This has resulted in the creation of the world’s leading marketplace for holiday rentals. We are only just beginning to make this inventory available to Asian travelers and property owners, but the combination of the worldwide network and a scalable platform will ultimately benefit our Asian customers.
Q: Why didn’t you just acquire Tujia then instead of just taking an investment?
We believe that the unique political and cultural environment in China is best served by a local team, creating a local product, matching local laws and customs. We believe that American companies trying to “become Chinese” is a failed concept, and we find partnering with Tujia to be far more consistent with our mission.
Q: So acquisitions would be a natural way to grow in Asia?
HomeAway’s over-riding vision is global and it is that vacation rentals supplant hotels as the preferred choice for family and group travel worldwide. With this lofty vision comes the understanding it will take the vision will take years to achieve.
We are constantly evaluating acquisition opportunities, and companies in Asia are no different in that regard. Our business model generates significant free cash flow and enables us to react accordingly when opportunities arise.ر
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