Springwise - Tourism & Travel

Portland airport installs bike assembly station for travellers

2010-07-23T14:30:58Z

Air travel may not be the most sustainable mode of transportation, but it's becoming increasingly easy for consumers to choose a greener ride to and from the airport. Back in 2008 we saw the Seattle-Tacoma airport begin offering free electricity for plug-in cars, and now the Portland International Airport has set up a bike assembly station.

Located on the airport's lower terminal roadway, the new bike assembly station will enable people travelling with bicycles to more easily assemble and disassemble their bikes before and after flights. Portland is already well-known for its bicycle-friendliness, of course—it even has a bike path connecting to the airport. Accordingly, the assembly station can now be used by travellers and airport employees alike to get ready for a commute along that path, as well as by visitors to the city needing to disassemble their bike for a return flight home. As an extra service, Travel Oregon and the Port of Portland have made basic bike tools available for check-out at the airport's State Welcome Center along with literature about bicycling resources in the region.

With many travellers visiting Oregon and southwest Washington to take advantage of bike tourism and to participate in the region’s many bicycle events, the Portland airport's bike-friendliness makes extra good sense. Given the countless universal advantages of the bicycle, however—and the corresponding explosion in its popularity—Portland's example is ripe for emulation in any bicycle-friendly city around the globe.

Website: www.portofportland.com
Contact: contactus@portofportland.com

Spotted by: airlinetrends.com

From 12 tons of trash, a pop-up hotel with a message

2010-07-19T12:55:24Z

For St. Louis's City Museum, salvaged garbage helps create a hyperlocal feel. For the Save the Beach Hotel, it's not just a building material but also a warning about the current state of Europe's beaches.

Led by Mexican Corona Extra beer brand, the Save the Beach effort aims to recover at least one European beach per year from destruction by pollution and other human-caused damage. Last year it was Capocotta beach in Rome, and votes are currently being accepted online for this year's choice. To draw more attention to the challenge, the Save the Beach effort this summer built a hotel from garbage collected off Europe's beaches. Created by German artist HA Schult and installed next to Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the Save the Beach Hotel was open from June 3 through 6. Some 12 tons of garbage collected from Europe's beaches—more than a million pieces—were used to build the two-story structure, which could accommodate up to 10 people. Its very first guest was former supermodel Helena Christensen.

Schult explains: “The philosophy of this hotel is to expose the damage we are causing to the sea and the coastline. We live in the era of trash and we are running the risk of becoming trash ourselves. Do we really want this world?”

If a picture is worth a thousand words, just imagine how many could be packed into a trash-based hotel—not just about the problem at hand but also about the Corona brand's eco-generosity. One to be inspired by! (Related: Pop-up cafe is a (straw) monument to sustainability.)

Website: www.coronasavethebeach.org
Contact: www.coronasavethebeach.org/contacto/

Spotted by: Martina Meng

High-end home swapping

2010-07-19T05:20:57Z

The march of the hotel alternatives continues, this time with the arrival of a home-swapping service aimed squarely at the upper echelon of homes. Luxe Home Swap allows people with high-end dwellings to swap accommodation with others all over the world.

“Luxe” homes don't necessarily have to be luxurious, UK-based Luxe Home Swap stresses; rather, they simply need an attractive location and home feel. Examples currently on the site include a 5-bedroom, 5-bath home in Sri Lanka, for example, as well as a 2-bedroom apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden. To use the service, homeowners simply pay a GBP 99 annual membership fee and begin browsing the homes listed on the site. Once they find one they'd like to swap with, they contact the owner to discuss the details via secure messaging and sign a digital contract. Members can make as many swaps as they'd like over the course of a year; Luxe Home Swap even offers a second year of membership free for those who didn't succeed to find a good swap in their first.

