18.2.07

Experten sagen voraus, daß in 5 Jahren jedes Reiseunternehmen einen Online-Fernsehsender haben wird


Every travel company to have online TV station, says expert-16-Feb-07.

Verständlich, daß diese Aussage von der Internet Video Company kommt.

Logisch ist diese Entwicklung, die Hand in Hand mit den Entwicklungen der Telcos geht. Gerade das Reisen kann von der emotionaleren Ansprache des Kunden durch bewegte Bilder nur profitieren. Die Thomson UK Website ist wirklich ein hervorragendes Beispiel dafür. Anschauen.

Creative director Jonathan Booth said in future all information would be 'on demand' and piped into homes using telephone lines.
He added that people would be spurred on by a video clip to visit the travel supplier's website and book.
Booth also said that already customers expect to see video on websites but that many of the images are stills or 360-degree virtual tours.
"... We believe in five years time every company will have an element of video on their website and most will have their own TV stations."
He added that the use of video was already driving increased business for early adopters such as Thomson which is believed to convert properties with video clips four times more than those without the medium.
...

Marriott Hotels International e-commerce manager Euan Mitchell agreed: "Broadband penetration has made video streaming a reality and a consumer expectation. It helps reassure guests before making a booking."
by Linda Fox

Source: Every travel company to have online TV station, says expert-16-Feb-07.

Tripadvisor geht mit seinen Inhalten auf Reisewebsites


Tripadvisor to syndicate content to travel sites | Internet Marketing News and Blog | E-consultancy.com

TripAdvisor hat seine Pläne bestätigt seine Inhalte (Reise- und Hotelberichte von Nutzern) anderen Websites zu Verfügung zu stellen um damit die große Reichweite noch zu steigern.

The site, which houses over 5m reviews of destinations and hotels, said it has received numerous approaches from travel companies about content licensing deals.

European MD Marc Charron told E-consultancy that agreements could be in place within a few months:

“We’ve had hotels, tour operators and airlines talk about having Tripadvisor content, so yes, it is something we are looking at. We’re addressing what content we would want to share and in what form we would want to share it.”

Although Tripadvisor is yet to announce pricing and the restrictions it will place on the content, Charron said several sites are keen to use the reviews alongside where consumers are purchasing holidays.

Expedia, the site’s owner, has already started to use Tripadvisor content in a bid to boost conversion and sales.

...

The move also follows the recent addition of video hosting on Tripadvisor and comes as the site is preparing to add more communication tools for its members.

Reisewebsites leiden unter gefälschten Nutzerbewertungen


Travel websites cracking down on bogus customer reviews-16-Feb-07.

Auf dem Reuters Hotel und Casino Summit in Los Angeles wurde auf das Problem hingewiesen, daß sich mitunter die Hotels selbst positive Reviews posten um die Kunden zu beeinflussen. Priceline und TripAdvisor haben schon Gegenmaßnahmen ergriffen.

Travel websites are clamping down on fake online 'user' reviews which could be damaging their business.
According to a debate at the Reuters Hotels and Casinos 2007 Summit in Los Angeles this week, illegitimate reviews are sometimes posted on to sites by hotels wanting to make their property look good.
Priceline.com says it is coping with the problem by only allowing users to post their views only if its records show the person has stayed at the hotel.
Meanwhile, TripAdvisor employs a team trained in fraud detection to monitor fake reviews and has software which continually tracks the reviews for anomalies.
It said hotels which try to go against the system are penalised.
"A handful of hotels try to manipulate the site and most don't do it very cleverly," said a TripAdvisor UK spokesman.
"It tends to be the smaller establishments that are a little bit naive. It's not worth it for any hotel because if we catch them at it we will penalise them.
...

By Bev Fearis

Näheres bei Reuters selbst.

Source: Travel websites cracking down on bogus customer reviews-16-Feb-07.

7.2.07

Das tut weh - Flug-IBE vom Markt genommen

Flug-IBE vom Markt genommen | FVW - Das Magazin für Touristik und Business Travel 

FVW meldet eben, daß Traffics seine geplante Flug-Ibe Tibet Air erstmal vom Markt nimmt. Genaueres siehe bei der FVW.

