It is evident that Web 2.0 initiatives are changing the way all industries operate today. The chart below shows the overall spending by US marketing executives on the next generation of internet marketing technologies. As far as early adoption goes, the travel industry is lagging other major industries in investing in and taking advantage of these Web 2.0 tools. Eventually, most of these technologies will find their way into the travel industry, given that travel is in the top 3 market segments on the internet.

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Check out Travelocity’s Roaming Gnome interactive MySpace page! Gnome MySpace page engages consumers by offering funny videos, downloads, etc. This page also has two very important action features that customers can use to search for flights and hotel deals directly on MySpace, and can visit the Travelocity store to purchase fun Gnome artifacts. By creating a community within MySpace, Gnome interacts with friends, offers them discounts, deals etc. You can only view Gnome if you add him in your MySpace friend’s network.Read more about this Travelocity story at: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/14730.asp.

Blogging for Lodging

Blogs are the hottest growing medium of communication for businesses and individuals. Based on Technorati research (blog search engine), there are almost 3 million blogs created every month, and bloggers create over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second!

What are Blogs?

Blogs are websites with content management systems that allow visitors to the site to add content. They are forums for organizations and individuals to exchange ideas and communicate with their partners, customers, employees, etc. You can create pages relevant for your business, post articles on different subjects, and offer a platform for others to write their comments or opinions on that post.

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