Trust is a big part of the success of any home exchange, and we've seen that addressed by focusing on homeowners who work in the same industry or are connected on Facebook. By focusing on wealthier clients, Luxe Home Swap achieves a similar end. (Related: Holiday sublet service offers hotel style amenities — Cutting-edge architectural dwellings for holiday rent — Hotel rooms scattered across the city of Linz.)

Website: www.luxehomeswap.com
Contact: info@luxehomeswap.com

Spotted by: Sunday Times via Sara Al Mulla

Helping hotels harness social media

2010-07-07T11:23:08Z

There are now countless places out there for consumers to voice their opinions about brands large and small, and hotels are by no means exempt. In fact, online reviews are now the most critical measure of guest satisfaction and the top factor influencing where travelers decide to stay, according to Revinate. That, in turn, is why the San Francisco company recently unveiled a hotel-specific service that aims to bring structure, performance tracking and actionable guidance to that never-ending stream of social media.

Launched in March, Revinate collects every review, news story, blog post, photo, video and social media mention of its client hotels and presents them in a single intuitive dashboard that's accessible online. Revinate can also do the same for competitors' reviews and social media activity, giving clients new competitive insight into their relative strengths and weaknesses. Its Social Media Scorecard, in turn, converts those online reviews into a detailed guest satisfaction report, tracking key performance metrics and competitive benchmarks. The tool's powerful analytics, meanwhile, provide real-time, easy-to-use reports that highlight what's important, with charts, exportable data, competitive intelligence and flexible options.

Finally—and perhaps most important—is that, similar to Brands in Public, Revinate also makes it easy for hotels to join the conversation by responding to reviews and communicating with consumers via social media. TweetConcierge, for example, is Revinate's hotel-specific Twitter client with features designed exclusively for hotels, including the ability to track Twitter campaigns and measure click and sales activity generated across multiple promotional tweets. Revinate clients include Peninsula Hotels, Trump Hotel Collection, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels, InterContinental, Andaz, White Lodging and Peabody Hotel Group. A video tour is available on screenr. The service's pricing is based a hotel's size and average daily rate, approximating the value of one incremental booking per month, Revinate says.

There can hardly be any brands left that doubt the power of social media. Will they be the victim of that transparency tyranny, or will they turn it into transparency triumph and—indeed—foreverism, as our sister site would call it? That's up to them, and how actively—and proactively—they get involved. As Revinate says, “millions of travelers are talking, and hoteliers must listen.” (Related: SeatGuru for hotel rooms — Analytics tools help music bands uncover local demand.)

Website: www.revinate.com
Contact: www.revinate.com/contact

Airport contest seeks new runway models

2010-07-01T14:21:53Z

We've seen airports engage consumers with everything from free dancing lessons and light therapy to a four-storey slide that rewards duty-free spending. The latest innovation? Gatwick Airport's Runway Models contest.

Launched in late May by the UK airport and Storm Model Management, the Runway Models contest invites Gatwick travellers to submit a photo of themselves either online or by taking advantage of the dedicated photo booths in the airport's departure lounges. The closing date is 12 July; all entries are posted online, where they're available for public voting. Once all the entries are in, Storm's model scouts will choose four guys and four girls to go through to the next stage, while public votes will choose an additional guy and girl to advance; those chosen by the public will also win GBP 500 in Gatwick retail shopping vouchers. The Final 10 will then be invited to a “model bootcamp” and photo shoot where they'll spend the day with industry professionals learning the modelling basics as well as having their hair and makeup done. The guy and girl that impress Storm the most will be selected as the final winners of a year's “New Faces” contract and a debut at London Gatwick Fashion Week in August. Gatwick, meanwhile, will donate GBP 1 to the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity for every photo uploaded.

There are myriad ways to impress and engage consumers, but sometimes there's just nothing like a good, old-fashioned contest; if it can tap into consumers' vanity, so much the better. Beat that, traditional advertising! ;-) (Related: Lottery contest appeals to dog owners' gravanity — Contest replaces ad campaign for Nissan launch — Contest asks fans to design their own doughnut.)