Damit bleibt die Vorrangrolle von Traveltainment im deutschen IBE - Markt weiter unangetastet. Alle Pläne, auch von einigen OTA, die auf Traffics als Gegengewicht zur Amadeus-Tochter gesetzt hatten, sind nun in etwas weitere Ferne gerückt. Und das tut der Branche wirklich weh.

Wir haben die Auslieferung von Tibet Air vorläufig gestoppt“, sagt ein frustrierter Traffics-Chef Salim Sahi. Es gebe erhebliche Meinungsunterschiede mit Pass über Verwertungsrechte.
Der Schritt ist nicht unerheblich, wie Sahi ausführt: „Wir haben jetzt über ein Jahr Entwicklungszeit und 200.000 Euro Investitionen in den Sand gesetzt.“

Der Disput dreht sich um Fare Traffics, eigentlich Teil der Traffics-Firmengruppe. Das Unternehmen hat den Fare Quote Server entwickelt, eine Flugtarifdatenbank, die quasi als Filter Anfragen an die GDS über XX1 bündelt. „Die Verwertungsrechte dieser Technik sind per Gesellschafterbeschluss von Fare Traffics an Pass übertragen worden“, so Heidrun Fernau, Marketing-Leiterin der Pass Consulting Group.

Traffics, das 40 Prozent an Fare Traffics hält, zweifelt die Wirksamkeit dieses Beschlusses an. Sahi: „Wir haben unsere Sperrminorität wahrgenommen.“

Welche Rolle die übrigen Fare-Traffics-Gesellschafter spielen, ist unklar. Zu ihnen gehört mit 20 Prozent der Anteile der Fare-Traffics-Geschäftsführer Michael Säumenicht. Er arbeitet inzwischen für Pass.

...

Klar ist: Traffics will nun eine neue Technologie zur Buchung von Linienflügen entwickeln, um nicht nur die Flug-IBE am Markt anzubieten, sondern diese Buchungsmöglichkeit auch in sein Vergleichstool Cosmo zu integrieren.

„Das Produkt hat eine hohe Nachfrage“, sagt Sahi, hat er doch schon etliche Kunden lizenziert. Als erste Konsequenz zieht Traffics seine Teilnahme an der ITB zurück, um seine Kapazitäten auf die nun anstehende Entwicklungsarbeit zu konzentrieren.

Source: Flug-IBE vom Markt genommen | FVW - Das Magazin für Touristik und Business Travel

 

SideStep sammelt $15 Mio Venturekapital


eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis

Der Reisesuchmaschinenbetreiber Sidestep hat 15 Mio USD in der dritten Finanzierungsrunde eingesammelt. Die VC wurden von Norwest Partners geführt.

In der Branche wiegelt man Vergleiche mit der Internetblase vor 6 Jahren ab. Aber wenn man so kurz hintereinander über die erfolgreiche Durchführung von VC Raising schreibt kann man wohl mit Recht von einem "heißen Markt" sprechen.

Round participants also include Trident Capital, Leader Ventures and Saints Capital.

“SideStep will use the funding to aggressively scale key areas of the business, while growing its leadership position in vertical search and building out its media and user-generated content offerings,” stated an official release.

Source: eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis

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6.2.07

Thomson schafft website ‘stickiness’ mit zusätzlichem Content und neuen Features


Thomson creates website ‘stickiness’ with additional content and new features-05-Feb-07.

Da Thomson sich das Ziel gestellt hat zum OTA zu werden, wird auch intensiv an den Inhalten und der Gestaltung der Websites gearbeitet. Website stickiness (die Fähigkeit den User auf der Website zu halten) spielt dabei eine wichtige Rolle. Noch wichtiger erscheint mir aber dr Aspekt, daß der User auch Beratung, Information und Inspiration sucht. Wenn er das nicht auf der einen Website findet surft er weg und ist in der Regel als Kunde verloren.

Thomson has enhanced its main website with a raft of new features and content to try and keep people on the site longer and get them to book.
The www.thomson.co.uk service, which was relaunched in time for the peak selling season, now features a destinations tab at the top of the home-page to make the number of places the operator flies to more prominent.
...

The increased online traffic comes as Thomson prepares to realign self as a major online travel company.

