The big takeaway from TravelCom…..content, content, content!

Leaders from the travel industry gathered to attend Travelcom in Atlanta, GA, which was hosted by the U.S. Travel Association.  Its well known the travel industry has been hit hard by the recession rocking the world markets. Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital drove this point home when he revealed that while the S&P is down 40%, travel stocks are down 80%! We at Viscape wanted to share what we learned with all our Viscapers. So, here are some highlights and insights from the conference.

In recent years, online booking engines have led to the commoditization of airline and hotel bookings.  Yet, what will enable travel booking engines to do more up-selling in the future is to inspire travelers with good content including user reviews to get them to buy more via value-added perks and conveniences.  Henry Harteveldt of Forrester predicts that more travel-related content and the sharing of information via social networking will play a role in up-selling travelers in the future. 

In a bid to grab more share of the travel market, Expedia recently eliminated their booking fees to put the squeeze on Travelocity and Orbitz.  Google Travel is a big believer that video will play a role in travel by providing quality content to travelers who want a visual image of a destination.

But, one of the biggest highlights of the conference was when Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines was awarded the Steve Fossett Award for travel entrepreneur, succeeding the prior year’s winner, Richard Branson.  Another highlight was awarding the Travel Innovator Award to Tripology, who beat out the favored TripIt and TripTelevision.

The trade show floor was brimming with travel leaders doing deals and entrepreneurs trying to glean exposure for their innovations.  The lull in the travel industry may be affecting other areas, but TravelCom was full of optimism for a speedy economic recovery.

So, stay tuned to My Sweet Viscape. We’ve got some video interviews with leaders in the travel industry that you don’t want to miss!

Viscape’s Caroline with Steve Hafner, President of Kayak

Herb Kelleher, President of Southwest Airlines, just won the Steve Fosset Award!

Greg Brockway from Tripit, who was up for the Travel Innovator Award

Viscape’s Dan and Caroline and Elliot Ng and Yen Lee both from Uptake