Website: www.gatwickevents.com/runwaymodels/
Contact: feedback@gatwickairport.com

Spotted by: airlinetrends.com

Austrian phone booths repurposed to charge electric vehicles

2010-06-30T12:18:05Z

Now that mobile phones are ubiquitous, public phone booths are fast becoming obsolete. In a bid to find a viable new use for its 13,500 phone booths around the country, Telekom Austria has begun converting them into battery recharging stations for electric cars, scooters and motorbikes.

Unveiling its first phone booth-turned-recharging station in front of the company's Vienna headquarters in May, Telekom Austria announced plans to convert an additional 29 phone booths by the end of this year. During the initial trial period, recharging is free. The company eventually plans to charge a single-digit euro sum for the recharging service, with payments to be made via mobile phone.

Telekom Austria’s forward-thinking scheme comes at a time when, of the total 4.36 million cars on Austrian roads, there are only 223 electric cars and 3,559 hybrid cars registered. Yet the Austrian motor vehicle association, VOeC, predicts that the number of electric vehicles in Austria will rise to 405,000 by 2020. Telecommunications companies around the globe: a leap into the widely forecast EV-prevalent future worth following? (Related: Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles — Free car charging at new, greener McDonalds.)

Website: www.telekom.at
Contact: www.telekom.at/contakt/email

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Tipping cards for travellers enable gratuities without cash

2010-06-22T13:40:46Z

Cash may be increasingly rare as a method of payment in most transactions, but tipping remains one of those areas where it's still often the standard. Therein lies a problem for international travellers, who must juggle multiple currencies; Where's My Tip, however, aims to offer a solution.

Wait staff and bartenders should always be tipped directly on the bill, Where's My Tip stresses. Rather, it's focusing its cashless alternative on travellers who need to tip doormen, bellhops, housekeepers, valets and concierges. How it works? Users begin by paying an annual USD 100 membership fee, which entitles them to 100 free tip cards—additional ones are 50 cents each. Then, when they travel, they can hand out those cards instead of cash. Each card features a unique member ID number, which can be used by the recipient to request a tip online; there, they enter their name and Paypal email address as well as a suggested tip amount. Once that happens, Where's My Tip emails the tip request to the member, who can pay the requested (or other) amount with a credit card or Paypal account. Where's My Tip then forwards the funds to the person who requested the tip. All tips and tip requests are reviewed, routed and processed by hand to keep unwarranted tip requests to a minimum; at the same time, all members must maintain an extremely high ratio of tips paid to tips requested to ensure they don't hand out cards as a way to avoid paying a tip. Membership in Florida-based Where’s My Tip is currently by invitation only.

Paypal may not be many service-givers' first preference as a form of payment, but Where's My Tip says it's working on alternatives. At the same time, there's no denying the appeal of cashless tipping, particularly for international travellers short on local currency and unfamiliar with regional tipping norms. How about creating a brandable version that hotels can give guests for in-house or local tipping, with payments simply added to the final tab...?

Website: www.wheresmytip.com
Contact: pr@wheresmytip.com

Spotted by: Peter Yu

Singapore airport's four-storey slide rewards duty-free spending

2010-06-18T18:14:59Z

Airports are no strangers to innovation when it comes to attracting business, and we've already seen several interesting examples—Heathrow's installation of a writer in residence, for instance, and dance lessons at the Aeroports de Paris, to name just two. None of the ones we've seen so far, however, can achieve the same heights—quite literally—as Singapore's Changi Airport, which has installed a slide four storeys tall.

Reminiscent of artist Carsten Höller's wildly popular installation in the Tate Modern a few years back, The Slide@T3 bills itself as the world's tallest slide in an airport. That may well be true, for the thrill-seeker's dream stands a full 12 metres high, permitting top speeds of up to six metres per second. To encourage visitors to experience the thrill, Changi gives consumers two slide tokens for every SGD 30 they spend at the airport in a single receipt. For the faint of heart, there's also a one-and-a-half-storey version that can be tried for free in the airport's Basement 2 level. Changi Airport also, incidentally, maintains a Children's Playground, a multimedia Entertainment Deck and multiple movie theatres.