The operator has also introduced additional editorial content to help consumers as well as to enable the site to be picked up by Google in natural searches.
A multi-media section for each destination now also allows consumers to view other people's holiday snaps following a deal with photo sharing site Flickr.
...

The operator has also created more integration on the site by linking up maps, reviews and videos.
Donoghue said the company was also trying to be more inspirational with its content from the navigation point of view by introducing functionality such as the 'Explore Our Destinations' moving globe.
The feature enables consumers to rotate the globe to find destinations and then a short video on that destination is played.
"People want to be inspired, they want rich information and they want to interact," said Donoghue.
by Linda Fox

Source: Thomson creates website ‘stickiness’ with additional content and new features-05-Feb-07.

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Yahoo startet sein langerwartetes neues Werbesystem


Yahoo versucht duch neue technologische Entwicklungen den Abstand zu Google zu verkürzen.

eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis

It is being said that the much-delayed ad system, known as Project Panama is Yahoo’s attempt to place ads in front of users that are more likely to be clicked on. Until now, Yahoo gave top billing to the advertisers who were willing to bid the most to have their ads listed alongside a particular search result.

As per the information available, Yahoo finally moves from the pure “highest bidder wins” model to the “bid plus quality” model.

Das hat Google auch schon ein Weilchen.

By making this switch, Yahoo hopes to increase the average revenue per click from 2.5/3 cents to something closer to Google’s 4.5/5 cents.

...

“The project at Yahoo required rejiggering the engine that determines which “sponsored links” are placed at the top or to the right of Yahoo's search results. Until yesterday, Yahoo positioned ads by highest bidder, so sometimes the top results were not the most relevant ads. Now, Yahoo will rank ads, similar to what Google does. Yahoo will place ads based on both the bid price and measures of the relevance of the ad, such as how often someone clicks on it. Yahoo’s new engine will also allow advertisers to focus their campaigns by location of the Internet user and other demographic data, features that have been offered by the company's competitors for some time.”

Source: eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis

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Durchbruch bei der Einführung von Meetingtechnologien erwartet


Das BTN Magazin (Corrie Dosh) schreibt in der letzten Onlineausgabe über die Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung der Technologieberatung PhoCusWright, nach der in diesem Jahr ein Durchbruch in der Einführung von Meetingtechnologien erwartet wird. Darunter versteht PhoCusWright onlinebasierte Meetingplanung und -buchung.

BTN Mag Meeting Tech Adoption To Tip

Meeting Tech Adoption To Tip
By Corrie Dosh
FEBRUARY 05, 2007 --

...caused by a convergence of new market entrants, technological enhancements and a "growing disdain for the status quo," according to a survey sizing up the industry released late last month by Sherman, Conn.-based travel research firm PhoCusWright Inc. Meanwhile, a number of suppliers are launching and updating technology products targeted at facilitating online booking for small, ad hoc corporate meetings.
PhoCusWright estimated that the corporate meetings market will be worth $75.8 billion by 2008, up from an estimated $73.4 billion in 2005. The firm's figures are based on surveys, interviews of 160 corporations and associations and additional interviews of industry vendors. In addition, PhoCusWright estimated 60 percent of travel for all corporate meetings are expected to be booked online by 2008.
Leading the growth are corporate meetings with fewer than 25 attendees, which the survey projects to grow by 13 percent in 2007 against a relatively flat growth rate for other meeting types. Bookings for this segment are also among the first to be moved online because they are more transactional in nature than large meetings, with simple travel and meeting space needs.
...

Santa Clara, Calif.-based meetings tech firm OnVantage Inc.—now operating under the name of its merger partner StarCite Inc. and based in Philadelphia (Meetings Today, Aug. 14, 2006)—first launched an online booking tool for small groups last June. The product, EasyBook, was for sleeping rooms only and was tied to a mandatory standard contract pre-approved by both corporate meeting buyers and hoteliers.
On Feb. 8, bowing to pressure from corporate clients, StarCite will allow customers to load their own pre-negotiated rates and contracts into the tool. ...

Though developments in the meetings and events industry "tend to be more evolutionary than radical," the market is quickly reaching a tipping point for mass adoption of technology and new sourcing strategies, PhoCusWright's Sileo said.
One of the biggest opportunities for corporate buyers and suppliers alike is the rapid growth and recognition of small-meeting expenditures, according to Sileo. In 2005, two-thirds of all corporate meetings were for less than 50 attendees.
...

