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Kaleel Sakakeeny's Blog (295)

Is Social Media Killing the Destination Travel Article?

Is Social Media Killing the Destination Travel Article?

If HuffPostTravel can declare that the "Old Travel Show is Dead, Long Live the New York…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 21, 2013 at 11:33am — No Comments

Why the WiFi Fuss? Hotel Guests Should Never Have to Pay for It

Hotel guests have said it again and again: after location, and service that exceeds expectations, free and reliable WiFi matters the most.

So why do hotels charge for WiFi and why do guests have to struggle find a location that works?…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 16, 2013 at 12:07pm — No Comments

Social Media Drives East Europe Indie Travel

by Hardie Karges and Kaleel Sakakeeny

(please watch the 1-min Video PostCard below)

Twenty years after the fall of communism, tourism is finally on the rise in Eastern…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 7, 2013 at 9:50am — No Comments

Chasing Gold: Do Top Rankings Really Increase Hotel Revenue?

Hotels live and die by the number and kinds of reviews they get. Especially on TripAdvisor, because the quantity, quality and frequency of reviews a hotel receives there, determine a hotels all-important ranking.

Very little is said about the authenticity of a review,…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 1, 2013 at 11:08am — No Comments

Will Google and Facebook Dominate Travel? Of Course

Will Google harness its awesome search capacity, plus its Youtube, plus social indicators from a person's searches to make travel suggestions and shape travel experiences? And book travel too.

We say, yes. It says "yes," too.

It's widely accepted that travelers are…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 23, 2013 at 11:24am — No Comments

Creating Exciting Hotel Websites for Guests...and SEO

In a relatively recent article that proved very popular with readers and travel industry pros, New Media Travel asked, "Why Are Hotel Websites so…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 18, 2013 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Brands Trump Customer Service in Social Media Use

In spite of the reports suggesting social media is the way to connect with and service customers, it just may not be true.

Hotelmarketing.com reports…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 9, 2013 at 7:30am — No Comments

Hostel Boom Follows Social Media Model

by Hardie Karges and Kaleel Sakakeeny

Travelers probably already know that hostels can save a bunch of bucks in super-expensive Europe. But they…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 2, 2013 at 7:30am — No Comments

Digital Natives, Digital Travelers Own the Travel Experience

In essence, travelers will create and share their own travel experience. They, not tourism officials or travel writers, will shape and determine the nature and quality of travel.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis , …

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on March 27, 2013 at 4:25pm — No Comments

Airlines to Use Social Media Profiles to Personalize Ticket Prices. Higher Costs?

Will buying an airline ticket soon be as personalized as buying a suit from a sales person? Probably, as trends go.

It's no surprise that airlines want to personalize their relationships to their customers. If they can figure out how, it would be a huge step toward…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on March 20, 2013 at 4:46pm — No Comments

Social Media Powers Family-Travel Trends

by Kyle McCarthy (Family Travel Forum) and Kaleel Sakakeeny

Forty-four per cent of adults bring children (and grandchildren) along on leisure travels. Taken as a group, they take more trips per year (4.5) than…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on March 13, 2013 at 7:39am — 1 Comment

Google Hotel Finder Brings Life to Hotels

Searching for a hotel online is actually more complex than, say, searching for a flight or car rental or even Viagra. A hotel stay is more of an emotional experience than flying somewhere. To go from New York to London, is simply to find the most convenient, and best-priced…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on March 4, 2013 at 5:24pm — No Comments

Now No Need to Fly With People You Don't Like

It's an axiom among those of us who fly: You never know whom you'll be sitting next to.

Could be a fascinating character from some terrific movie, your next love or, more likely, someone you really, badly want to get away from.…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on February 27, 2013 at 7:30am — 2 Comments

Social Media Plays Minor Role in How We Choose Hotels

What would you guess most determines how we choose a hotel? Price? Location? Recommendation by a friend or someone else?

In a connected social media world, it's surprising to discover that what our friends, and friends of friends recommend, say on Facebook or…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on February 20, 2013 at 2:13pm — 2 Comments

India, Social Media and Sewing for Widows: Blogging from Coimbatore

Radio Netherlands: "There are more than 40 million widows in India - 10 percent of the country's female population. And for the majority of these women, life is what some have described as a "living…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on February 11, 2013 at 6:31pm — No Comments

Lights, Action...Social Media: Movies and Travel

A funny thing happened on the way to the movies.

Forty million international movie-goers opted to travel to a place where a movie they loved was shot.…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on January 31, 2013 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Is "Socialgraphics" Travel's Next Big Social-Media Thing?

We reported frequently in New Media Travel that hotels notoriously use photos of empty swimming pools,…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on January 23, 2013 at 5:10pm — No Comments

Using Social Media to Build Customer Loyalty: Sunset Hill House, New Hampshire

New England is not an easy place to get to know, especially in its winters when the dark and the cold and the snow hold the land in a formidable grasp, and the people disappear into their homes and cafes for months.

But that can also be the fun part of New England, and especially the iconic state of…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on January 15, 2013 at 12:11pm — No Comments

Does Social Media Noise Actually Hurt the Travel Biz?

Or, Are Facebook and Twitter a Waste of Time for the Travel Marketer?

How surprising is this: In the second half of last year, fewer that 1% of visitors arrived at a hotel or travel booking site, "via a social media link or a link shared by by a friend," reports…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on January 9, 2013 at 12:14pm — No Comments

Spend It Like Beckham: Why Men Need Spas, Too

Back in 2004, the movie Cellular featured a character -- a cop -- who was about to retire. Was he going to spend his newly-found free time hunting, fishing, or traveling the world?

No. He was going to open a day spa.

That character was way ahead of his time. Spa treatments for men…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on December 28, 2012 at 9:00am — No Comments