As Höller notes in an interview about his own slide, “the state of mind that you enter when sliding, of simultaneous delight, madness and ‘voluptuous panic,’ can’t simply disappear without trace afterwards.” It leaves a lasting impression, in other words—which, of course, is what the experience economy is all about. ;-) (Related: Bungee jump for high-end thrill-seekers.)

Website: www.changiairport.com/at-changi/events-and-promotions/the-slide-t3
Contact: www.changiairport.com/our-business/contact-us/feedback-and-enquiry

Spotted by: David Rhoades

With social media check-ins, guests earn hotel & travel rewards

2010-06-15T10:06:35Z

It's standard practice for hotels and airlines to offer discounts and other rewards to their own best customers, but a new service aims to pass those benefits on to other consumers as well. Specifically, users of location-based social networking services including Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Loopt, Brightkite, Google Buzz and Google Latitude can now coordinate their check-ins through Topguest for a variety of travel and hospitality rewards.

Topguest is a free, members-only service that automatically gives users real rewards program points for their location-based check-ins. There's no need to download or install anything new; rather, users simply sign up for Topguest and sync their check-in app account(s) to the service. Some programs, such as Delta Skymiles, give users points wherever they check in; others, such as Starwood Preferred Guest, will award points only for check-ins at Starwood hotels, Topguest says. Currently Topguest is in "sneak peek" mode, featuring a partnership with Standard Hotels; rewards include a complimentary week's stay for any road warrior who checks into four Standard hotels in the course of a single week, and a 25 percent discount for those who check into Standard properties 10 times. Over the summer, however, the New York-based company plans to add additional partners in the travel and hospitality industry, according to a CNET report.

As the mass-mingling crowds increasingly coordinate online and compete for badges and other local rewards, there's opportunity aplenty for vendors further afield to get in on the action—not to mention companies like Topguest, which stand to benefit by making it all happen. One to get in on early...? (Related: Helping consumers manage their loyalty perks.)

Website: www.topguest.com
Contact: help@topguest.com

Spotted by: USA Today via airlinetrends.com

Hotel's personal chef service includes trip to farmers' market

2010-06-14T12:49:14Z

For many consumers, part of the enjoyment of a hotel experience is having everything done for them—especially the cooking and cleaning. As in virtually every other aspect of life, however, there's plenty of variation to be found, and San Francisco's Hotel Vitale has begun catering to those of a different stripe with a personal chef service that includes shared ingredients shopping and preparation.

The Hotel Vitale lies across the street from a farmers' market, which operates on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Aiming, no doubt, to appeal to guests with a foodie or locovore bent, the hotel's new offering lets them request the service of Kory Stewart, resident chef at the hotel's Americano Restaurant, in a food shopping and preparation experience. Specifically, Stewart will join them on a Saturday trip to the farmers' market to help them shop for produce, cheeses, meats and any other ingredients that might be required for the two-course meal of their choice, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Then, back at the hotel, he will either help the guests prepare the meal or prepare it for them, whichever they choose. Pricing including wine starts at USD 250 per couple, depending on the meal selected. Intriguingly, the service is not mentioned on the hotel's website, yet guests must request it when booking their room at least two weeks in advance.

All of which goes to show, once again, that there are virtually limitless niches to be found in any product or service category, thanks to the infinite variation in consumer preference. Other hotels and restaurants around the globe: How could you cater to the increasingly hands-on masses of food lovers out there with some fresh experiences, status skills and still-made-here appeal? (Related: More meal prep and cooking instruction, this time by Jamie Oliver — Upscale takeaway meets onsite cooking school — Loews Hotels adopt local farmers.)