The redefinition of the meetings industry is happening during, and probably caused by, a very interesting time in the growth of the Internet, Sileo said.
"The online travel agencies are looking at how they redefine themselves and stay competitive in light of other new entrants and sites. There are also the mega-agencies that have woken up to the opportunities, and, third, are search and social networking sites. You can't assume that the same companies that have succeeded in the transient market are going to be those that succeed in the group market because unless they change their thinking and functionality or combine with some of these more group-related companies, they are losing traction," she said.
Sabre's GetThere also has unveiled a design this month for its DirectMeetings tool, with many changes aimed at booking small, ad hoc meetings. A new budget forecasting and comparison tool, open registration accessibility and wizard functions are aimed to help users plan small events within the boundaries of company policy but without extensive training on a complicated sourcing tool.
...

Conference center chains also are getting into the act. Ann Marie Moayedi, national director of sales for Aramark Harrison Lodging, said the conference center chain is in talks to begin listing Aramark properties on EasyBook.
"It's to capture that end-user market that traditionally would not be going through the procurement department," Moayedi said. "We will have to sell a la carte as traditional hotel pricing for EasyBook."
Traditionally, conference centers have used a per-attendee, per-day pricing model called complete meeting package pricing. Flexibility in breaking up the complete meeting package also helps conference centers to capture the ad hoc meeting planner by being more user-friendly, she said.
...

Source: Meeting Tech Adoption To Tip

Social Travel Website TripConnect.com

Web 2.0 Travel Tools: TripConnect.com

Dieses Tool hilft bei der Reiseplanung durch Hinweise eines Netzwerkes von Freunden und anderen Interessierten am ins Auge gefassten Reiseziel.

TripConnect.com


"TripConnect allows you to get travel advice from a network of friends and others who share your tastes and interests." (from their website)
TripConnect started up in September 2006

...

TripConnect alows members to list, review and blog about places where you have been, and asking others members about places you want to go. TripConnect also allows you to suggest and join special interest groups (see the image above),

...

posted by Alan A. Lew, The Travel Geographer @ Monday, February 05, 2007

Source: Web 2.0 Travel Tools: TripConnect.com

5.2.07

Neues Buch: 'Designing Emotions in Online Travel'


Usability Experts Release New Book: 'Designing Emotions in Online Travel'

Klingt doch interessant. Gibt es wirklich nur direkt. Bei Amazon nicht zu finden.

The new book "Designing Emotions in Online Travel" (ISBN: 9-0902-1413-5, Sotopia.com), by Soraia Cardoso and René Vaartjes, provides new insights on how to arouse positive emotions at travel websites by using specific graphic elements, colours and online functions to ultimately increase online bookings. The book is available for purchase direct from www.sotopia.com.

About the book
Not only deficiencies in web usability but highly in emotional persuasion ability are impacting the end user satisfaction and bottom line costs for both travel companies as well as tourism destinations. In a world where capitalism is king we tend to look for meaningful sensorial experiences, things worth to remember rather than pursuing.
Developing a design toolkit to enable designers to design for emotion is the central issue of the book "Designing Emotions in Online Travel". The information gathered from online surveys and 200 in depth one-to-one interviews in "Designing Emotions in Online Travel" take us on a journey through the emotional stages of people while booking a holiday online.
These findings provide great insight on what people find important when searching for a holiday destination. It turns out that facts and figures are not enough. They want to get emotional; they want a journey through the senses. Tickling one’s imagination through visuals, colours, and engaging functionalities is the key to designing for emotions. The secret is when and how in the booking process this should be done. This book promises to remind us the importance of the preliminaries; it’s all about giving before taking.

Source: Usability Experts Release New Book: 'Designing Emotions in Online Travel'

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Amadeus sichert sich 5 große Online Travel Agencies als Kunden in Indien


Amadeus hat sich eine gute Ausgangsposition auf dem schnell wachsenden indischen Online-Reisemarkt gesichert.

...has managed to get associated with five online travel agencies as a technology provider in India.

The five OTAs are Indiatimes, MakeMyTrip, Sify, Travelguru and Yatra.