Website: www.hotelvitale.com
Contact: vitaleconcierge@jdvhotels.com

Spotted by: Iconoculture via R. Steinberg

Viral tourism site recruits expats to help promote New Zealand

2010-06-09T09:25:55Z

Tourism agencies have become innovators in the arts of promotion—witness last year's job contest spotlighting the Great Barrier Reef Islands, for example—but lately we've seen several new efforts aimed at the influx of international visitors expected for a particular global event. Shanghai's AtYourSide service was launched to coincide with Expo 2010, for example; Africa Talking, similarly, is ideally positioned to benefit from the World Cup. The latest along those lines? Pass It On, an initiative to turn the nearly million New Zealanders who live overseas into a network of virtual ambassadors in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup 2011 event.

Kicked off last month by the Kiwi Expat Association, Pass It On aims to get expat New Zealanders to spread the word about everything the country has to offer. With funding, distribution and content support from a variety of New Zealand partners, the effort offers monthly prize draws for participants with Kiwi-centric prizes for the winners. Participants begin by signing up with the effort and then sharing stories from the Pass It On site with friends, family and colleagues—sharable videos focus on travel and cuisine, creative talent, and business and innovation. When the recipients of those stories follow the sender's link back to Pass It On and sign up, the sender earns “pass points.” Those points then become entries in a prize draw that takes place on the second Monday of each month; prizes range from locally focused T-shirts and ice cream to the Expat Reconnaissance Tour, an opportunity for four Kiwis living overseas to bring their best non-Kiwi mates home for a week of “money-can't-buy” experiences. Using the Pass Navigator, meanwhile, participants can view their “chain of passes,” including upstream and downstream statistics, the number of people reached, and the countries spanned.

As we've noted on so many occasions before, advertising can no longer hold a candle to the unstoppable force that is peer-to-peer promotion. How can your brand tap the power of crowdsourcing and social media for its own promotional gain...? (Related: Crowdsourcing the sales force — Referral program helps landlords find tenants on Facebook — Crowdsourced chocolate bar promotes Yellow Pages — InterContinental hotels get staff to share mates' rates.)

Website: www.passiton.co.nz
Contact: www.passiton.co.nz/About/Contact-Us/

Spotted by: Scott Riddle

Dutch automobile association touring France in shop on wheels

2010-06-08T13:18:32Z

While national automobile associations have been branching out into other areas—from credit cards to car rental—the primary reason drivers sign up is for emergency roadside assistance. Building on that "there when you need us" sentiment, ANWB, the Dutch motorists association, has launched a mobile store that will tour France* this summer.

The ANWB's store on wheels will stop at campgrounds across France, selling tourists items they forgot to pack, from toothbrushes and sunblock to its own maps and travel guides. On July 10th, the association will sell its wares from rest stops along the Autoroute du Soleil, where it will be joined by motor care teams who'll check tire pressure, give traffic updates and clean car windows and mirrors. The ANWB will also treat drivers to a massage while sitters entertain their children. (This might seem excessive, but the Autoroute du Soleil is the main motorway from the north to the south of France, and is so choked with traffic on heavy travel dates that July 10th is dubbed Black Saturday.)

Last but not least, when drivers have finally reached their destination, the ANWB's 'Helping Hands' will pitch tents, fill jerry cans and even dry dishes.

All of which makes for a prime example of what our sister-site calls brand butlers. As trendwatching.com puts it, "serving is the new selling", and by following its members and assisting them when and where they need it most, the ANWB builds a stronger relationship with its customers and highlights the diversity of its offerings. (Related: Light therapy for weary travellers — Method's mobile laundry truck facilitates clothing donations.)

Website: www.anwb.nl
Contact: www.anwb.nl/contact-en-service,/contact.html

Spotted by: Ruben van Rhijn

* Not only has France long been the number one holiday destination for Dutch tourists, last year 87.8% drove there from Holland, making it a prime marketing location for the ANWB.