Each of these online travel agencies (OTAs) is using the Amadeus API, giving online access to - and the ability book - the full range of domestic and international airline content in Amadeus’ distribution system. Each has also chosen Amadeus Master Pricer, an international air fare search engine.

Ankur Bhatia, managing director, Amadeus India said, “The new genre of online travel is fast sweeping the nation and Amadeus is right there in the leadership slot empowering all major players who at present account for almost 65 percent of total online travel in India.”

Source: eyefortravel.com - Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis

UNWTO und WiseKey werden Technologiepartner


Die Fachpresse meldet die geplanze Zusammenarbeit zwischen UMWTO und dem Technologieunternehmen WiseKey bei der Schaffung e-Tourism Social Network aufbauend auf der bestehenden Zusammenarbeit mit Microsoft.

Geplant ist scheinbar ein weltweites Netzwerk von Touristikern und Reisenden, daß durch Digitale Identifikationstechniken eine sichere und glaubwürdige Kommunikation untereinander ermöglicht.

The U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and WISeKey announced an agreement to expand the use of traveler identification and authentication technologies in the multibillion dollar tourism sector. This collaboration builds on the public private partnership agreement signed by UNWTO and Microsoft in 2006. The partners will seek to deliver YouTourist as an e-Tourism Social Network (www.youTourist.net). Based on WiseKey Digital Identification and Microsoft Cardspace technologies, this platform allows tourist to connect with one another to exchange information based on the UNWTO's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.
The Code is a blueprint for safeguarding the resources upon which tourism depends, ensuring that its benefits are equitably shared in the spirit of the Millennium Development Goals. YouTourist will encourage tourist exchanges of pictures, videos, and comments and give special communication opportunities for local communities and travel companies involved in the whole chain of tourism development. Digital Identification for secure participation will be a key element. The Trusted Social Network for the Tourism Industry will inter connect to the global information infrastructure provided by agencies offering e-Tourism Services. It will federate participating agencies into a global e-Tourism Portal using Single Sign On technologies. For more information, visit www.unwto.org.

Source: Travel Technology and Other Services - UNWTO and WiseKey Partner on Technology

Tourismusmarketing mit Musik


Der "Spiegel schildert in einem heutigen Beitrag eine etwas andere Form der Tourismuswerbung. Der US-Staat Virginia macht da etwas aus dem Web2.0 Portfolio (user generated content sind selbstgesungene Lieder mit Sicherheit). Mal reinhören in den SPIEGEL-Song oder selbst probieren.

Wann kommt das Tool mit bayrischer Musi´ oder als österreichisches Azswahlmenü nach der Art "Wollen´s Grienziger Schrammeln oder eher Mozart ?".

...Tourismus- Website des US- Staates Virginia verstanden zu werden. Dort können reisefreudige Country- und Bluegrass-Fans ein persönliches Internet-Ständchen erstellen, indem sie Namen, Beruf und Hobby des Empfängers eingeben. Der fertige Song wird dann per E-Mail oder aufs Handy verschickt.

Gesungene Tourismuswerbung: Traktor, Mähdrescher oder Harley?

Das soll nicht nur schön klingen, sondern auch Touristen auf "The Crooked Road - Virginia's Heritage Music Trail" locken, eine 400 Kilometer lange Straßentour vorbei an Musik-Museen, berühmten Country-Bars und Plattenläden. Mit dabei ist auch der "Birthplace of Country Music", das Studio, in dem die ersten amerikaweit veröffentlichten Country-Aufnahmen entstanden. Als "aufregende Kombination hochmoderner Technologie und traditioneller Musik" und richtungsweisende Neuerung im Tourismusmarketing bezeichnet die "Virginia Tourism Corporation" ihre Website.

Source: Druckversion - Tourismusmarketing mit Musik: "I can't sing SPIEGEL ONLINE" - Reise - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten

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Thomson setzt den Schwerpunkt im Web


Hier zeigt TUI UK wo der Weg wirklich hinführt. Bei dem Einfluss, den britische Manager inzwischen auch in der TUI AG haben ist es sicher, daß sich auch TUI Deutschland, wenn auch mit angemessener Verzögerung, in die Richtung bewegt.

Thomson is gearing up for a multi-million pound re-positioning campaign in April.

The aim is to change the company’s image from a package holiday provider to the leading web-based travel company.

The company has spent the past few months developing its technology to be able to offer every sort of leisure travel from its thomsonholidays.co.uk website.

Technology enabling consumers to search the entire travel database, as opposed to separate searches for packages, flight and hotel or flight-only, will be available in March with the campaign scheduled for the end of April across television, online and other media.

TUI UK new media director Graham Donoghue said: “We’re moving to a model where we blend all our third party inventory with all the package stuff and there will be one simple search. We have to start thinking the way customers think.”

...

Donoghue said the company wanted to become known as a retailer as well as a manufacturer so that consumers would begin to consider Thomson for all travel elements.

We’re not saying packages are dead but the market is growing overall and in a segment people are not considering us for. Thomson is not just about two weeks in Majorca it’s also about chateaux in France and villas in Tuscany.”

As part of the strategy, Thomson is also reviewing its accommodation contracting and is likely to contract 50% less inventory as it brings in content from third party sources.

Donoghue said: “We want to offer a limited choice of our own so that we don’t have all the cost of owning the assets. We want to be a manufacturer but it’s a challenge because we can’t be seen to be force-feeding the consumer our product so we’ll let them choose but make them aware of the value they get from Thomson.”

Source: Thomson takes web route in major re-positioning

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3.2.07

Wipro (Indien) plant Akquise im US-Travel-Technology-Markt


Der indische Wipro-Konzern, einer der größten Business Outsourcer, will sich im Rahmen seiner strategischen Ausrichtung in den Bereichen Gesundheit und Reisen besonders engagieren. Bei den Querschnittsbereichen bleibt es bei Finanzen, Buchhaltung und Einkauf.

Zur Verstärkung der vertikalen Bereiche Reisen und Gesundheit schaut man sich, laut Chief Strategy Officer Sudip Nandy, im US-Markt nach Übernahmemöglichkeiten um.

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2.2.07

Travelport plant Verkauf oder IPO für Orbitz


Travelport plant den Bereich Orbitz Worldwide entweder zu verkaufen oder an die Börse zu bringen.

Zu Orbitz Worldwide, dem Endkundenbereich von Travelport, gehören außer dem gleichnamigen Portal Orbitz noch CheapTickets und ebookers. Unklar ist wohl noch, ob die Geschäftskundenbereiche von Orbitz und Travelport auch dazugehören sollen.

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Sabre - Übernahme kurz vor EU o.k.


Die EU hat den 02.03.07 als spätesten Termin für ihre Begutachtung des Erwerbs von Sabre durch Silver Lake Partners und Texas Pacific Group bekannt gegeben. Sabre informiert in diesem Zusammenhang auch, daß die Wartezeit, die der Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act von 1976 verlangt, ohne die Anforderung zusätzlicher Informationen verlaufen ist. Man erwarte daher die Transaktion zu Beginn des 2. Quartals abgeschlossen zu haben.

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1.2.07

Dritte Finanzierungsrunde für Farecast erfolgreich

Das Flugpreisvoraussagesytem Farecast (USA) hat mit 12,6 Mio USD neuem Venturekapital die dritte und voraussichtlich letzte Finanzierungsrunde abgeschlossen. Insgesamt konnte Farecast 20,6 Mio USD Venturekapital einsammeln. (Klingt wie in guten alten Zeiten.)

Hauptinvestor ist Sutter Hill Ventures. Weitere Investoren dieser Runde sind PAR Capital Management, Pinnacle Ventures und das eigene Aufsichtsratsmitglied ErikBlachford (ehemals CEO bei Expedia).

Die bisherigen Investoren Greylock Partners, Madrona Ventures Group und WRF Capital nahmen auch noch mal an dieser Runde teil.

Das eingeworbene Geld will man einsetzen um zusätzliche Kräfte für die Technologie- und Produktentwicklung anzuheuern.

Nach Ansicht des Managing Director von Farecast werden Vorhersagetechnologien und Data Mining den Online Travel Vertrieb revolutionieren. Bisher haben über 2 Millionen Menschen Farecast genutzt. Zahlen über den Umsatz oder andere betriebswirtschaftliche Daten wurden nicht genannt.