Holiday sublet service offers hotel-style amenities

2010-06-07T17:04:52Z

Good ideas seem to inspire the launch of countless variations. To wit: house swapping and subletting, which we've already seen on several occasions. Similar to Creative Caravan, UK-based Onefinestay facilitates that process with a service that's designed to build trust among members. The variation? It adds a wealth of amenities designed to mimic what's available in a good hotel.

Now in beta in the London area, Onefinestay focuses its efforts on what it calls the “unhotel”—specifically, a place to stay with all the advantages but none of the disadvantages of a standard hotel. Listed on the site are a variety of distinctive homes throughout the area whose owners have agreed to accept tenants while they're away; at minimum, they are all “comfy, in a great location, easy to get to and safe,” the site says. Booking a stay—which requires membership on the site—is as easy as booking a hotel room, with online payment and confirmation. Every home is properly cleaned before and after every stay, including bed-making, “five-star-quality” linens and towels, and bathroom toiletry courtesy of The White Company. Maid service is available, as are myriad other hotel-style amenities, such as refrigerator supplies. Once guests are settled in, Onefinestay is available by phone 24/7 for anything from restaurant recommendations to extra toothbrushes—staffers make deliveries and site visits via scooter. The site prides itself, in fact, on supplying personal recommendations from the owners of each home to those who rent them, providing guests with an insider's experience of the city. Membership costs and details are still forthcoming; rental costs are listed alongside each featured property. Onefinestay supports itself by taking an as-yet-unspecified fee from each rental.

Though it currently serves just the London area, Onefinestay aims to expand to other cities near and distant. One to partner with toward that end...?

Website: www.onefinestay.com
Contact: info@onefinestay.com

Spotted by: Nigel Lamb

iPads for rent on Jetstar flights

2010-06-04T15:52:51Z

Hard on the heels of our story about Bluebox Avionics' iPad-based in-flight entertainment system comes word of what appears to be the first carrier to test out the technology: Jetstar, the low-cost subsidiary of Australian Qantas Airways.

Starting later this month, passengers on select domestic Jetstar flights will be offered an iPad for a rental fee of AUD 10, according to Flight Global. Along with the device will come a wide assortment of music, movies, eBooks, magazines and games. The trial is being conducted in partnership with Bluebox and Stellar Inflight; if it goes well, Jetstar may roll out the iPad on all domestic and international services later this year, Flight Global reported.

Now that iPad sales have reached 2 million, it just might be time to think about how this technology could enhance consumers' experience of *your* tech-savvy brand... (Related: Hotel equips concierges with iPads — For £20, a way to try the iPad before buying.)

Website: www.jetstar.com
Contact: www.jetstar.com/gx/en/contact-us.aspx

Spotted by: Flight Global

'Try before you buy' service for first-time campers

2010-06-04T13:10:32Z

Whether it's an iPad or an urban chicken farm, there's no doubt consumers like to try before they buy. Why, then, should camping equipment be any different? Aiming to address that very need, UK-based Contented Camping gives first-time campers a way to rent out top-of-the-line gear before deciding to make the full investment.

With prices beginning at just GBP 29 to rent a family-sized tent, Contented Camping offers a full range of newly purchased tents, airbeds, tables, chairs, storage units and stoves from top-quality manufacturers. Campers begin by selecting what size tent they need, and for how long; they then choose whatever accompanying gear they'll need. All goods are delivered direct in reusable boxes. Once the camping adventure has been had, Contented Camping has a “Ready to Buy” option that directs consumers to its partner, Outdoor Megastore. Those less inclined to rough it next time, meanwhile, can avail themselves of Contented Camping's motorhome rental options.

Though Contended Camping serves just the UK with its camping equipment rentals, the concept is one that could do well anywhere people enjoy getting back to nature—that is, pretty much anywhere. (Related: Farm camping in cottage-style tents.)

Website: www.contentedcamping.co.uk
Contact: enquiry@contentedcamping.co.uk

Spotted by: Steve Cosby